Newbie Bottomless Portafilter Woes

March 13th, 2015, 5:01 pm

Greetings,

I recently purchased a bottomless portafilter and it's been a nightmare. In a nutshell, the flow is way too fast and coffee is spraying everywhere. To help the trouble shooting process, I'll lay out my equipment and what I have tried so far to solve the problem:

Saeco Aroma (refurbed), Baratza preciso, calibrated tamper

I have tried different grinds from the absolute finest I can get from my grinder to above the recommended setting for espresso. I have tried everything from 14g to 18g from dosage. I have gone with the calibrated 30 lbs that my tamper is set for and tried even tamping harder than that. Nothing seems to be working. I have also seen a previous post where someone suggested that the coffee is resting too close to the head and I have tried to remedy that.

Also, a friend suggested I run the machine without a filter to see what the head is producing and he thinks that in general it looks to be too fast. Instead of looking like a sprinkle from the whole area of the head, it coalesces into two heavy streams. Could it be that my machine is defective?

Please help!

#2: Post by **NelisB** » March 13th, 2015, 5:23 pm

Do you use fresh coffee? When was it roasted?

March 13th, 2015, 5:36 pm

I use fresh coffee. It's usually within a week to two weeks old and stored airtight

#4: Post by **nickw** » March 13th, 2015, 5:45 pm

Sounds like you're on the right track.

A video of you prepping and pulling a shot would make it easier for us to diagnosis possible problems and help.

#5: Post by HB » March 13th, 2015, 6:20 pm

OGsnare_drummer wrote:In a nutshell, the flow is way too fast and coffee is spraying everywhere.

Stale coffee, incorrect grind setting, and poor technique are the usual culprits. Have you checked out the Newbie Introduction to Espresso videos?

OGsnare_drummer wrote:I have tried different grinds from the absolute finest I can get from my grinder to above the recommended setting for espresso.

Sounds like a calibration problem. There's a bunch of videos on YouTube to walk you through it:

Baratza also has documentation in their troubleshooting section (e.g., "The grind is inconsistent, very coarse, or does not adjust.").

#6: Post by **stiborg** » March 14th, 2015, 11:38 pm

Hi -

I had the same problem when I switched to a bottomless filter for my Silvia V3. The shot was always pulled much too fast and sometimes there was spraying. I solved the problem by two ways. I had to grind finer for my bottomless filter when compared to my normal double basket in my portafilter with the two spouts. So, grinding finer made the shot come out slower. Second, I found that I was getting little jets spraying out the bottom of the basket. My guess is that I was also getting that with my normal portafilter, but I just couldn't see it since it wasn't bottomless. I use a Rocky grinder, which clumps a lot when grinding for espresso. I use the WDT (Weiss Distribution Technique) to break up the clumps and get an even distribution of grounds around the basket.

Good luck!

#7: Post by **yatesd** » March 15th, 2015, 8:31 am

I had the same issues. I thought it was me not doing something properly. I spent quite a bit of time using smaller and larger doses and making sure I was careful with my tamping. It was so bad that I just put the my new bottomless portafilter in the drawer.

Well, I just got my K30 grinder on Friday and decided to try again yesterday. On my first attempt it came out perfect. I have almost been too casual with tamping and still haven't had issues. Night & Day difference.

So all that being said, I agree it may be something with your grinder/grinder calibration/burrs.

#8: Post by **Nate42** » March 15th, 2015, 10:56 am

I will re-iterate what everyone else has said, with the added difference that I am actively using a preciso as my main espresso grinder at the moment, since I can't operate my Pharos due to a recent shoulder injury. I'd much rather have my Pharos, but I've been getting satisfactory shots from my Preciso, and with practice and assuming nothing is broken you can too.

Out of the box, my preciso wasn't calibrated fine enough for espresso grinding. You should be able to grind fine enough to outright choke the machine. If not it either needs a cal or something is damaged or defective. The lack of consistent calibration is a problem that plagues all grinders, it isn't uniquely a baratza thing, although I think Baratza tends to err on the side of caution (ie too coarse).

Make sure your doses are consistent. From my experience you will get as much as a gram retention, but the amount varies. RDT (adding a spritz of water to the beans to limit static) helps with this, as does some bumping and re-grinding to make sure you've got everything that will come out out. But to truly have consistent dosing you need to weigh what comes out, not what you put it.

You will struggle to get good distribution straight out of the preciso, the grind will be clumpy. WDT is your friend. If you are using a VST basket, don't. At least not until you've mastered your stock basket. VSTs are more sensitive to dose and distribution and aren't well suited to newbies or lower end grinders.

#9: Post by **cmin** » March 15th, 2015, 12:39 pm

I'll add that since using two week old coffee, thats going to be verging on stale for espresso needs, completely different grind settings (finer) needed. If your 1 week old coffee is dialed in at X, thats not going to work for 2 week old coffee. And even then beans age, so say your using setting X a few days later your going to have to go down on the micro finer as the beans age, then with a fresh batch you'll have to move back to your original settings, 2 week old would be even more extreme and can be dialed in but will have a higher chance of spritz/channeling etc.
Cut a smaller yogurt container to fit as a funnel into the basket kinda lightly not jammed in, then when you dose WDT with a needle as others mentioned.

Open the grinder and make sure the calibration screw is set to fine, there's 3 windows inside, that'll mean its geared more towards espresso. If your still having issues even with fresh roasted coffee (not two week old), then could be something like the adjustment ring or burr carrier may have a slight crack in it (thats a fail safe for jamming). Check the grinder first and calibrate if needed, and then get some fresh coffee.

For what its worth I freeze batches in ball canning jars, I tried those air vac containers and they don't work too well (for espresso, fine for drip and other needs), pulling one out of the cabinet after two weeks was noticeably staler and finicky dialing in, vs pulling a jar out of the freezer and defrosting and then using which would be pretty much as if fresh even if a month old.