La Marzocco Linea Micra owner reviews - Page 11

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Jake_G
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#101: Post by Jake_G »

Time will tell!

The benefit of not bypassing the water reservoir sensor in the software is that you can use this preinfusion when running from the tank and still have the low water safeties in place to protect the pump and brew group heating element. It basically becomes fully supported, even if LM didn't mean for it to be :)
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nsgymd
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#102: Post by nsgymd »

another_jim wrote::shock: Wow, that's brilliant. So opening the brew valve without running the pump might get a heat powered 1.5 bar or so preinfusion powered by the steam boiler? LM missed it, and put in their micky mouse stutter pump thing instead. If it works, you get massive bragging rights.
Jake and Jim,

This is a fascinating discussion even if I don't fully understand it!
What do you mean by "opening the brew valve without running the pump"?

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Jake_G
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#103: Post by Jake_G replying to nsgymd »

Just tell the app that you are plumbed in and then program in a preinfusion duration. Then when you start a shot, the brew valve will open without turning the pump on for the duration you set. Once the preinfusion timer finishes in the firmware, the pump comes on and the shot starts in earnest.

Folks have verified this works on the mini, but commented that the low water warning no longer worked. Leaving this in play and requiring a physical jumper of the level sensor is a fantastic oversight for the Micra.
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another_jim
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#104: Post by another_jim »

You'll also need to "bypass the water level sensor." I don't know how to do this on the Micra; I did not notice any obvious mechanical or electric sensors; but i wasn't looking too hard either.
Jim Schulman

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#105: Post by Zoobee »

Jake_G wrote:Time will tell!

The benefit of not bypassing the water reservoir sensor in the software is that you can use this preinfusion when running from the tank and still have the low water safeties in place to protect the pump and brew group heating element. It basically becomes fully supported, even if LM didn't mean for it to be :)
I'm not sure what you mean? At least on the Mini, turning on preinfusion in the app means you have to click "agree" that you are plumbed in which automatically disables the low water safeties. The preinfusion itself works fine off the reservoir but you do lose the warning which is dangerous and requires vigilance. It's really annoying that they disabled it like this and I hope they will change that in a future update but speaking with LM tech support it seems unlikely they will because for some ridiculous reason "they don't really want reservoir users doing preinfusion". With the preinfusion on I've been able to brew excellent espresso from light roasts using the reservoir but I'm terrified of forgetting to check the water level myself. Totally lame to hobble functionality like this imho.

PaulTheRoaster
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#106: Post by PaulTheRoaster »

Zoobee wrote:I'm not sure what you mean? At least on the Mini, turning on preinfusion in the app means you have to click "agree" that you are plumbed in which automatically disables the low water safeties.
On the micra, selecting plumbed-in on the app does not disable the no-water sensor, and I suspect the same is true in the mini, since part of the plumbing kit is a plate that disables the sensor.

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Jake_G
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#107: Post by Jake_G replying to PaulTheRoaster »

It was the case prior to the firmware update. After the firmware update that enabled line pressure preinfusion, i was under the assumption that LM chose to ignore the level sensor once you select "plumbed in" on the app (turns out all they did was disable the visual warning light). Sounds like they have not (yet) disabled the sensor on the Micra, which is beneficial to those of us included to try out the steam boiler-powered preinfusion.
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PaulTheRoaster
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#108: Post by PaulTheRoaster »

Jake_G wrote:It was the case prior to the firmware update. After the firmware update that enabled line pressure preinfusion, LM chose to ignore the level sensor once you select "plumbed in" on the app. Sounds like they have not (yet) disabled the sensor on the Micra, which is beneficial to those of us included to try out the steam boiler-powered preinfusion.
I see. I forgot we are well into the age of the firmware.

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#109: Post by Zoobee »

Jake_G wrote:It was the case prior to the firmware update. After the firmware update that enabled line pressure preinfusion, I was under the assumption that LM chose to ignore the level sensor once you select "plumbed in" on the app. Sounds like they have not (yet) disabled the sensor on the Micra, which is beneficial to those of us included to try out the steam boiler-powered preinfusion.
Out of curiosity, how did you even find this out? Did you let the water level get low enough on the reservoir to see for yourself? Did someone tell you about it? I'm so bummed that my Mini disabled the sensor! The results I can get from preinfusion aren't possible with "pre-brew", it just seems so ridiculous for them to act like I shouldn't be using it.

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#110: Post by dparrish replying to Zoobee »

As another Mini owner here, I think we should at least be grateful that LM FINALLY enabled a feature which should have been available from the "get go". I'm guessing it was initially a marketing decision. If they can allow the preinfusion, I don't see why they couldn't override the sensor issue. But I'm not an engineer. Perhaps consider plumbing in, or at least fill up the tank before you begin a session? It's for sure that if the Mini doesn't at least keep up in features to the Micra, its sales will suffer. I'm guessing that's why preinfusion was enabled with the release of the Micra.

BTW, the preinfusion on my Mini has already made a BIG difference, even with my preference for medium to dark roasts. Mine is plumbed in, so I can't comment how it compares to a tank-only preinfusion.