Troubleshooting Robot Basket Insertion - Page 4

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drgary
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#31: Post by drgary »

Can you inspect and see if there is a tear anywhere on the piston gasket?
Gary
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What I WOULD do for a good cup of coffee!

jpender
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#32: Post by jpender »

YeetSkeeterson wrote:When I try to insert the basket with the arms down, it seems to almost consistently catch the final portion of it and flip it upwards.

I suggested you try that before trying it myself. I found it just about impossible to do! The seal just doesn't want to go in the basket like that.

And for what it's worth, the gauge on mine contacts the arm. There is possibly some tiny bit of extra piston travel that my Robot is denied. But it works fine. And looking at the photo you posted of the piston with the arms up it appears well retracted.

Everything appears fine in your photos. While changing the seal might not help it's an easy thing to try. It can't hurt.

samuellaw178
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#33: Post by samuellaw178 »

Hmm, I am at a lost too. Visually your basket and machine looked perfectly fine. I don't think the piston seal could be the culprit but hopefully I am wrong and it's something simple as that.

To me I suspect that the problem comes from not having sufficient clearance between your portafilter ear+basket and the groove the portafilter slots into (i.e. the thickness of the portafilter ear+basket are very close to the height of the groove). But I don't know how that could be the case especially that it was perfectly fine before. Your basket+portafilter looks perfectly normal and shold give enough clearance. The other possibility is out of round basket+portafilter (as the portafilter alone locks in fine as you mentioned), but that's extremely unlikely to happen from normal use unless the portafilter is dropped from a great height and deformed somehow (that's unlikely too as you seem to take care of it and would have noted it).

I have this much clearance when the portafilter is locked in. Not sure if it will lead to anything but hopefully it can help shed some light or hints.

max
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#34: Post by max »

Thank you for starting this topic; I also have serious trouble with locking in, but the dismissive tone in the main Robot thread discouraged me from engaging in discussion. I rarely use my Robot because of this... this problem leads to more issues that just locking in, but if the portafilter is the cause, I believe all my issues could be solved.

My basket also does not sit fully down (pic 1). As you can see in the pictures, the portafilter is not symmetric (pic 2), and this is what does not allow the basket down. I assumed this is by design. Could somebody confirm is this is the case for all Robots or just mine?

To be clear, one section of the rim is thicker. Too thick for the basket.




jpender
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#35: Post by jpender »

Paul will have to respond here but to my eye that appears to be a defect in machining. My PF is recessed at the top evenly all the way around.

From where and when did you buy it?

I simulated your PF by inserting a piece of thin cord under the lip of the basket so that it sat up a few millimeters. I had to push it up a little further which required more effort and a bit of a wiggle. But then it twisted/locked with no problem. That was with an empty basket. It's possible that with coffee/water it would be more difficult.

Rotated for ease of viewing:




max
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#36: Post by max »

I bought it from Cafelat a bit more than a year ago. I am a bit sad I didn't question this earlier, as it would have saved me a great deal of frustration. As Paul is receiving a "barrage" of emails, I will wait a bit and see if he sees my post here. Otherwise I will contribute to said barrage.

YeetSkeeterson (original poster)
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#37: Post by YeetSkeeterson (original poster) »

jpender wrote: I suggested you try that before trying it myself. I found it just about impossible to do! The seal just doesn't want to go in the basket like that.

And for what it's worth, the gauge on mine contacts the arm. There is possibly some tiny bit of extra piston travel that my Robot is denied. But it works fine. And looking at the photo you posted of the piston with the arms up it appears well retracted.

Everything appears fine in your photos. While changing the seal might not help it's an easy thing to try. It can't hurt.
Hmm that is interesting, I thought based on being asked to do it, it should've gone smoothly, but maybe it's just not designed to be placed on the piston when the arms are down, I'm guessing the inner body of the Robot helps guide the basket?
max wrote:I bought it from Cafelat a bit more than a year ago. I am a bit sad I didn't question this earlier, as it would have saved me a great deal of frustration. As Paul is receiving a "barrage" of emails, I will wait a bit and see if he sees my post here. Otherwise I will contribute to said barrage.
Thanks for the input max. The Robot cost me $430, which was followed by the Barista Robot sale on Prima Coffee for $350 (plus I had points, so $330 or so, I can't remember, frustrating regardless) just a few days later. I purchased it 4 months ago specifically out of its mechanical simplicity, however it seems to have proven rather troublesome. I used it daily for a two months straight but now it's happy to see use once a week.

