kajer wrote:About $200 and a thorough descale later, I have a nice rebuilt rotary pump . . .

Yup, you got a great deal on the espresso machine and it clearly works, so take some of the money you saved and get yourself a decent grinder. You will be glad you did.

Okay, so I got my parts in and made a trip to the orange store. I was able to see that I had my OPV set around 110psi, mainly this was to try to slow my pour rate... what was I thinking?

The setup:


OPV set to 150psi

I have now adjusted the OPV to 150psi, but fine tuning the (coffee house's) grind will be a chore in itself. The pressure gauge has markings at 140 and 160.

The portafilter has a standard brass pipe 3/8 thread, so adapting my gauge assembly was easy.

lol foot.

kajer wrote:. . . . fine tuning the (coffee house's) grind will be a chore in itself.

More likely an exercise in futility. Notwithstanding you get lucky part of the time, without the ability to correct the grind, in real time, to account for staling (in this case starting from stale and getting staler), humidity and different baskets, not to mention variations in the raw materials and the roasting process, you will have to settle for what you can get. Take the good advice that several knowledgeable members have generously offered. A decent espresso grinder is fundamental, not an option or an enhancement.

Still missing the fundamental point. You MUST buy a grinder. Even a cheap hand Kyocera or Hario hand grinder would be better than buying the local preground unless you can run back and forth every 15 minutes (time before it goes stale).

You picked up a commercial quality $2K machine for a little over $200. Use the money saved to buy a quality grinder. The parts you ordered off SCG was a waste of money and time.

angman wrote:The parts you ordered off SCG was a waste of money and time.

I wouldn't go as far as saying portafilters and backflush plates are a waste of money... I still need correct head pressure, and basic cleaning abilities right?

I am keeping in mind that I need a grinder. I just might have to wait until I get my tax return

I may have found my problem or one of them anyway.

I got myself a hand grinder. I decided on the porlex mini as I was headed out camping and wanted (and needed) a grinder. After running a few shots worth of beans through, I am getting a pretty consistent grind that is pretty fine.

I ran some grinds through the bottomless PF with triple basket and got a better looking shot with crema finally, but was still pretty fast, and was mildly disappointed, and blamed the grinder.

I switched to a double PF basket the other night with a single dose spout, and pulled the best shot that has ever come out of that machine. It was still fast, but not 9 second to a full cup fast.

We're getting closer to the pure oil extraction I am looking for!