La Marzocco Linea Mini - Connected Board - Pre-Brewing - Issue when shot goes over 57 seconds

[BoulderMike]

I just had the connected board installed yesterday. I have the pre-brewing set to 5s on/off. I use a 25g basket to make two shots at one time. Normally my shots take anywhere from 45 seconds to over a minute. When the shot goes over 57 seconds, as designed by LM, the Linea Mini shuts off. Normally what I do is just move the paddle to off and then quickly move it to on again.
My issue is that when doing this it thinks it is a new shot and does the pre-brewing again.
Does anyone know a way to use the pre-brewing and not have this happen in over 57 second shots? Unless someone knows different, I don't think there is a way to lengthen the brewing turning off at 57 seconds.
Thanks for any suggestions anyone might have.

[Jake_G]

Hey Mike Bob,
The only way I can think of doing this would be to install a DPDT relay and take over control of the solenoid and pump. But even this is messy, because doing so would eliminate preinfusion entirely. No easy way to do it unless you have a separate switch you flip to extend the shot.

That might be the best way.

So, you have a switch that you manually flip to extend the shot. This way, the paddle starts the shot normally, and then if you decide to go longer, you flip your switch, which engages the double pole relay and keeps the solenoid and pump running. If you tie the 'extend' switch into the output from the paddle, you can ensure that when you switch the paddle off, the shot stops. You can also use a momentary switch instead of a toggle switch so that you press the switch, you latch the relay that extends the shot and then the paddle unlatches the relay and ends the shot normally.

You'd need a suitable relay, a switch and some wire to make it work. Nothing too special.

Cheers!

- Jake

[BoulderMike (original poster)]

Thanks, sounds dooable, but not being too handy, it might be above my skill level. I wonder why LM designed the LMLM to cut off the shot at 57 seconds?

[Jake_G]

It's a safety 'feature' in case the switch goes bad and the machine starts pouring water indefinitely. Putting a timer in is a rational move to avoid flooded kitchens.

Unfortunately, they assume that since the Italian definition of espresso is 25s shots. That 57 or 60s is more than enough time to pull a shot. It's a pity, because a 2 minute limit would have afforded the same level of safety, but allowed folks to use the machine in a much more flexible manner.

[Fitz454]

The easiest way is to disable pre-brew, time a manual pre-brew with the app shot timer. Then the tricky part is timing the pause by counting yourself, then restarting the shot. This would allow your previous process to continue past 1 minute. App timer resets automatically after flushes but not sure if it would in this case if you are using it vs. a scale to time your shots.

Probably already thought of this.

[beans+crumble]

It's a safety 'feature' in case the switch goes bad and the machine starts pouring water indefinitely. Putting a timer in is a rational move to avoid flooded kitchens.

Unfortunately, they assume that since the Italian definition of espresso is 25s shots. That 57 or 60s is more than enough time to pull a shot. It's a pity, because a 2 minute limit would have afforded the same level of safety, but allowed folks to use the machine in a much more flexible manner.

Is this something that LM can adjust with software update? I've read many posts here about people wanting a longer brew time past the preset safety feature on their machines. You would think LM could hear this feedback and make firmware adjustments to extend the time to 2 minutes like you say...

[Jake_G]

It would be easy to wrap this timer into the app on connected machines, but they would need to see a steady request for the feature from their customers to make it worthwhile.

I had a custom firmware on my old GS/3 controller, but I gave that up when I installed the connected kit.

I haven't found the need to go beyond the 60s limit since upgrading, but it was nice to have the flexibility to do so.

[BoulderMike (original poster)]

It's a safety 'feature' in case the switch goes bad and the machine starts pouring water indefinitely. Putting a timer in is a rational move to avoid flooded kitchens.

Unfortunately, they assume that since the Italian definition of espresso is 25s shots. That 57 or 60s is more than enough time to pull a shot. It's a pity, because a 2 minute limit would have afforded the same level of safety, but allowed folks to use the machine in a much more flexible manner.

Amen, you are spot on with that!