arcus wrote:With the ones I had on my Bosco, I just had to push in the center of the screen and the sides relax allowing easy removal.

Yes something like that.


But the point is that lever groups are clean, there is no need to have to remove the screens for cleaning. The pop on screens sit so high up they should not contact the coffee and because there is no back pressure they should not get gunked up like the E61 styles do.

I'm not saying they will never get dirty, but they should not require weekly removal, maybe just every few months when the piston gets lubricated.

Paul_Pratt wrote: I'm not saying they will never get dirty, but they should not require weekly removal, maybe just every few months when the piston gets lubricated.

I drop my E61 about once & month and it seldom needs cleaning. Also haven't had to relube the silicone piston seals since I installed them 18 months ago.

Paul_Pratt wrote:Yes something like that.


But the point is that lever groups are clean, there is no need to have to remove the screens for cleaning. The pop on screens sit so high up they should not contact the coffee and because there is no back pressure they should not get gunked up like the E61 styles do.

I'm not saying they will never get dirty, but they should not require weekly removal, maybe just every few months when the piston gets lubricated.

Thanks.

Yes I agree, so far this screen has remained incredibly clean! With the IMS200 screen, the basket would have coffee grounds just from locking it in empty.

So far I have noticed slightly less finicky dosing with this screen

Yesterday I had an excuse to pull out the piston last night and the screen and gasket. These have been in there as near as 1 month and I have done nothing, no wiping, no cleaning etc..I probably pull around 5 doubles every day (I only have 1 coffee a day!) using around 18-19g of coffee.

The pop on screen is squeeky clean. This matches my experience with lever groups, you should not need to do any cleaning. The group gasket has some coffee on it, but that's just me forgetting to wipe the rim of the basket.





Now the reason I had to pull the lever out was I just received the first samples from our production mold of the silicone V rings. More on those another time.

Paul, thanks for the update. Please indulge me with one question if you're able to. Is a trick to remove the group seal without damaging it (especially if it's a silicone)?

Thanks for posting the photos of that snap on screen. Looking at that crude thing just makes me appreciate the IMS 200 screen on my Bosco even more. The IMS screen is also squeaky clean inside after a month or more of use. A short flush after a shot washes off the few grounds on the outside of the screen. Nothing gets up on the sides.

I can confirm Pauls findings, my screen is clean as on my L1 (old style as per Paul pic) and I'm getting much better extractions with it.

samuellaw178 wrote:Paul, thanks for the update. Please indulge me with one question if you're able to. Is a trick to remove the group seal without damaging it (especially if it's a silicone)?

You mean portafilter gasket or the piston ring?

JohnB. wrote:Thanks for posting the photos of that snap on screen. Looking at that crude crude thing just makes me appreciate the IMS 200 screen on my Bosco even more. The IMS screen is also squeaky clean inside after a month or more of use. A short flush after a shot washes off the few grounds on the outside of the screen. Nothing gets up on the sides.

Thanks John. I accept that you are happy with your E61 screen, if it works for you then that is all that matters. All the group manuf. have to do is make an adjustment to the sleeve to fit that style screen and it will be much much better. Next time you pop the screen have a look up into yours you should see the groove for the snap on screens, which is what they were designed for. Like I said an easy fix if they can machine the sleeve for the E61 screen to make it fit better.

The snap on screens may look flimsy but they work very well. They should never come into contact with the coffee and the extra headspace sort of negates the need for fancy dispersions.

I do like the E61 screens, I add them to all Gaggia levers I rebuild and some Faemas. But I just think in this group it is not a good fit with regards the gasket and the headspace.

Paul - I think you may find that the IMS 200 E61 screen gives you just as much, if not slightly more, head space then the old style snap on screen. Plus you get much better water dispersion.

Note in the photo below the difference in height between a new generic E61 screen on the left & the IMS 200 version on the right. The inside bottom of the shallower IMS screen seats right up against the bottom edge of the sleeve & the screen is flat across the bottom of the piston. Installed I measure over 4.5mm from the bottom edge of the screen housing side to the bottom edge of the group. Since the screen mesh is slightly recessed from that edge you have almost 5mm between the mesh & the bottom of the group.