jpender wrote: It's understandable that you haven't waded through the many posts on this very, very long thread that have addressed this issue. Let me summarize: No, you don't need it... unless you want to know what the pressure is. That sounds flippant but it's the truth. If simply observing the flow of the shot is sufficient for you then the gauge would be superfluous.

haha, yes, 185 pages not an easy task or just no time to go through all of them

I have heard very mixed reviews about the gauge, and most people as you said, they don't really pay attention to it.

THnak you very much,
Leo

A long thread like this can be searched for an item of interest. No need to read through all of it.

leonelbego wrote:I have heard very mixed reviews about the gauge, and most people as you said, they don't really pay attention to it.

That's not what I said. I don't actually know whether the majority of people who have the gauge look at it or not. But it's true that some use it and some don't. I look at mine on every single shot. I find that I'm just not able to feel how hard I need to push/pull to achieve, say, 6-7 bar. I could probably pull good shots at 4 bar or 10 bar, but it's nice to have some control, and it's easy enough to do. I wish I had a temperature gauge.

Frankly, I thought the cost of the gauge was pretty small. And, unlike you, I like the way it looks.

jpender wrote: That's not what I said. I don't actually know whether the majority of people who have the gauge look at it or not. But it's true that some use it and some don't. I look at mine on every single shot. I find that I'm just not able to feel how hard I need to push/pull to achieve, say, 6-7 bar. I could probably pull good shots at 4 bar or 10 bar, but it's nice to have some control, and it's easy enough to do. I wish I had a temperature gauge.

Frankly, I thought the cost of the gauge was pretty small. And, unlike you, I like the way it looks.

+1

drgary wrote:A long thread like this can be searched for an item of interest. No need to read through all of it.

image

Thank you for pointing that out. With my phone, that "Search this Topic" search box only appears in the widescreen (holding phone horizontally) view.

mostlymark wrote:Thanks! (That's my video.) This little leveling tool has been working really well for me for the past couple of months. It's easy to use, and I find that I've been able to almost completely eliminate shots that go bad due to crooked tamping and the channeling that results.

What particular materials (and size) did you use to make that leveling tool?

Hello everyone, new to the forums here!

I have a question regarding the preassure profile when using the robot...the thing is, I cannot, for the life of me, go higher than 3-4 bar at best when pulling a shot, and I just can't understand the reason behind it.

Well, the first thing that comes to mind, probably, is grind size. This is where I'll mention I also own the excellent Flair. I am able to pull decent shots(new to the Flair as well), and can easily get to 9-10 bars of preasure when pulling a shot with it. I tried going significantly finer for the Robot although I shouldn't have to, with no success(so fine im sure the Flair would choke if I tried this grind size). Still, can't get to desirable 6-7 bars.

Now, when pulling a shot with the robot, I tried using 16-17gr of coffee. The shots are very easy to pull, very quick to pull, and involve some spurts especially in the first couple of seconds of every shot.
Considering this, I assumed this is to do with the tamping (channeling seems to be present), the shower screen placement(I noticed that the screen can quite easily be placed unevenly on the coffee bed), or both.
To try and solve these possible problems, I tried: tamping significantly harder and more evenly, and placing the screen in as balanced as possible, even gently pressing it onto the coffee bed. This did help a little, raising the highest achievable pressure from roughly 2 bars, to 4(at best).

At this point, I am a bit stumped as to what else can be done, and would appreciate some help!

Johnathan, just a couple of quick suggestions to try:

• Up your dose by 2-3g using the same grind. Does that make any difference?
• Use several seconds of preinfusion, very lightly pressing the arms to enable puck saturation without drips.
• Use different beans, and make sure they're freshly roasted. If your current beans are roasted light, try something medium to dark?
• While the Robot's forgiving reputation is richly deserved, distribution is still important. Try some WDT, and focus on tamping level. You might find a lighter touch actually works better for avoiding channeling than a heavy tamp.

Javier wrote:What particular materials (and size) did you use to make that leveling tool?

I think this is the part I used. Then just get a rigid tube (metal straw, wooden dowel, etc.) and cut to size and wedge it in there.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/NIBCO-1-1-2 ... /100345781