Flow rate affects extraction. Too slow and you overextract, yielding flavors you described. Slight underextraction won't hurt much with a dark roast except with somewhat thinner body. No timer means don't overthink this. Get approximately adequate flow. Experiment by taste. You'll see flow increase toward the end and can decrease heat. That's something you'll need to dial

You could get one laser cut out of stainless. It would not have the taper on the slots like an oem, but would be sturdy and functional. One hesitation I would have going with stainless is the potential to chip the coating in the base

when you separate the two pieces, can see how it seals against I guess that white part (even had a red stain against it from the old oring for however many years). So I placed the o-ring on the valve so when you slip the top piece/nut back on to screw it, it seals. Like the nut, that

Interesting... where in the VB does a #007 o-ring go? In your bottom link it shows a disassembled anti-vac valve. That one has a white o-ring at the base of the plunger. Your photo has something red. If that is a silicone #007, it will wear and fail again because silicone is not specced for steam. This is

I did molykote the timing belt, as suggested. It's been a quieter (more than a little bit, but not dramatic) when the motor speeds up for the purge; and it stayed that way for the past few weeks. Don't know if it's permanent, or if the lube will need to be repeated

Ok, so I'm probably still not coarse enough. Honestly, there are literally dozens of photos online all showing different coarseness. But if I understand well, one specific grind size is an impossibility to say with a moka pot because different coffees and different extractions and different personal tastes will mean different coarseness. Won't it? Anyway, "let it flow without timing

Tim - what technique are you using to brew? I do a lot of flash chilled pour over in the summer, but haven't ever really done cold brew