I got the V2 for the levelling. But don't understand the stiff spring. A strong spring is just fighting back against my hand trying to apply force to my coffee. If I think I'm pressing with 30lbs, I might be losing 15 to the spring and only applying 15 to the puck by the time it finally compresses that far. I don't have actual #'s, I haven't measured it, but it's how these things work - I have to have a certain force applied before I even reach my coffee, and afterwards only some of that force being applied is going to the coffee.

The thing should have a 1lb spring or something in it, just enough to return it to the starting position after I use it to tamp. It'd be fine with NO spring in it, so that when I push with 30lbs I actually tamp the coffee with 30lbs.

Normally the spring is between the handle and the base so 100% of the force is transferred to the coffee.

Ira

I think we are (could be me not you) confusing V1 / V2. I have the V2, self levelling, it has a plate built in that rests on the edge of the basket. The spring is pressing against that plate, taking up much of the force.

I checked this morning on a scale, and after a 30lb tamp, I pressed again. It took about 16 pounds of force for me to even reach the puck a 2nd time.

PokyWuWei wrote:I did in my last email reply. Im waiting to hear back from Decent. I personally would never buy a calibrated spring tamper if you could not take the tamper apart and replace the spring.

I am a little perplexed that Decent does not state that the v2 model spring is not replaceable and why they have a tamper kit that includes the springs for replacement and the v2.

If it was/is common knowledge that the v2 tamper spring is not replaceable I would have bought the v1 tamper kit at 30% discount.

I'm looking at the site, the page for the tampers, and it seems pretty clear to me the V1 is about calibrated force, the V2 about levelling. The springs shown say right there in plain site they V1 replacement springs and again that they are for V1 only.

Hi, it is possible to unscrew the handle from the tamper base, and dissassemble the tamper in order to remove or change the spring.
However, it is very tightly put together, you need to clamp the base in a vice, and use a large wrench to turn the handle.
The spring inside the handle is silver colored, it is about 42 mm long and has a 22.5 mm outer diameter.

The force I needed to compress the spring (when mouned inside the tamper) was around 100 Newton (10kg).
Since the springs only function is to return the leveling plate to the start position when you lift the tamper away from the basket,
it is really much to forcefull.

I've meassured the The earlier Decent Tamper model (Non leveling) to need 150 Newton (15kg) of force to comress its spring.
This means (I think) that if you want to apply the same pressure to the coffe when using the Decent Tamper V2 as when using the older Decent Tamper, you need to apply 150 + 100 = 250 Newton = 25kg! instead of 150 Newton (15kg).

What I did myself was to remove the spring from the V2, and now I'm using it without a spring to level the coffe with a light pressure,
and then when the coffe is level in the basket, I use the older Decent Tamper to compress the coffe with the 150 Newton (15kg) force.
It is no problem to return the leveling plate by hand after using the tamper.

Some pictures: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/r7ib7iorc38x ... Fv2la?dl=0

BaristaBob wrote:Now I have The Force Tamper...it's everything I wanted in a tamper, leveling, spring actuated that's adjustable, and with a 58.5mm head. No more tampers in my future...for now!

But of a hijack, but do you get a little suction problem with the ultra precise tamper on the Force Tamper? I've heard some mention it and thus recommend the 58.35mm tamper.

As for the V1/V2, the the V1 was a pressure-based dragon. The V2 was a leveling base design with less care on the specific pressure. Only the Decent V1 had the 25#/30# replaceable springs.

As for the Force Tamper with the 58.5mm, I have not experienced a suction problem even once during my half year of use. I use VST baskets and just maybe that's why, however, I will say that my Decent tamper V1 with the 58.5mm did cause some suction issues if I removed it too quickly. Using a caliper gauge I measured the bases on each and they are the same diameter, so maybe it has to do with the thickness of the tamping base (the Decent tamper being much thicker).

I do agree with Greg's statement about the "pressure feel" of the Decent tamper V2...it wasn't to my liking either.