HB wrote:It's not a bad idea, and I've seen a catch cup underneath the vacuum breaker (e.g., Quickmill), but cannot think of an espresso machine with a cover over it.

The S1V2 uses a plastic shield over the vac breaker to contain spray.

If one doesn't cover all around the vac valve, how can it possibly be contained?

Just to put things into perspective, we're talking about 3 or 4 drops of water, and small ones at that. La Spaziale's solution looks more than adequate. That said, there are other espresso machines without a cover to deflect the vacuum breaker's spittle and I haven't seen widespread reports of failures attributable to it (corrections welcome).

HB wrote:Just to put things into perspective, we're talking about 3 or 4 drops of water, and small ones at that. La Spaziale's solution looks more than adequate. That said, there are other espresso machines without a cover to deflect the vacuum breaker spittle and I haven't seen widespread reports of failures attributable to it (corrections welcome).

Granted the drops are small, and I fundamentally agree with you Dan, but my point is more that if you're going to do something, do it right. How hard would it have been to just put a plastic tube over the breaker than to fold up a sheet of plastic?

Then again, my GS3 doesn't even have this. At least the Speedster does.

networkcrasher wrote:Then again, my GS3 doesn't even have this. At least the Speedster does.

Asked and answered.

Hi Guys,

I've been using my Brewtus III-R since January. It is a remarkable machine and the folks at WLL were fantastic to deal with. The first machine had a small leak in the brew boiler that only dripped ~50 ml of water during heat up then stopped. Todd helped me to determine that the heating element was leaking. He had me try tightening it but it did not solve the issue. The sent me out a new machine immediately...no questions asked. I returned the machine after the new one was received. I was EXTREMELY happy with Todd and the folks at WLL. They have a customer for life. The new replacement machine has been working perfectly. My first shots from the machine after dialing in my Mazzer Mini Type B really redefined my idea of espresso.

My shot specs for Black Cat decaf are
-18g coffee
-Temp 202F
-total volume 2 ounces by weight

The coffee is amazing. I would give WLL and the Brewtus III-R my highest recommendation!

regards,

Joe

OK, measurement day. First off the steaming performance with the stock tip and with the optional two hole tip from Whole Latte Love. I measured (in seconds) the time it took to go from 40F to 160F in a cold pitcher. I did this for 8oz, 10oz and 12oz and I did three runs and averaged them on a Fluke. I started each test just as the steam boiler turned off.

Volume                                   8oz       10oz       12oz
Stock Single Hole Tip                60           74           84
Optional Two Hole Tip              38           48           60

Don't plan on steaming up a big pitcher for a crowd with the stock tip - it is slowwwww. The two hole tip speeds things up considerably. I do have more trouble getting good micro foam out of the two hole tip. I find it hard to control the bubbles. The single hole tip produces superb micro foam. Perhaps a two hole tip with slightly smaller holes would be a good compromise.

One other small note, the expansion valve drips a little bit as the boilers warm up. It bleeds just below the grouphead and misses the driptray cutout. I added a little piece of tubing so it drains better.



Cheers

Ian

woodchuck wrote:One other small note, the expansion valve drips a little bit as the boilers warm up. It bleeds just below the grouphead and misses the driptray cutout. I added a little piece of tubing so it drains better.

It's a bit strange that they not fixed this, as Brewtus II already had the same design quirk...

HB wrote:Just to put things into perspective, we're talking about 3 or 4 drops of water, and small ones at that. La Spaziale's solution looks more than adequate. That said, there are other espresso machines without a cover to deflect the vacuum breaker's spittle and I haven't seen widespread reports of failures attributable to it (corrections welcome).

Unfortunately it's happened to me twice and I know of two other Quick Mill Andrejas who have had the same issue as a result of using very hard water with, what I now realise, pointless Brita-jug filters http://coffeetime.wikidot.com/andreja-goes-pop

Had a chance to get some more temperature profiling done today. I used the factory offset on the PID (I believe it is 10°C), set the target temperature to 200°F and waited 2 minutes between shots. The general profile shows a rapid incline to a knee at about 199°F and then a very small upward drift to about 203°F. The first shot was cool because I hadn't heated the SCACE up yet:



I also did a few shots back to back (20 second intervals). These tended to drift up over time. Not quite enough recovery - but who can pull shots at 20 second intervals. I'll do some tests around the minimum recovery time later.

Suffice to say the Brewtus had a very stable profile.The shots averaged around 202°F +/- a degree F. I could get this closer to the actual display by dialing back the offset a degree. The actual profile itself is pretty flat from 6 seconds out.

Cheers

Ian