Synesso Cyncra 1 group (V2) Low Brewhead Temperature

[Emeed]

I recently purchased a very seldom used but 9 year old Synesso Cyncra (220v). It is impeccably clean inside and out.
I am having some issues after getting it all hooked up.
I know that the machine has been sitting unused/unhooked up for about past 2 years.
I drained the tanks to start with fresh water. Everything seems to be flowing ok and heating. The readouts on the keypad all are good.
I have Brew group temp set to 203F.
Was struggling getting any decent shots....really disappointing considering the machines reputation.
Finally i check the water temp coming right out of the head. Its not reaching any higher that 180C ?!
No matter how long i run, machine on for hours.....180C is max.
Yet the digital pad reads a steady 203C (it has to recover a bit after i run a long shot, but only a few degrees)

Anyone have any advice what this could be??

I fear scale build up, mainly because the machine looks so new that i cant imaging any mechanical issues.
But even if it has some scale buildup possibly, would that really effect the water brew temp this much?

Please help if any insight to share. I'm anxious to get some good shots out of this beauty.

[chipman]

The temperature at the group is always less then the boiler where it is measured. Your machine seems to be performing correctly. i suspect your issues lay elsewhere. Maybe you could describe in more detail your preparation and how your shots aren't up to par.

[Jake_G]

The temperature at the group is always less then the boiler where it is measured. Your machine seems to be performing correctly. i suspect your issues lay elsewhere. Maybe you could describe in more detail your preparation and how your shots aren't up to par.

While this is technically true, the offset on a Synesso should be less than 5°F.

Finally i check the water temp coming right out of the head. Its not reaching any higher that 180C ?!

What method did you use to check the temperature?

If using anything other than a Scace thermofilter, I have doubts that your 180°F measurement is accurate. If you shove a high-speed thermometer into a Styrofoam cup cut to fit against the group gasket, you can get a relatively decent measurement, but it will still likely be a few degrees lower than actual.

My experience with Synesso machines is that 1) their group heads tend to cool off sitting idle for a few hours or so and they need a flush to warm them up and 2) they seem to perform better around 205-207 on the controller with anything roasted lighter than a traditional Italian roast.

Cheers!

-Jake

[Emeed (original poster)]

OK, so i guess i was a bit hasty at checking the temp at the brew head. I got another thermometer (digital) and holding it in the stream right at the brew screen (same as i had done with the other thermometer), I was now getting temp as high as 199C. So i guess it must be an inaccurate thermometer. It was the dial kind that would be used in the milk can.

I am new to this type of machine and using the new grinder i got at the same time. I think i just need to play around with different settings, grind size, proper tamping, even spreading. The wife is scratching her head wondering why we got this thing when we still have a perfectly good Breville Oracle in the house. I have to say, once you get an Oracle dialed in to a specific bean. It does a pretty amazing job at repeating the same cup (primarily americanos in our case). But once they get a bit older, repairing them can be like preforming open heart surgery. The Synesso looks like a dream to maintain (hopefully it will be minimal, but everything looks super easy to get at with normal tools)

I did get 1 really good shot this afternoon , but i couldn't repeat it when i tried a second one.

BTW, I did post some pics but they are not showing up.

[Emeed (original poster)]

I also did increase my Brew Group Temp setting. It was 200 when i first set it up this week. I moved it to 204 earlier today, but maybe as per Jake, i will move it up a bit more.
Thanks for the advice Jake!

[Jake_G]

No problem!

I see you uploaded some images, but you need to place them into the body of your post for us to see them.

Here is one you uploaded:


Cheers!

-Jake

[Emeed (original poster)]

Jake, that's not the one I ended up getting. That one was from a coffee shop.
Mine wasn't used for commercial use.

One thing I wonder about is whether I should leave this on all the time or shut it down after my last coffee of the day (around 5PM) then on again in the morning. Normal use will only be 2-5 coffees a day, then when guest over it will get used a lot more.
I hear some say it is better for machine to stay on all the time. So expansion and temp changes won't effect the machine as much. Should I be concerned about this?