The BWT pressure reducer's made to be adjustable from 2 to 8 Bar (30 PSI - 120 PSI approximately) and I find that they can maintain pressures even below 2 Bar.
https://www.espressoplanet.com/BWT-Pres ... 80A00.html
Try again to adjust it to various settings, while only a trickle is flowing through it. If yours isn't adjustable through that range, you should return it and get a working one.

The BWT pressure reducer took a full reset by moving it in both directions a couple of times before the valve seated right, it seems. at 35psi now.

for everyone with a plumbed in machine, is your standing pump pressure >0? when connected to the tank, pump pressure is 0 bar. now that its plumbed, it sits at around 3 bar. when the pump is in use, up to ~11 or so, depending on grind size/head pressure.

i notice its also meaningfully louder now. any feedback if thats normal?

Yes, when plumbed in the pump gauge will display the pressure at the pump. I had the Chris Coffee regulator on mine but it failed. Now without the regulator I am just at 4 bar but my dealer advised me that that was fine as the machine is built like a tank. I think 1st Line recommends 3.5 bar on the Bianca setup page. 0.5 bar difference, pfffftttt...

Thanks slybarman, I appreciate the kind words!

I've been playing around with the machine, going through about 2kg of medium-dark coffee trying to dial in the grinder and to deal with channeling. So far I've discovered that for 16g of coffee beans I need to use the deeper double basket because on the shallower one I'm getting very visible showercreen imprints which I assume is not good (but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong).

Additionally, the factory preinfusion always causes channeling for me (4s preinfusion with 6s rest). It also starts dripping lightly during preinfusion irrespective of tamping pressure or grind size adjustments. I am trying to dial in the grinder by weight (1:2) which I can do repeatably without preinfusion, but as soon as I start using the factory preinfusion the brew ratios go out of whack (I suspect due to channeling). My tamps are careful, probably not perfect but I make sure to I avoid the most common pitfalls I've read about.

Since then I changed my routine to manual preinfusion using the paddle. I allow it to reach about 3 bar within 10s (at which time I turn it all the way to the left) and on the 20s mark I restore the full pressure on the head (about 10 bar after adjusting it). Well, so far there has been no channeling by doing that! Looking at the extraction, it takes a few seconds for the flow to converge, but eventually it does after 5-7 or so seconds.
Once or twice I got a small spray that lasted half a second, but in all cases the puck does not reveal any signs of channeling (unlike with using the factory preinfusion). The puck cannot be cleanly removed; there's some residual mud on the sides and occasionally a small puddle of water on top of it as well (but very minor).

I do not have any photos (sorry), but based on my descriptions, am I committing any cardinal sins that are easily identifiable? Thanks for taking the time to read all that!

Hi James,

Lovely setup.

Quenthel wrote:P.S.: The Breville grinder is nothing special, but it works well enough (for now).

This grinder is not bed. You can upgrade your setup by buying better grinder only for espresso and still use Breville for drip and other methods...

is anyone tracking machine setup, as well? I am currently running the machine at factory pressure, etc; and have the brew temp set to 93C, and steam temp at ~127C. i find at 93C, it produces the sweetest shots, to date.

Most of my roasts are SM blends, or my own blend, brazil dominant, roasted to FC+ (+/- lol)

Hey Steve, thanks for chiming in! The coffee has a roast date of 2019/12/9 and it's a medium roast from a roaster shop here in Zurich. It's this one: https://vicafe.ch/product/hausmischung/ (House mix). I believe the coffee is fine, but distribution is more like it's the actual problem. I've tried WDT as well as tapping the portafilter before I tamp it and the second approach worked quite a bit better so far, but not consistently.

Hi Mitosz, thanks for the kind comments! I do plan to buy a new grinder, but since I tend to do single-dosing I'd need to look for something specialised and (I guess) rather expensive, as such I'd rather not do it right away. I mean, I know this grinder can't compare with "proper" ones, but it can't be that awful to the point of not being able to produce any passable shot whatsoever, right?

I've orderer the Jack leveller after watching WLL's video on it. Impressive how the compacted ground coffee comes out in one piece from the portafilter without tamping at all. I like repeatable consistency and if this can provide it, I at least get to remove one coefficient out of the equation.

Quenthel wrote: I mean, I know this grinder can't compare with "proper" ones, but it can't be that awful to the point of not being able to produce any passable shot whatsoever, right?

Yes, you are right.
My Lelit William (64mm burrs) hopper is always filled with my favorite beans, and my Sage Pro Grinder is for other beans/alternative methods etc...

funkyhog wrote:Hi guys,

I have just bought a Bianca which will be delivered tomorrow. What bugs me though, is the fact that where I live water is very hard. We are talking about 350-400 ppm.

Now, I do not have the option to plumb it in unfortunately, and no, I cannot do anything about it. Considering that I also hate the idea of having to buy bottled water (for both cost and environmental reasons), I am looking for solutions to get around the issue.

I have spoken with a Lelit technician which recommended to stick to the Lelit Resin filter and exchange it every 3 months. They also advised to descale the machine once or twice a year.

Now, on top of doing that (I will for sure use the filter that comes with Bianca and replace it periodically), I was wondering if it make sense ADDITIONALLY add a BWT Bestsave filter in the tank. So the idea would be to use both filters at the same time.

What do you think? Is it stupid/counter-productive/useless or does it make sense?

These are the readings that I could find for my tap water:

Overall hardness: 37.5 fH (french Degrees, not German)
Natrium: 24 mg/L
Magnesium: 21 mg/L
Nitrat: 17.8 mg/L
Kalium: 2.5 mg/L
Chlorid: 30 mg/L
Sulfat: 22 mg/L
ph: 7.0

Many thanks for your support!

This post and response was split by moderator into a new topic in the water forum: LeLit Bianca Water Filter Advice