Almico wrote:<image>

Nice!

Looks amazing, looking forward to the end result

TomC wrote:From what you've written, it appears that the Fetco brewer you scored is actually going to be your best thing that happened to you so far in regards to this new venture.

Your words have become quite prophetic, Tom. In an effort to get things dialed in before I move into the new venue, I finally got around to supplanting my Fetco 61H with the 2052e and it has quickly become my favorite piece of coffee equipment. There are so many brewing parameters to set; and once I figured out how to get the most out of it, I'm brewing some truly excellent coffee; better than I can do with a pour over or even an Americano.

I'm following Scott Rao's advice and will be brewing into 2L and 3L (Zojirushi) carafes instead of the 1-1/2 gallon Luxus pots. I will get little timers for them and turn them over every 1/2 hour, keeping everything hot and fresh.

The settings I've settled for a 3L pot are:

3.47L brew volume (.4L gets held in ground bed)
4:00 brew time
0% bypass (I have to play around more with this feature)
15% pre-wet
1:00 pre-wet delay
1:30 drip out time
205* temp

Same for 2L except 2.32: brew volume.

The machine does the calculations and adjusts flow rate automatically to achieve the desired brew volume and brew time. It pulses water onto the bed at various intervals. My 61H did none of this.

Since the 2052e is a bit large for such small batches, I had to hot rod it a bit: I found a smaller basket which will permit a deeper bed depth:





Then I had to narrow the spray head so the water would not hit the filter and needed to disable the outer ring of holes. I first tried a batch with some plumbers putty to confirm that it worked. I had some #2 brass screws around, but the holes in the sprayed were slightly to big. I first tried tapping them out, but ended up just drilling them 1/64" larger.



I installed all the screws:



I'm grinding very coarse on the R120, with the dial around 9 o'clock and getting 6:30 total brew times including pre wet and drip out and a very nice brew bed. Perfect.

That setup should make some great coffee, and is up for the task of brewing batch after batch in a commercial environment.

You have to wonder why machines like this exist. Using 1-1/2 gallon dispensers, this machine can make 617 8oz cups per hour. Who the heck is selling over 600 cups an hour, and how many can there be to justify that many being sold? That's 10 cups a minute. I can barely run the cash register that fast, let alone throw cups at someone and tell the to fill their own. I'd be thrilled averaging 60 cups an hour.

I'm keeping my eye out for a smaller Fetco (2032) that still has the same flat shower plate. I can't complain about this one, though. I bought it for $400 and all it needed was a good cleaning.

I just discovered this thread and I go to Lambertville and New Hope regularly. I will be stopping by and paying you a visit once you open next month. Good luck!

Anytime. I'm in town now paying my business privilege tax. The building is makes no progress. Still 6 weeks from opening.

Looking good!

Getting there: