Hi, I've been trying to dial in my machine.

and as I go I'm wondering about where the rest of you set your p stat. Mine is cycling between 1 and 1.2 bar which at first I thought was a little high, but as I have gotten to know the machine it seems a little low unless I am willing to wait 3 hours for the heads to warm up. Basically if I start it up, the boiler reaches pressure after about 15 mins (I let out the false pressure after 7-8 mins). I have tried flushing some hot water through the heads to warm them but nothing seems to work like letting it idle for a few hours. I guess I could consider this a 24/7 machine and thus get the temp stability I want as basically the heads shed too much heat until I get them up to temp. I guess I am wondering what the rest of you with the larger commercial levers do?
Oh yeah. It's a dipper tube with no HX or thermo-syphon.

3 hours seems a long time. What power is the machine running on? Are both elements working?

It reaches pressure 1.2 bars in 15 mins. It is the incredible time needed to get those huge hunks of brass up to temp. The boiler is already hot enough to flash boil water from the h2o spout after 15 mins. Running at 220V.

do you flush prior to brewing?

Very nice machine. Why do you feel the need to let off false pressure? The anti-vac valve on top of the boiler should be doing that for you.

When do you flush? My Aurora also takes about 15 minutes to get to pressure but an hour to heat up. A flush as soon as the anti-vac valve pops off helps a lot. I guess these machines were designed to be turned on in the morning and run all day so we have to work around that for home. Still - 3 hours seems excessive.

I think a 1 to 1.2 bar cycle is a about right.

I agree with the 1.2 bar on a dipper machine.

Have you tried adjusting the flow regulators on the groups? Behind the cylinder on the group neck is a ball valve that can be loosened or tightened to change the flow. Ther also might be a flow valve of sorts inside the T fitting at the boiler where the steam pipe comes off....from the boiler picture is it hard to tell is this is a blind nut or cap or if it contains some control valve....likely just a cap but one never knows without looking.

Thanks for your replies.

DrDregs wrote:Very nice machine. Why do you feel the need to let off false pressure? The anti-vac valve on top of the boiler should be doing that for you.
.

I am letting off false pressure because if I don't the heater element switches of at 1.2 bar and the boiler is not up to temp (steam is cold). I thought the anti vac was for the cooling cycle I'll have to read up on that.

orphanespresso wrote:I agree with the 1.2 bar on a dipper machine.

Have you tried adjusting the flow regulators on the groups? Behind the cylinder on the group neck is a ball valve that can be loosened or tightened to change the flow. Ther also might be a flow valve of sorts inside the T fitting at the boiler where the steam pipe comes off....from the boiler picture is it hard to tell is this is a blind nut or cap or if it contains some control valve....likely just a cap but one never knows without looking.

The heads seem to flow alright, the Wega schematic shows the "flow valve" to be a non return valve which I presume is meant to stop head pressure from forcing coffee into the boiler/dipper tube or even letting it further up the group....but this is all new to me, still without a porta on the group the water comes pouring out when I pull down the lever.
I guess the 1.2 bar is right then, my shop (where it is temp., set up) is a little cold, and I am just getting shots that are a little cold. I give it a flush (or two) to try to heat the head before pulling the shot. I have taken to throwing a blanket over it during warm up....this helps some.
I'll check the "t" for steam fitting the sure looks like a test tap though.
Thanks again for everyone's input. I will keep the p stat where it is and see if things improve with the warming days.

The valve on top of the boiler is a boiler safety valve, not a vacumm breaker.Alot of early lever machines didn't have vac breakers.You could add one easily to one of the group neck fittings, or off the steam pipe tee on the end of the boiler.
The heating issue is a little odd, i usually find my group is up to temp after 30-40 mins with a few warm-up flushes.Especially dipper tube levers where the group is mounted directly to the boiler.

DrDregs wrote:Very nice machine. Why do you feel the need to let off false pressure? The anti-vac valve on top of the boiler should be doing that for you.

When do you flush? My Aurora also takes about 15 minutes to get to pressure but an hour to heat up. A flush as soon as the anti-vac valve pops off helps a lot. I guess these machines were designed to be turned on in the morning and run all day so we have to work around that for home. Still - 3 hours seems excessive.

I think a 1 to 1.2 bar cycle is a about right.

Almost all levers of this vintage require letting off false pressure.

hperry wrote:Almost all levers of this vintage require letting off false pressure.

I stand corrected. Sorry Patrick.