Hi guys,

I trust the PID, it's the situation I described before that would worry me (and yes there's the safety valve which goes off at 2-2.5bar, but with a full boiler it makes a huge mess). On the other hand I'm near the machine 90% of the time, so if anything goes wrong (like autofill failure) I would probably notice it.

I wouldn't worry about the machine leaking inside, the only weak point I can think of is the water connection (of course a bit more dangerous in the case of out-boarded pumps), the rest of the pipes and compression fittings should be fine.

In my case it's all down to the length of the TC or the length of the threaded 3/8" to 1/4" adapter I've got. If the TC is too short to mount straight in the pressure gauge connection hole I will be forced to mount it where the pstat is connected, thus disconnecting the pstat. If I can mount the 3/8" to 1/4" adapter where the pstat is (it has to go through a hole in the the thick steel base and still have enough thread visible to screw in the compression fitting from the bottom) I will be able to mount the pressure transducer in it and get proper direct pressure readouts. Today I will dry fit the TC and disassemble the pstat to see if any of the two is possible.

Regards,
dsc.

Ben Z. wrote:Your setup looks pretty good, but I have to ask why go through the trouble of the compression fitting in the group head and everything when you could just route a fine gauge tc between the two pieces of the group and run it through the inside of the machine? It's just as accurate, invisible, and cheaper. I pretty much followed the method Bob Barraza proposed and it worked fine. I disconnected the honeywell controller I was using to monitor the temps because it looked silly and I had my flush regimen figured out. The TC is still in place, but not connected to anything.

I think I owe Ben an apology for defending my TC setup. I got the opportunity to borrow a Scace device from a local roaster for the last week or so, and I realized that the 1/16" TC + fitting may not be the best. Compared to the Scace device, my TC install was reading rather high, but oddly enough, not remotely consistently in terms of offset. As a result, I got a 36 ga. TC and installed it:



I've liked it pretty well so far, and I find it tends to read about 0.5-1.0F higher than the Scace device where I have it, which is right inside one of the 4 holes in the group bell. Originally, I had it right behind the shower screen, but I found that it read out quite inaccurately (very low) there. I assume this is due to the TC's resistance to registering large, fast changes in environment temperatures. It idles much closer to brew temp where it is now, and as a result seems to read very consistently off-set from the Scace during brewing.



Finally, I wanted to comment on the group jet idea that Dave had that Tom and I tried out. I tried it well before Tom, and I was initially impressed with how much easier it was to flush, but it really did take a long time. Tom really didn't find that he liked it, and when he finally tried it and hated it I thought about it for awhile and tried going back to the regular group jet. It was really nice to get back to the fast flushes, oddly enough. Call it a solution searching for a problem, but I also decided to try line preinfusion as well, since I already have my machine set up for it quite well. I bought a Potter & Brumfield Delay Relay that goes from 0-10s:



So far, it's a fun little toy. I am looking forward to trying it out more (just installed it Friday).

Hi Nicholas,

good to hear everything is well on the Elektra front and that you decided to switch to a thin wire TC. I think it's a bit faster although you have to be careful when installing it, I crushed the cables on one TC I tried to use and it was giving me some strange readouts.

I'm curious what you think of the delay relay, I use my DIYed version with 3s preinfusion and it seems to work well, maybe a bit easier to get even pours than before. I think it also works a bit better with the original jet in place, the new one slows down the flow too much and you end up with too little water entering the group.

Anyway I got my stepper motor now and will start working on that pressure profiling system when I get back to the UK. Should be fun.

Regards,
dsc.

shadowfax wrote:I think I owe Ben an apology for defending my TC setup. I got the opportunity to borrow a Scace device from a local roaster for the last week or so, and I realized that the 1/16" TC + fitting may not be the best. Compared to the Scace device, my TC install was reading rather high, but oddly enough, not remotely consistently in terms of offset. As a result, I got a 36 ga. TC and installed it:

Hey, no fair, I haven't even had time to install the group head TC that I got from you. At least I've still got the TC in the bell. You must polish things up before the pictures, as your pictures always look good.
=-=-
Mark

Yeah, Mark, I'm sorry; I feel bad for leading you "astray" on the adaptor. It looked cool while it lasted, though... Maybe you can sell the TC to someone who wants to use it on their E61? Anyway, I'd be glad to send you one of my 36 gauge TC's as a small compensation if you want, but it sounds like you're covered on TCs.

Nicholas: Don't worry about it, I actually like the adapter since it's a lot sturdier than the one in the bell. I was thinking of drilling couple of holes in the bell to help retain the TC as it kind of wanders about when I put it back together, but never bothered since I don't take things apart when I don't have to. You and Tom are forging ahead with numerous mods, I'm just happy pulling shot after shot of what I think is good/great espresso. My wife is very happy with the looks, size and sound level of my Baratza Vario. It has also improved thing another notch and I've little to complain about. Life is good.

It's interesting seeing how many T1/A3 and now D1's are being refurbished and put into a re-newed life. Got to love this forum, thanks Dan.
=-=-
Mark

Nicholas, do you still have the delay relay in your setup? Did you find any improvement in the cup with this style of preinfusion?

I do still use it. I think it helps a bit, but the improvement is marginal at best. I don't think it's nearly as good as the ramp-up on an E61 or another machine with a preinfusion chamber that is downstream of the gicleur--the flow rate is still so high that I think the preinfusion is just a sharp jump to line pressure and then another sharp jump to pump pressure.

I am not sure that I'd recommend it. It is pretty easy to install if you're handy with wiring, and you can't argue with the cost, but it's definitely not something that's revolutionized my espresso or anything approaching that. Of course, I also haven't played around with extra-long preinfusion, either--I've stuck with 3-4s and haven't gotten the inclination to try longer times with all the other stuff I've had going on. I think Tom played around with his preinfusion setup and ultimately decided to build his own pressure profiling valve, if that tells you anything...

When I did this on my two group, I had the delay set to allow a full puck infusion before the pump kicked in. I dont recall the time. I would turn the delay way up, hit the brew button and stopwatch. After x many seconds I would stop the infusion, remove the potafilter and gently knockout the puck and break it in half. I kept increasing the time interval until I had a fully infused puck but no drops coming from the basket yet. Then I set my timer for that and did not mess with it any more. It made an improvement on that old Faema but I had extraction issues with it, probably an issue on the portafilter side of the machine. I have not been so inclined on the Elektra. As long as I pay attention to the dose all is good. If I dont, she reminds me by spraying me with some channeling jets, usually just before work while waring a white shirt.

shadowfax wrote:Eric: thanks for the advice, I'll be sure and check with Beswick before I order. I am planning on buying several at this point, depending on the price. I should be able to hook up some other people with a "kit" for the price of the parts, after I finish. I'm getting a spare 1/16" probe as well, though I may keep it (hah, or use it after I break the first one!).


As for the thermocouple mount on the grouphead, I am looking to mount one like this. The part you see there is a modified Beswick fitting, this one, but bored through as Eric mentioned.

Nicholas,
Reviving an old thread here as I've just picked up an A3 and would like to set-up a temp readout from the grouphead as well. You mention you were thinking of getting enough for a parts kit that you may sell to other,s did you do that? If so, I'd be interested. Otherwise I'll try and glean the info/part off off the rebuild posts unless yo have a detailed list you would like to share?

Thanks,
Dave