naked-portafilter wrote:CT2 indahouse .

Hi Gabor, any word on whether your piston will work on the CT2? Any new ones planned?

Hi Mike,

Pierre installed it already (see second post of this thread). I will also check and measure in the next few days (Wouter informed me also in June/July that there won't be any changes to the geometry of the piston unit). But I'd like to see the machine myself before we make the next batch of the piston pressure kit. The lid is different for sure.

Thanks Gábor! I'm looking forward to handing money over to you (a CT2 should arrive next week).

@ryanp - As far as temperature control, it seems very well done to me. I'm not entirely sure what I would have been looking for in terms of that having come from the europickle which did not have any true adjustable control. Determining the actual temperature is a guess since it depends on if the cover is on the tank and if it has just come up to temp on the heat/re-heat cycle. But I have a Thermoworks Termapen that I put in the water through the hole at the top of the lid. It immediately tells me the temp. The adjustment knob works nicely. But it is an analog adjustment - so it kind of goes by feel (with the help of the thermapen).

Not sure if additional pictures help a lot since the Strietman web site covers those pretty well. But I'll include the one of the temp knob (dust particles included). I suppose the most important thing to me is that it makes me happy when I use it. There is art and skill involved. You don't just push a button and ask for drink X. Extremely simple but extremely variable. Dang. I can't wait until tomorrow morning for the next shot. I hate that part of growing older. I used to be able to drink coffee in the evening.

Tetra wrote:image
I have a Thermoworks Termapen that I put in the water through the hole at the top of the lid. It immediately tells me the temp.

Just beware that the pen is just in the water and not sitting up against the metal cone or the top of the cylinder- I found that if the tip of my thermopop is resting on the metal, the temp reads several degrees hotter. I ended up drilling a hole sort of near the center to drop the probe through so that is is in the water.

Thanks - that is good advice. I'm pretty sure I am getting just the water temp (via moving it around and making sure it is actually in the water ... I have found that removing that lid adds variability so I am going blind ... but it does add to the art/skill aspect, so I kind of like it). In addition, the temp seems very consistent when I leave the lid on, so it it is mostly just a verification required by my nerd nature.

Can anyone comment on how much the temp varies as the heating element cycles?

I measured it this morning after it had been heating for a while. Like my Europiccola, it seems to stabilize and benefit from heating for a while. According to the Thermapen, the range was 4 degrees at the setting I was using (195 to 199 F).

I wonder now what the Europiccola range is; I never had any way to measure its temp. Based on "subjective feel", it seems similar. I learned to control the La Pavoni temp by turning it off between shots. With the CT2, I am finding it seems to work well to just leave it on. I typically pull 3 shots in the morning over 40 minutes.

naked-portafilter wrote:CT2 indahouse . The new owner wanna try our Smart Espresso Profiler and gave me his CT2 in exchange.

This is his humble setup in his open-space office:

image

Love the look of that lever on the machine such a beautiful piece on the counter

I received my Strietman CT2 about 10 days ago, hurray! My CT1 I've been using happily for a few year moves to my vacation place.

The many incremental improvements of the CT2 are appreciated. So far what I have noted:

* The attachment brass knob for the piston arm is cool, instead of a fiddly bolt and washers
* The slightly bigger handle on the portafilter feels good on the hands
* The lower drip tray is convenient
* The tighter temperature range is excellent
* The fully stainless steel internal walls are going to be even easier to clean