I am using my new HG One grinder and loving it. Also working with a bottomless portafilter to try to finesse my extractions. I have a 1975 Euripiccola with an added pressure gauge. I recently changed all the seals (and put them on correctly).

I continually get some spritzing when I am pulling the shot. The grind setting and tamping adjustments can help but not eliminate the problem.

I have noticed that the insert screen in the group head is very coffee stained around the area that is closest to the boiler. Also, the hot water seems to come through the front 2/3 of the screen and not evenly across the entire screen. Do you think it is time to replace some major components in the group head?

Thanks much!

Rob

When was the last time you soaked the showerscreen in cleaner? Your description sure does sound like it's overdue.

How much ground coffee are you using? (I always use 14 grams unless I use an MCAL filter basket. Then I use 16. These, by the way, will only fit on the later portafilters with M12x1.75 threads.) What are you using to grind?

For some reason filter screens were modified at some point so that the holes near the centre on later ones are blocked. I am not sure why La Pavoni started doing this. It may have been to allow water to flood the entire puck of coffee more evenly? Are you sure that the filter screen is in good condition anyway? Are the centre holes blocked in yours? Maybe replacing with the later type might help? Most other components either work or do not!

The last time I changed seals and rings I cleaned the screen but did not soak it in a cleaner. All the holes seemed to be open...worth a try to soak it, though.

Oh, also the piston is brown directly above the screen. I'd say the 1/3 of the piston closest to the boiler is brown, much like the screen. Maybe a clue? Most of the spritzing comes from this area.

I am measuring 13 grams of beans. The portafilter is 48mm so that is about all the coffee I can get into it.

I fluff the ground coffee in the receptacle that comes with the HG One and then set it on the basket and tap the basket and receptacle hard about 8 times on a hard surface, then tamp lightly.

Do the old machines (40 years old) ever get weird in that they don't flush water through the entire screen, or is a plugged screen more likely?

Thank you for the suggestions.

robkinghorn wrote:I am measuring 13 grams of beans. The portafilter is 48mm so that is about all the coffee I can get into it.

This isn't prudent to the discussion, but you ought to be able to get tons more coffee in than that. 13 grams is a low dose on my 45mm sama.

Are you experiencing the same issues with another grinder (I assume you had another grinder before getting the HG One)? For how long have you had the HG One? I'm asking because some users (including myself) seem to have had some issues with distribution and channeling/spritzing until the burrs are broken in properly. Did you have a look at the HG One owner experience thread (e.g. from this post onwards: Owner experience with HG one grinder) ? Maybe its totally unrelated but I wanted to mention it since you specifically stated you use this grinder.

I had been using about 14 grams for each pull, but I scaled back while I am trying to assess the spritzing. I thought I read that could be a variable...i.e. the freshness/dose/grind/tamp equation. I could be wrong about this.

As far as A/B-ing the HG One and my Zassenhause, I have not done that and it is a great idea that I will try today. I'm aware of a break in period but didn't know that spritzing could be an issue. I'll follow through that HG One thread.

The use of the bottomless portafilter is fairly recent. Lord only knows what went on inside the previous stock portafilter, probably not a pretty sight!

Coffee is good, though. Red Bird, very nice.

Rob

robkinghorn wrote:I have noticed that the insert screen in the group head is very coffee stained around the area that is closest to the boiler. Also, the hot water seems to come through the front 2/3 of the screen and not evenly across the entire screen. Do you think it is time to replace some major components in the group head?

and a later post...

Oh, also the piston is brown directly above the screen. I'd say the 1/3 of the piston closest to the boiler is brown, much like the screen. Maybe a clue? Most of the spritzing comes from this area.

Thanks much!

Rob

Let's go back to your original post. I can assure you that your choice of grinder has nothing to do with this. Until this is corrected, there is no use chasing symptoms downstream. Once you get the water to hit the puck evenly then you can start looking at dose, distribution, tamping, grinder, etc.

Once that is fixed, I'd up your dose. In a stock Cremina basket I use 15 - 15.5 grams; 17 - 17.5 in the much bigger Elektra basket.

On a side note, bottomless portafilters don't hide anything. If your grind, dose, tamp have flaws, it'll show it. All of this could have easily been masked with the standard portafilter.