I believe got one of the first from the "new" batch (having asked specifically), from "a new supplier of the aluminium die cast main body and plate" (@cafelatco instagram), when the very part I am having trouble with was the only thing that changed apparently besides how the legs are fastened to the base. I didn't think I'd need to digest what specifically changed, but I believe I have one of them and would like to know, I have no idea where it is in this forum. Does this new batch mean ANYTHING regarding my issue? Probably not, but I don't know. Maybe it's an issue that DOES arise over time, within my one year warranty.

I have contributed greatly to the "barrage" of emails, often 2-3 emails a month, usually sent within minutes of each other, appending something I deem helpful that I may have forgotten when I feel the need to try and troubleshoot something. This ultimately leads to no progress due to feeling like a huge burden and simply having to live with a Robot that doesn't function anywhere near as well as it did the first week.

I have done everything I can except buy more components to troubleshoot this issue.

max
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#38: Post by max »

YeetSkeeterson wrote:... and simply having to live with a Robot that doesn't function anywhere near as well as it did the first week.
This leads me to another observation of mine: It was better in the beginning. Finally after some problems with the gasket, I used the replacement gasket and it was like in the beginning again (still a little difficult, but manageable). Shortly thereafter, the problems returned. My hypothesis is that the lock-in difficulty affects the gaskets as well. After the change it didn't take long until the problems were bad as always.

I am very curious to hear Paul's take on this, but, as I said, I'll wait to see if he sees it here first to not overload his email.

YeetSkeeterson (original poster)
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#39: Post by YeetSkeeterson (original poster) replying to max »

Now I expect some sort of mechanical deterioration, but this was conceived over four years I believe he said and I would hope it'd function properly for four months. I used the Flair Pro for roughly the same time frame as well and didn't have a single issue, it always functioned as it was designed with no hiccups. It didn't produce espresso as tasty as the Robot but it was nonetheless functionally sound the entire time I owned it.

I do not have any expectations right now, outside of being a burden, buying components or hearing that there was indeed some sort of machining flaw that manifests over time, I cannot do anything after many days of troubleshooting and my Robot will remain close to unused.

I also do not expect any response to be anything other than pointing the finger back at me, but I will await said response and hopefully eat my words.

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Paul_Pratt
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#40: Post by Paul_Pratt »

max wrote:Thank you for starting this topic; I also have serious trouble with locking in, but the dismissive tone in the main Robot thread discouraged me from engaging in discussion. I rarely use my Robot because of this... this problem leads to more issues that just locking in, but if the portafilter is the cause, I believe all my issues could be solved.

My basket also does not sit fully down (pic 1). As you can see in the pictures, the portafilter is not symmetric (pic 2), and this is what does not allow the basket down. I assumed this is by design. Could somebody confirm is this is the case for all Robots or just mine?

To be clear, one section of the rim is thicker. Too thick for the basket.
That is explained by hand polishing. We machine the inside and the top rim and then the exterior is hand sanded and then polished. The sanding and hand polishing are all done manually and by eye. We try not to touch the machined surfaces. Since it is all done by hand and due to the unique shape we can't just turn them all by CNC. Any surface that has a machined and brushed finish is a critical surface, anything that is mirror is mostly decorative and can be afforded a lesses tolerance.

Just to reiterate, I do build and test each Robot myself. I make 3 dummy shots and lock in the portafilter half a dozen or so times. The portafilter has to be quite tight, but not so much that you can't lock it in. Any that are tight I repolish or machine. I would rather the whole thing be as safe and secure as possible than loose, we are dealing with boiling water under pressure afterall.

It is correct that the seal will go into the basket when you lock it in. Drop us an email if you are still having issues.