I now have two "issues" with the new Factory:

(1) During warm up, it leaks about a tablespoon of water (cold or warm) from the grouphead. After some spillage, it appears to stop. But the puck (picture later) shows a top surface that might be indicative of more leaking. Maybe.


(2) This might be just a newness thing: The sightglass tube clings on to water and shows lots of water bubbles above the current water level. The older Factory (for sale, but I might have to hang on to it a little longer) doesn't leak from the grouphead and has a clear sightglass.


I called WLL and tech Don (I think) will be in on Monday to address the "issues". Nice that customer service is open on Saturdays!

But any ideas from all of you fine folks is welcome! Thanks.

prof_stack wrote:Plus, one pull (after 4 second pre-infusion and 10 second hold up top) yields more coffee. We're talking a win-win situation here.

OK, this morning was my first attempt at a lever, ever. I'm letting it warm up, doing a coupla half-pulls (as the almost-English manual says to do) and then pulling the lever all the way to the top (pre-infusion, right?) and then letting it slip down to where the pre-infusion stops and holding it there for ten seconds, and then pulling fairly steadily till I hit the bottom and holding it there, I'm not getting a lot of crema, and what I do get dissipates fairly rapidly, and I'm getting about an ounce. Repeating the pull (taking it all the way to the top and back down) increases the volume, but not quite two ounces, and it isn't improving the espresso. What I'm getting is like strong coffee (good, but not espresso) and I tightened the grind a coupla times and that just seems to reduce the volume I'm getting.
Any suggestions? Are there tricks I'm missing to get the two ounce single pull laden with crema that you're getting? BTW, the shots I get on Silvia and the Astoria with the same beans give great results, great crema, great espresso, so I'm almost positive it's my lever technique.
My pressurestat seems to be operating with a .15 Bar deadband between 7 and 8.5. The gauge doesn't seem to be the best, so I'm not quite sure what it truly reads, or if any two would red that similarly.
As an aside, I'm considering taking an inch off of the tin man's hat, and using it as a funnel for filling the wee beasty. It'd fit under the cabinets, then, too! ; >

Psyd wrote:OK, this morning was my first attempt at a lever, ever. I'm letting it warm up, doing a coupla half-pulls (as the almost-English manual says to do) and then pulling the lever all the way to the top (pre-infusion, right?) and then letting it slip down to where the pre-infusion stops and holding it there for ten seconds, and then pulling fairly steadily till I hit the bottom and holding it there, I'm not getting a lot of crema, and what I do get dissipates fairly rapidly, and I'm getting about an ounce. Repeating the pull (taking it all the way to the top and back down) increases the volume, but not quite two ounces, and it isn't improving the espresso.

Okay, my technique is as follows:
1. Pull lever up and hold for 4 seconds.
2. Pull down until drops appear in the shot glasses. This is the pre-infusion.
3. Immediately raise the lever all the way up and hold for 10 seconds.
4. Pull down firmly, with other hand on PF handle.
5. Smile as crema floods glass, slowly turning into liquid.

Obviously there is no magic about 4 seconds or 10 seconds above. YMMV.

Then there is the question of grinder type and fineness level. Tamping too. My Trosser is set such that the burrs touch and the coffee is "fluffy" (a very technical term, to be sure ). Thor tamps only about to the weight of the tamper itself, smoothing out the surface.

Keep in mind that your techniques and equipment will get you to where you want to be in a short while, but maybe not this week. Keep experimenting and having fun.

What I'm getting is like strong coffee (good, but not espresso) and I tightened the grind a coupla times and that just seems to reduce the volume I'm getting.
Any suggestions? Are there tricks I'm missing to get the two ounce single pull laden with crema that you're getting? BTW, the shots I get on Silvia and the Astoria with the same beans give great results, great crema, great espresso, so I'm almost positive it's my lever technique.

Hey Psyd,
I don't think that you should expect to get as much volume in a double shot from the Factory as from your Silvia. I usually get about 1.5 from mine, but man are they good!

I also wonder what would happen if you would grind a little finer. It worked wonders for me. I just bought a Rocky grinder (after a Baratza and hand grinder), and being able to grind finer has really improved my shot. You could even try grinding fine enough to almost choke it.

Here's my ritual:

1. grind into portafilter basket and use the WDT method
2. tamp (I am easing up on my tamp a bit and using finer grind.. maybe using 15 lbs of pressure.)
3. insert portafilter
4. lift lever slowly
5. hold all the way up for about 6 seconds of preinfusion
6. lower lever to 3/4 of the way down (this should require considerable pressure as you get closer to the bottom, but should not strain you)
7. raise lever back up slowly
8. preinfuse another 4-6 seconds
9. lower lever until the espresso begins to blonde (usually 4/5 of the way down)

You can try that and see what it does for you. I am sure that I will refine that method as I continue to learn the machine, but that's working well for me now. I think cannonfodder has a video of a method that is very similar to the one above. I learned a lot from watching that.

Enjoy the process man!
Jamhat

Greetings Prof Stack,

Sounds like the beginning of Mission Impossible. You have the same symptoms as my leaker which is being returned. Any pooling of water under the unit?

Cliff Isackson

cai42 wrote:Greetings Prof Stack,
Sounds like the beginning of Mission Impossible. You have the same symptoms as my leaker which is being returned. Any pooling of water under the unit?
Cliff Isackson

No, there is no pooling of water below the unit.

My theory for the grouphead leak is that the machines, made in 2000, have gaskets which are dried out or otherwise not like new anymore. Getting hot expands them but there might be some cracks or something that are letting water through.

There's a reason why the Factories were $300 off retail, and some of us are experiencing the old saying "You get what you pay for." I have no doubt that WLL will make it right. Plus I have the other Factory to use until then. It is off the sale block for now.

Hey, I love the espresso that the Factory is pushing out. Now its time to let WLL do their thing.

It is now a long time back in the posts here- but Prof- You pulled a very nice set of shot glasses on the last page! Hats off to you!

Hi Prof. Stack,

Echoing everybody else that your shots looked great-- wished I could reach into the screen and grab one! Anyway, I had the bubbly sightglass problem for a little while, but it went away-- my best guess was that it was coming from a little residual baking soda getting stuck in there. I don't have a leaky group, though I do have a slightly leaky steam wand tip (it seems like even after I've purged it, little beads of water form around the top edge of the tip and drip down).

Jake

prof_stack wrote:There's a reason why the Factories were $300 off retail, and some of us are experiencing the old saying "You get what you pay for."

There is a difference between, "Hey! This is a sale! Look what we're doing for you!" and, "We've got some old backstock that hasn't moved in half a decade, so we're offing it at cost."
I don't know what happened at WLL, but if its the latter being sold as the former, that isn't quite honest marketing. Sure, I like mine, and as long as they're willing to support as new, I'm keeping it. Mine is manufactured in Sept of 2000, and tested in Dec of 2000, #0000338.

OK, I'm getting better. I've tried the Rocky, I've tried the Mazzers, and now I'm trying my Trosser with the burrs just touching, and I got crema. Not the loads that you got, but real crema. Most of the bitterness has gone away, but I do need to get the Pstat to where it'll get me at least .9 Bar It's setteld in at just under 8, now, and I need to know if turning the ring down (tighter?) gets me more pressure or up (looser)?

Greetings,

Is the general consensus that parts from La Pavoni will work in the Factory? If true, repair/parts may not be a problem.

Cliff Isackson