Hi Martin,

The first 30 pieces batch are ready for sales. We exhibit on the World of Coffee Show in Budapest now. I will put the Strietman kit in the shop after the exhibition (next week). Wouter visited us yesterday and prepared the espressos all day long for the visitors at our booth.



It was fun.

Last shot at the World of Coffee Budapest exhibition was pulled by Doug. That was his first one with a Strietman. We had a great chat and I was really happy to meet him and Barb in person.





@HB

Hi Dan,

The product is up for sale now and the topic can be locked. I would be glad to read about experiences in a separte topic later.

And as always, thanks for your ideas and comments!

Gabor

Some support for CT1 owners installing the kit. Sorry for being a bit behind...

First step: remove the c-clip and the pin at the "joint" of the shaft and lever. The piston unit can be pulled out now easily.
Picture taken by @RyanP



Removing the pin from the piston and separate the shaft and the piston unit (make it carefully!):





Now the piston shaft can be attached to the new (kit) piston unit, just follow the pictures:











as last step thighten the bolt with the hex key srewdriver (it's in the box) and place the piston unit back in the group attach the shaft to the lever and turn the pressure gauge half a turn back.

How do you adjust the needle?

Hi Martin,

I recalibrate all gauges after changing the faceplate. Your kit must have had a really tough ride over the ocean if it needs readjustment. Hopefully not damaged. The markings on the SS faceplate are for 6,9 and 12 bars (see picture)



Here you can read a short manual for removing the needle:

Olympia Cremina piston pressure gauge unboxing

Replace it carefully at the keeper/stopper (stopper on the right, arm/pointer turns clockwise) and it should be fine. Important: the stopper marks the 0 point, the arm/needle should stop even without the stopper at this position and should move right at the start of the pull.

hope this helps

Gábor

naked-portfilter wrote:Hi Martin,

I recalibrate all gauges after changing the faceplate. Your kit must have had a really tough ride over the ocean if it needs readjustment. Hopefully not damaged. The markings on the SS faceplate are for 6,9 and 12 bars (see picture)

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Replace it carefully at the keeper/stopper (stopper on the right, arm/pointer turns clockwise) and it should be fine. Important: the stopper marks the 0 point, the arm/needle should stop even without the stopper at this position and should move right at the start of the pull.

hope this helps

Gábor

Did replace the pointer as per instruction. Working good now. Thank you Gabor.

naked-portfilter wrote:
Replace it carefully at the keeper/stopper (stopper on the right, arm/pointer turns clockwise) and it should be fine. Important: the stopper marks the 0 point, the arm/needle should stop even without the stopper at this position and should move right at the start of the pull.

hope this helps

Gábor

I know you mentioned via email that mine is fine, but reading your description here I am again a bit confused. The pointer on my gauge is below/on the right of the stopper. I'm not sure how it would be possible for the pointer to turn clockwise since it is being blocked by the stopper.

Hey Ryan,

My bad, I checked your post on my mobile phone. It seemed to be on the right side. You don't have to remove the arm/pointer just move the top of the pointer (lift it carefully) to the left side of the stopper. Sorry for the confusion.

Gabor

Gabor

Received and installed the gauge today. Looks and performs great! Thanks for the quick turnaround and sample coffee.

David

Hello Gabor,

I received my kit last week, and installed it over the weekend. It looks and performs beautifully! My only complaint is that the machine runs 10 degrees cooler with the inability to use the boiler cover. This is even with turning the knob all the way to the + side. I may need to PID this machine now, or fashion a different cover. Anyone found a good PID solution for the CT1?

One thing I did while installing the kit was to put the C-clip in too far, below its slot. This prevented the inner piston pivot from rising, and no water would pass thorough on first use. This was entirely my fault, but was pretty easy to do accidentally. The C-clip must be fully seated in the slot, not below it. This probably would not have happened if I used better lighting!

Also, I was not able to remove the lever arm pivot axle by tapping alone; it was necessary to heat it with a torch. I wonder whether Wouter used some Red Loctite or equivalent to secure it.