Hi Mike,

just to make sure it's not the burrs. As I said earlier the current burrs only chewed through like 20kg of coffee, perhaps 25kg which is nothing probably and they can grind so fine I will choke my pump totally, so I'm pretty sure it's not a burr problem, but I'd rather change that and see than speculate.

Your Nino would be a perfect match for the Elektra I guess:) If you're up for it I'll be more than happy to meet.

Regards,
dsc.

Yeah, they're barely seasoned. I suppose there's a very small chance they were a bad set.... What were things like before you changed them?

There's baffling array of variables in all this....

Anyway let's hook up via PM and try and see when we have a bit of free time that coincides. Things are pretty hectic for me in the run-up to Xmas (I work in advertising) but we should manage something. The Nino's a gem.

Cheers

Mike

Well that will eliminate the burrs as a problem, and give you a set on the shelf if nothing comes of it.

-Cecil

Hi guys,

tried proper WDT and modified WDT and the results are pretty much the same, although I agree better than before. Still after around 15s it goes sideways, even though it starts quite well.

For now I think I will keep playing with WDT as I wait for new burrs. To be honest I've struggled since the beginning with my Elektra which is a bit weird. I don't remember if I was using the Major from the start, but I think it's time I gave my small Macap a chance for a few days and compare.

Regards,
dsc.

Sounds like a solid plan, Tom.

If you'd prefer to borrow my SJ for a few days, just give me a shout.

Cheers

Mike

Hi guys,

a quick update:

I've tested my grinder on James's (SQM) two group Synesso and it performed very well, pours were very nice, tasted incredible (winter espresso) and we had no problems I normally see at home. This means it's definitely not the grinder as it was working as well as the usual SQM Synesso partner, the Anfim (I believe it's a Super Caimano). The machine was running at 0s delay-relay preinfusion, so only flow restricted preinfusion (3-4s rampup to full pressure) and with the pump set to 115PSI (roughly 8bar, measured with a Scace). So with the grinder crossed out from the list of suspects I've tested myself and pulled a shot using my usual routine, grind straight to the basket, light thump on the fork, no distribution and a tamp (harder than usual). Pour was good, no sprites, no channeling, tasted good. Another thing to cross off which leaves me with only one thing on the list: the machine.

Being a great guy that he is James gave me a bag of beans we used during testing, so I can check it out on my machine and we agreed I should probably try the grinder setting and dose (19g) on my Elektra, simply to see what happens. Now I haven't done that yet, but I also borrowed a Scace which I used already and I'm seeing around 120PSI on the group which corresponds to what my PT is telling me (8.3bar). I've checked this against my home made 'Scace' and it also shows the same, producing 60ml in 30s (same as the original Scace) under 8.3bar of pressure.

I'm very curious what tomorrow will bring, but without touching the grinder I should see a pretty decent extraction, or at least not a complete gusher.

Glad to know a bit more and that it's not the grinder, but to be honest it means the problem is even more complicated and harder to solve. At least now I know where to look. A huge thanks James for having me over and letting me play!!

Regards,
dsc.

Hi guys,

another quick update.

I did a few tests on the machine and currently the config is like this:

- pressure set to 8bar, roughly 115PSI with a Scace device (same as on James's Synesso)
- water flow is 126ml/10s measured at 86*C (at the start of the flow) which is around 750ml/min
- pressure ramp up is a bit slow, it shoots to 100PSI in 3-4s, but takes around 2s to get from 100PSI to 115PSI, so the whole thing takes around 6s to get to max pressure

I used the same grinder setting as we used on the Synesso and the same dose which is 19g. Because the upper double dose limit on the Elektra is roughly 17g I had to use a triple basket to lock the PF in the group. Now I only pulled two shots so far, but the results were quite interesting. First of all, almost no channeling except for the first few seconds and this was cause by a donut extraction in both cases and slight side channeling. The pour looks good, steady, no chaotic dancing cones, the cone itself is quite thick and the whole extraction is gloopy and thick. Taste wise is a bit different than what I had from the Synesso, the clarity isn't that high, there's a bit too much bitterness (even though the temp was lower on the Elektra) and couldn't really smell the same things that were so obvious on the Synesso (especially the flowery elements, sort of like women perfume). Still it's better than what I had so far and it looks like it's going in the right direction.

I will experiment a bit more today and try to get rid of the donut extractions. I'm also curious if dosing a bit more for the triple, or a bit lower for the double so that I get a slight shower screen imprint will work well.

Regards,
dsc.

If you're getting donut extractions using no-redistribution, it seems clear that Elektra wants you to redistribute. This may be dose related, or it may just be what you have to do for the machine. Maybe you should try nutating.

+1 on distribution to avoid donut extraction.

also likely you can't simply leave grind settings exactly where they are when going from one machine (with a double basket) to another (with a triple basket).

Hi guys,

yeah it is probably just a matter of redistribution, or grinding into the basket in a way that I don't end up with a heap in the middle, all doable and not too hard.

I also agree about leaving the grinder settings exactly the same, it was simply a test to see what the end result is going to be. It seems to be working flow/pour wise, taste is probably a matter of fine tuning. I'm pretty sure 19g in a double is quite high even for a Synesso, and it might be a bit too low for a triple on the Elektra to get a similar flow/pour.

Regards,
dsc.