Valentina steam performance - Page 2

[shadowfax]

Anyway, I've mounted an O-ring today which seems to fit well. Alas, out of milk today and a little busy, but I'll test it Thursday.

you can always test your steaming/leakage with a pitcher of water, if you're impatient.

[shadowfax]

Just as an aside to this thread, I finally caved in and bought that 2 hole steam tip from EPNW on the tail end of buying a couple of portafilter gaskets, as my current one has become rather stiff from a full winter of 100% on.

The tip is amazing from a texture perspective. I am baffled by the comments I have read about "learning curves." I put the tip on and got a pitcher of near-perfect texture. It's just slow for my usual 6 oz. of milk. Which is kinda good, because I finally bought this tip with the intention of steaming somewhat smaller amounts of milk without blasting it. The best thing about it, though, is that it's almost perfectly matched to the boiler... the boiler will actually catch up and tick off with the steam at full blast.

At the same time, I can't imagine using this tip for more than 6 oz. of milk, it's god-awfully slow. give and take, give and take, indeed.

[keno]

I am one of those Silvia owners that upgraded to a La Valentina and found the steaming performance to be disappointing. While it was a pain to always have to wait 30 to 60 seconds for Silvia to heat up, the steaming performance was great. I could regularly produce very fine velvety foam (especially when using whole milk).

The Valentina with the stock tip had plenty of power, but it produced big bubbles and little increase in volume. So, having seen this thread and Dan Kehn's review of the Valentina machine I purchased a Gold Pro tip from 1st-Line. This tip was definitely an improvement. Especially, like Dan said, for small volumes of milk. But it was still frustrating because it took forever and provided worse steaming performance than my Silvia which cost a third the price of the Valentina.

So, after analyzing the problem I think I've found the solution. The Silvia's single hole tip is like a rifle--with the right technique you can get great results. The two hole stock Valentina tip is like a shotgun--notice that the holes angle out sideways. The result is a wide spray that gives okay results no matter how bad your technique, but never really good results. The Gold Pro tip is a little better because the holes are spaced more closely, but they are too small and the flow is too restricted to turn over anything but a small quantity of milk. That's my diagnosis of the problem.

The solution was to modify the Gold Pro tip. I went to a good hardware store and found a bit that is the same size as the holes in the Gold Pro tip. I found that a #58 wire bit is nearly exactly the same size (note: these bits are even smaller than the smallest standard sized bit, which is 1/16 inch). I used my neighbor's drill press to carefully drill one more hole right in the center of the tip. So now it is a three hole tip. The power is much better than the two hole version of the Gold Pro and it is much more controlled than the stock tip. With the tip modified in this way it is easy to create a good whirlpool in the milk and create excellent froth.

I recommend this to anyone who has a Gold Pro tip and is still having difficulty. Note that you can't do this with the stock tip since the existing holes are already quite large and adding another hole would probably be too much. Not sure about the Espresso Parts NW tip either since I haven't seen that one. Be careful drilling since you only get one shot, probably best to use a jig to line everything up just right. Overall, it's a big improvement for $2.29 for the cost of the drill bit.

Cheers,
Ken

[HB]

Not sure about the Espresso Parts NW tip either since I haven't seen that one.

Thanks Ken for the "tip" (*groan*). Drilling the Gold Pro would be much easier since it's made of brass (the tip from EPNW is made of stainless steel).

[Grant]

After a few months of use, I'm still very happy with the EPNW two hole tip with each hole drilled out to 3/64". I do milk volumes from 4oz to 12oz. Drilling out the tip was very easy.

Grant

[Kristi]

Anybody tried this tip on the Bricoletta? I have it and it works okay, but I'm wondering if a hole in the center would improve it?

[Teme]

Out of curiosity, how would one determine the water level in the boiler? I ask this because I assume it does have an effect on the steam performance of the machine and I happen to know that happyvalentina's machine does perform differently from a couple of other Valentina's in the neighbourhood. Happyvalentina's machine was over at my place a while back as were a couple of other Valentina owners and the consensus was that this machine performed differently. I also had a go with it myself and while I did get ok results I do get better results with my Andreja and its stock tip (but then again I am used to it). Could the potential difference in boiler water level explain the performance variation and the difference in the results? If so, how does one measure this difference and adjust?

Br,
Teme

[Teme]

Bump.

Any comments regarding the correlation of boiler fill level and steaming performance? My logic would say that a lower water level produces drier steam...

Br,
Teme

[HB]

Could the potential difference in boiler water level explain the performance variation and the difference in the results? If so, how does one measure this difference and adjust?

The Cimbali Junior's water level is very easy to adjust (see blue wire attached to F below). It seemed counter-intuitive at the time, but raising the water level gave a big boost in steam velocity. Unfortunately, as you suspected, the steam was wetter. That may explain the differences you see, though I can't think of a sure-fire easy way of comparing two machines other than noting the probe depth (you could remove the safety pressure release valve, but that seems like a lot of trouble).

Could it be something as simple as an obstruction in the wand or valve?


Straight down = min water depth, parallel = max water depth

[Teme]

Thanks Dan.

I think that obstruction in the wand or valve has been ruled out as a potential cause. Wouldn't hurt to double check, though.

In terms of trying to compare the water level on two otherwise identical machines - in addition to checking the position of the probe - I thought one could have an indication of the comparative water levels by heating both machines to full pressure, switching them off, immediately opening the hot water wand and then measure the amount of of water that comes out. More water out with this method = higher boiler water level. I guess this would not be accurate but might give some idea. The only problem in doing this with a Valentina is that the hot water switch is electronic (in most Valentina models) and won't work unless the machine is on. This type of measuremnt would therefore be a lot more complex to perform - one would need to disable autofill and somehow disengage the heating element to ensure it will not be damaged.

Reading the above again after writing, it is starting to sound a bit far fetched...

Br,
Teme