The pressure of ~ 4.0 bar during your short flush is perfectly normal. The pressure on this gage is meaningless at any time other than brewing.

The dripping from the "spigot" which comes out of the faceplate during your short initial flush of the machine is normal. That is flow from the vibe pump's priming valve/air release valve.

That same dripping from the "spigot" during brewing is also normal because the OPV (over pressure valve) relief flow and the pump's priming valve flow are tee'ed together inside the machine and the discharge of both goes to the spigot.

You need to adjust your grind a little finer. Until you get comfortable with the machine, shoot for 1.5 to 1.75 (max) ounces total in 25 seconds. After comfort sets in, you can throw the 25 seconds out the window and, in some cases, even the 1.5 to 1.75 ounces and go by weight.

Sherman - I thought the same thing all along but Mr. Expobar decided to locate the OPV and priming valve discharge just in line with and behind the group drain.

*blushes*

Many thanks for the correction, Eric. My comments were based on more familiarity with Isomac than Expobar - during the course of rebuilding the grouphead upon my acquisition of the Rituale, I didn't observe an OPV inline, and made the assumption that Expobar was similar.

erics wrote:The pressure of ~ 4.0 bar during your short flush is perfectly normal. The pressure on this gage is meaningless at any time other than brewing.]

Dear Eric, I'm comfortable with this answer as I consider it correct. My doubt about correct operation of the machine is based on several YouTube clips on the same machine that are obviously not the same that I see here at home. Please trust me me when I humbly say that I really wish this is nothing more than my inexperience because I can fix that. If you would, please review this video and tell me why should MY machine behave any differently from the one on the video noting that this video is months old and should have the same mechanics of operation as the one I received.

Also this one!!

Sure - those are rotary pump machines - they will hit 9.0 bar under ALL conditions whether it be flushing or brewing or whatever because they have flowrates (primarily internal to the pump) substantially larger. Yours, like mine (Quickmill Anita) will not. Our "flushing" pressure is primarily determined by an internal part in the grouphead called the gicleur.

Your machine appears to be A-OK - just gradually make your grind a little finer and, in your spare time, send Sherman an email asking when the next Chicago extravaganza will take place. You will learn more at this type of event than you could ever wish for - how lucky you are to be so closeby to so many good nuts.

The key attribute to have here is patience. It takes a while with a new machine - honest.

Thanks a mil Eric, already feeling better about the whole thing, like I said before, I REALLY wish it's user error. The machine error is probably harder to deal with in my opinion. Looking forward to keep on grinding looking for that sweet cup!. Thanks for your help. BTW I already received an invite to the get together... too bad for me I'll be working.

I am going to be harsh so bear with me...

1: In the first instance, water coming out the E61 drain valve when just running water and no Coffee / Blind = Lower Valve problem = Warranty ? (try a chemical back flush or two OR it may need to be dissembled as some crap or a piece of Teflon or Muck could be caught)

2: If it is a leaky drain valve then this should happen with the blind as well. But I think you said it did not ??? That can not happen !!!

3: Could not see if the drain valve was leaking when you ran that shot, as you focused on the coffee... I am not interested in the coffee yet.... That is the last stage.

Need to see the drain valve action AND group gauge - with no group, a blind fitted and last with coffee. Only then can an informed observation can be made with confidence.

Thus... Drain valve leaks, when running Water / A Shot and Puck = Crap or miss adjusted Lower Valve and or drain.

Group Pressure = about 6bar and you get plenty of watery coffee and little crema = STALE COFFEE Sorry, but that's what can gather from what I observed from the video. I roast my own, so umber fresh is usually my worries NOT Stale.

If I ran a group Pressure of 6bar I would get a drip or two at best.

I also have the same Grinder and you about one or two notches down on the left adjuster. I tend to be Hard UP on Fine R/H side and a notch or two up from teh mid point on the L/H side.

I had just finished servicing the E61 head on my unit and snapped this.. Ignore the grubby state but you will also see the grinder and it is set at the finest I have ever needed.

PS. The line from the OPV for excess pressure is pumped back into the tank, but if it is a plumbed in unit it can be done differently and on some units there is a drain spout behind the E61 Drain valve. They perform different things and should be be confused. With out correct detail, all assistance is just best guesstimates

1: In the first instance, water coming out the E61 drain valve when just running water and no Coffee / Blind = Lower Valve problem = Warranty ? (try a chemical back flush or two OR it may need to be dissembled as some crap or a piece of Teflon or Muck could be caught)

No water coming out of E61 drain valve

2: If it is a leaky drain valve then this should happen with the blind as well. But I think you said it did not ??? That can not happen !!!

No leak on E61 group drain valve

3: Could not see if the drain valve was leaking when you ran that shot, as you focused on the coffee... I am not interested in the coffee yet.... That is the last stage.

Sorry first time making a video for YouTube.

Need to see the drain valve action AND group gauge - with no group, a blind fitted and last with coffee. Only then can an informed observation can be made with confidence.

Thus... Drain valve leaks, when running Water / A Shot and Puck = Crap or miss adjusted Lower Valve and or drain.

Group Pressure = about 6bar and you get plenty of watery coffee and little crema = STALE COFFEE Sorry, but that's what can gather from what I observed from the video. I roast my own, so umber fresh is usually my worries NOT Stale.

I live in near Chicago so coffee is Intelligentsia 'Black Cat', 'Sugar Slider' three days into roast, Segafredo from italian store(unknown roast date) and Illy medium roast also unknown roast date.

If I ran a group Pressure of 6bar I would get a drip or two at best.

I also have the same Grinder and you about one or two notches down on the left adjuster. I tend to be Hard UP on Fine R/H side and a notch or two up from the mid point on the L/H side.

Just tried this and saw some improvement. Then I got curious and tried the single shot basket and voila!, I saw the 8 to 9 pressures for the first time... I just spent the last three hours brewing shots to see if I can get the right combo(weight,grind,quantity vs time) but stilled not 100% dialed in. Thanks for the much finer grind setting advice, I would have never consider going almost Turkish for this machine.

I had just finished servicing the E61 head on my unit and snapped this.. Ignore the grubby state but you will also see the grinder and it is set at the finest I have ever needed.

PS. The line from the OPV for excess pressure is pumped back into the tank, but if it is a plumbed in unit it can be done differently and on some units there is a drain spout behind the E61 Drain valve. They perform different things and should be be confused. With out correct detail, all assistance is just best guesstimates

Did you calibrate your Vario? Sounds like you need calibrate it finer.

Read this on where you Vario settings should typically be for espresso grind.

https://www.coffeegeek.com/forums/espre ... 941#531941