Right! What Psyd said.

The idea to rent out the Scace was geared towards the Professional or Tech who was interested in helping customers dial in their machines and such. I am pleased as we always are at EP to have the serious home espresso folks involved and amped. You guys usually provide the most enthusiasm for such projects not to mention new ideas. It need not be said but where would we all be with out the dedication serious enthusiasts like Greg Scace and Andy Schecter have provided?

No one here is gonna force a Scace rental on anyone nor is anyone required to read the posts or threads that may ensue.

Psyd wrote:That may be the thinking of some, but for those of us that are actually looking for the taste to improve, checking out some of the parameters that taste depends on to see that they are in (or out) of expected ranges is one of the first steps. Use of tools is what allows man to have espresso, and why, say, dogs didn't develop it. Really, it isn't a bad thing.
Taste depends on a lot of variables. Being able to identify and quantify those variables is a far better starting place than, "Let's do this and see what happens" ad infinitum, hoping for some eureka moments along the way.
Will some miss the point and take things way too far? You betcha, there is at least one in every crowd. Suggesting that everyone that uses this tool is 'that guy' is off the other end of that same scale, however...

I have a Scace, and while a useful comparative tool, it is somewhat inutile for exploring shot taste parameters.

One flow rate is useful for comparative machine analysis, but how a machine performs when the flow rates vary is another kettle of fish.

Before the Scace I had an uncalibrated potentiometer that worked just fine.

Assuming a "glass is half empty" view of the world, I agree with Ian. Here's my "glass is half full" view:

You can cobble together various DIY versions of Greg's thermofilter and that's precisely what many enthusiasts did prior to its introduction. Thermocouple over the basket lip. Thermocouple up the portafilter spout. Thermocouple attached to the dispersion screen. Even a lowly Styrofoam cup and cheap thermometer work pretty good for learning the basics of an espresso machine's thermal dynamics. For the cafe owner or roaster, the main advantage of the thermofilter is standardization of brew temperature calibration.

For enthusiasts, the thermofilter is conveniently packaged and the measurements it produces are more reliable if they wish to share results with others. I've used it to map out the thermal behavior of espresso machines during the review process in a short evening instead of days using the aforementioned techniques. I don't see a thermofilter as a "must have" for enthusiasts, but it's certainly a "nice to have" for a short while, if only to satisfy one's curiosity. I applaud espressopart's willingness to create a loaner program.

Dan you are a half empty guy? Huh... Go figure. I usually like my demitasse half full unless say I'm having a macchiato.

I find the ScaceII to be indispensable. I have the opportunity to use quite a few different machines and the first thing I do is run it with the Scace. While I am perfect capable of tuning a machine by taste, the Scace cuts my time in half, or more. Not to mention avoiding taste bud overload from sampling a dozen shots in an hour. I also had the cobbled together thermofilter before the Scace, thermocouple mounted in a double basket with a plugged bottom and one tiny pin hole for water flow, and it worked, kind of. But the Scace is the right tool for the right job, and there is much more to making good espresso than an uber flat temperature curve.

Temperature is one of the things we can measure, there is no crema viscosity meter, calibrated universal taste meter (unless you have a mass spectrometer in your basement). So we tend to obsess over what we can measure, and that turns into temperature. So don't get to caught up or upset if you don't have an uber flat 0.2F delta in your box.

HB wrote:...it produces are more reliable if they wish to share results with others.

Following along in my everything that can go wrong will go wrong mode, results are only meaningful when shared if the Scace and meter are calibrated.* If not, then results will not meet the H-B OCD 4 decimal point requirement.

* Calibration should be checked before and after testing for results to be meaningful

Any updates on this rental kit? I am in desperate need of a scace device..

Hi everyone -- been a lurker here for about a year, first time posting.

I have a Rancilio Silvia with Mazzer Mini grinder. One of the first mods I did to the Silvia was to add the Auber PID.

I mainly make espresso and americanos with the occasional latte (usually when the parents are visiting). Primarily use Black Cat (regular and organic).

I'd been reading about the potential availability of a Scace II rental in this and several other threads, did searches, but can't find the latest status update. I sent an email to espressoparts earlier this month and got the response that "these are not currently available for rent."

Am I getting the run-around, or has the rental plan been put (again) on hiatus?

Thanks in advance for any feedback!

Last I heard it was stuck in their 'legal department' waiting on paperwork to do the rentals.

See For rent: Scace thermofilter and Fluke 54-II thermometer.

Just curious, what prevents a rogue coffee ground from the screen from plugging up the uber small hole in the flow restrictor?

a) Operators are to clean and backflush the grouphead prior to using the Scace thermofilter on it.

b) The thermofilter itself features a nice filter system over the orifice that does the actual flow restriction. This ought to prevent clogging from lazy/forgetful failure to backflush, or a lack of thoroughness in doing so.