jpender wrote:Then I came up with a more elegant solution, which again involved the pinkish silicone.

Basically it's a loop, an armband if you like, that provides just enough friction between the arms when they are fully raised to keep them up:

Can you please point me to a source for this looped pinkish silicone? I would like to get some. Thanks!

I made it out of a thin sheet of silicone that I purchased years ago at a cookware store. I've been slowly cutting that sheet into pieces for various
projects and I'm just about out of it. You can find silicone sheets on amazon -- that's where I was thinking of ordering some more. That liquid stuff also looks quite handy (and expensive).

Anyway, that loop is a doubled piece of the sheet that I glued into a loop shape on the arm. It isn't stretchy enough to work over the claw.

Ah. Thank you!

jpender wrote:I made it out of a thin sheet of silicone that I purchased years ago at a cookware store...

In light of what Paul Pratt said in the other thread, I pulled out some SCUBA bungee cord and made this. It opens all sorts of preheat possibilities. It was already very handy in my first use of it making a flat white.

Hands Up!

How do you like that steamer for the Robot?

I think it's great. It combines a pump and thermal block to produce continuous on-demand steam. It has worked as expected.

I was worried at first that the two-hole tip would be an issue - you read about people switching their La Pavoni's to a single hole tip - but it is fine. Since I figured out the technique to swirl milk and fold the bubbles back in, I have been able to consistently create good microfoam for my flat whites. (It helps to have a good pitcher; I am using the 300ml version from Cafelat which works well.)

The combination of Robot espresso and microfoamed milk from this unit is producing excellent flat whites. (And early on when I had several fails in the swirling technique to make flat whites, I ended up with wonderful cappuccinos instead. )

The machine is called the Welhome MS-130D. It is easy to buy here in mainland China; I am in Shanghai and bought it on their TMall store. They have online store in HK too. Unfortunately, it seems that they do not make a 120 volt version.



I did find a European re-brand online, the Dualit Cino. It looks to be exactly the same machine, plus a built-in water filter (which is a good idea; I use distilled water only to avoid problems.)

(Lastly, I have discovered that the MS-130D is useful for more than steaming milk with the Robot. It has become part on my preheat process and this for me is a game changer. But that is for a future post.)

20190602: Updated the name of this thread to encompass a variety of ideas and mods for controlling temperature on the Robot. All thoughts, ideas and mods are welcome.

Teaser pic of a fledgling system to monitor temperature on the Robot:



The sensor placement in this picture (monitoring preheating) is primitive and not too useful. The question is where to place it properly? There are two obvious options:
- surface sensor on the inside back side of the piston to monitor its temperature prior to and during a shot. (I already have this but installing it would be difficult)
- probe sensor hanging below the portafilter in the flow of coffee coming out of the robot. (An appropriate sensor for this will come from Canada in July. I think I can rig this up to be not too awkward, but it will be a bit awkward)

I think you could temporarily disable the pressure gauge and thread a sensor through its tube, sealing off the end. You could also buy an extra filter basket and drill it to measure temperature in the coffee cake. OTOH I think you have fully adequate temperature control by pouring water from a PID kettle into the filter basket and the rest is at room temperature. If you preheat the piston consistently with the method you introduced earlier, you'll be able to pull hot enough for very light roasts. A drilled extra basket would be sufficient for the measurement, but that may not be necessary either if you are using a known coffee, dial it in for temperature using a pourover or immersion brew method, and if you experiment to get that taste. With mine, I guess that for a darker roast where I want to brew at 178°F, temperature may drop about 12°F, so I'll pour in water at 190°F. For light roasts I've used Sam Law's method of pouring and emptying hot water from above the shower screen, then pouring in water off the boil. I tune it by taste. I wonder whether running it with constant temperature measurement may distract from the purposeful simplicity of the design and its quality execution.

Thanks for this. In truth, I bought this measuring equipment for an MCAL that never showed up. The Taobao seller gave me all my funds back, but in the meantime I had accumulated a few accessories that would have been quite useful to monitor the grouphead on the MCAL and, I agree, less so on the Robot.

Since I have them, I will have some fun.

I think that the solution may be monitoring coffee outflow from the Robot, i.e. beneath the portafilter, but not on a full time basis which would be overkill. I am playing with be some interesting different preheat methods and it will be interesting to see if measurements reflect what I am perceiving.

I can say that my flat whites are really starting to taste good. I am getting that bite that comes from brewing with hot water.

drgary wrote:A drilled extra basket would be sufficient for the measurement...

That really is the gold standard. Maybe I should order another basket and go for it.

drgary wrote:For light roasts I've used Sam Law's method of pouring and emptying hot water from above the shower screen, then pouring in water off the boil.

I have an evolution of this using steam from the MS-130D and #3 filter papers (56mm). Still playing. I will post about it soon.