Hello all,

I have a Gaggia New Baby and a Mazzer Super jolly.

I use both the grinder and the Espresso machine sparingly (once a day).
In the last 3 weeks I have had to really use the crap out of the machine. I made espressos for 8 family members twice a day for a week, to top it off I took my equipment to work and made espresso for 14 co-workers at the office party.
The New baby used to complete a shot in 18-20 seconds, it is now taking 30+ seconds for the same shot. I am tamping and dosing the same way.
Any ideas why the machine is considerably slowing down?

I have never used tap water on the machine and have recently taken the screw off and cleaned the screen (the best I could)

Is your grinder as new as your machine?

-C

Almost all shot timing issues are related to the grind setting, I thought. Grinding coarser should lessen shot time. Are you using aging beans, different beans, new bag, burrs that are still breaking in? Has the weather changed in temperature or humidity recently? All of these may require grind adjustments.

It is less likely that your machine is broken, unless the pump seems to be really laboring much more than usual. The pump is designed to give hundreds of shots before wearing out. The only slight concern would be pulling shots back to back to back without a small pause in between each. I read one time that there is a slight risk of overheating.

CRCasey wrote:Is your grinder as new as your machine?

-C

No I bought the grinder used but the grinder as well as the burrs are in great shape.

mini wrote:Almost all shot timing issues are related to the grind setting, I thought. Grinding coarser should lessen shot time. Are you using aging beans, different beans, new bag, burrs that are still breaking in? Has the weather changed in temperature or humidity recently? All of these may require grind adjustments.

It is less likely that your machine is broken, unless the pump seems to be really laboring much more than usual. The pump is designed to give hundreds of shots before wearing out. The only slight concern would be pulling shots back to back to back without a small pause in between each. I read one time that there is a slight risk of overheating.

I have not changed the burr setting, using same beans from the same supplier "culture coffee Espresso".
The only thing about your post that concerns me is that I did , at least on 2-3 occasions, pull back to back to back shots (2-3 minute pause between each).

Same beans, same supplier, different batches?

FWIW, I think 18-20 seconds is a bit on the quick side for a double. I usually try for 20-25, and some coffees taste better to me when the shot flows even slower, say 25-30 seconds for a double

It could also be a variance in how much coffee is in the basket.
If the flow is correct at 14g dose then the flow will be slower at 16g dose.

It could also be variance in how much coffee is in the hopper. If the hopper is full then the grind will be finer. If the hopper only has 1 shot worth of beans then the grind will be coarser.

For best results, grinders should be adjusted as conditions change. As beans age they start to dry and so the grind needs to be tightened up (or the dose increased). Also, changes in humidity can have an effect


EDIT : Best advice is to adjust to taste. How does the coffee taste when the shot takes 28 seconds as opposed to how it tastes when the shot takes 18 seconds?

I really didn't mean to worry you, and I seriously doubt that giving a 2-3 minute pause in between shots could cause any problems. Just don't pull a shot every 45 seconds 10 times in a row, or something crazy.

As Jon is suggesting, I think you have just discovered that the grind setting needs to be adjusted slightly day to day.

Simple, adjust your grinder coarser. Move it a couple of those little tick marks on the adjustment ring and try it again, if it is still slow move it another tick mark, try it again...