So I've experimented with brew pressure and have found that best taste and appearance are at around 9.5 bar on the manometer. Cool.

On to boiler pressure...

My Anita came from the factory set on the higher end of the limit at ~1.4 bar. I didn't pay any mind to this at first, but after reading that others said 1.2-1.3 bar MAX, I thought maybe I'll adjust it.

I adjusted it to 1.25 bar and these are my thoughts:

1. Shorter cooling flushes.
2. Markedly lessened steaming capacity.
3. Machine runs slightly cooler.
4. Longer warm-up time from cold.

After using this setup for a couple of days, I have to say that the pros do not outweigh the cons and I have adjusted back up at just a hair over 1.35 bar.

The machine obviously runs hotter at 1.4 bar boiler pressure so cooling flushes take a bit longer but I find the steaming potential at this pressure is superior with the ability to steam longer and not worry about running out of steam. When the boiler auto-fills during steaming, one will find that at the lower setting of 1.25 bar, pressure quickly drops due to the lower heat energy stored in the water.

Believe it or not, there is a difference in the time it takes for your machine to heat up to operating temp between the two settings. I had always wondered where people were getting the 30-45 minutes from and now I know. My machine never took longer than 30 mins. to warm up out of the box. When I went to the lower setting, it definitely took more time to warm up.

I used to let my machine warm up for 30 minutes (like I did my smaller Rancilio Silvia), but then recently changed to 45 minutes...not because I noticed anything wrong with 30 minutes, I just wanted to give it some more time to MAKE SURE the WHOLE machine/cup-tray area of this larger Vibiemme was warm & toasty (and frankly, I wanted more time on my PC in the morning to do stuff before making my espresso). And also, because just recently Scottie Callaghan (Espresso Company Australia) told me to go 45 minutes.

As for steaming (boiler pressure = 1.1 bar), one day I steamed some milk and it came out nice as usual, but when I was done noticed the steam pressure from the wand diminishing. Thought something bad was up.

Then I noticed I had turned the machine off earlier so no wonder!

Yet it still did the job anyway, so no complaints here re: steaming performance (or warm-up time).

My FIRST cooling-flush after the warm-up period (machine sitting idle 45 minutes -- or 30 minutes, doesn't matter too much) is about 17 seconds...but that's okay: Being Retired Guy I'm not in any hurry anyway...

-- BR

Yeah turning it off will definitely do that

As someone waiting for a Quick Mill, this is helpful. I will not be afraid to try different pressures to see what works for me.

FrankieC63 wrote:Yeah turning it off will definitely do that

True...but in my own defense I did not see any info on this anywhere in my Owner's Manual. For example, something like this would have been helpful:

"CAUTION: For best (or ANY) results steaming/frothing milk, the machine's on/off switch should be turned to the ON position."

I mean really, are we newbies supposed to be clairvoyant or what? Who writes these things anyway?

The clearly important stuff they leave out of manuals nowadays...



-- BR

Gig103 wrote:As someone waiting for a Quick Mill, ...

I bet you're tracking its progress regularly!

-- BR

Can you tell from my posts?
It is killing me (metaphorically of course) that UPS says my 'next expected update' is Friday, which means no more updates until delivery day!

On topic, coming from the CC1 thermoblock, even 0.8 would possibly be an improvement on what steam power I'm accustomed to.