Noob Questions

[innermusic]

Okee dokey. Finally got this V2 plumbing hooked up. Believe it or not, the actual La Spaz hose had a leak at the termination point!
Now then - some noob Q&A?
1. Preinfusion. What's good starting point? 3 seconds?
2. Temperature offset. This came with no offset. Since I have no scace, is there a typical recommended offset that works for most environments? Leave it at zero?
3. Volume dosing. Once I program the button, how do I unprogram it so it's back to manual? Do you reprogram it every time you dial in a new coffee?
4. Drain kit. Where's the instructions? Tips?
5. Steaming. What is the recommended size pitcher? Amount of milk for the easiest steaming? Any other tips?
6. Baskets. Super tight. Need a screwdriver to remove backets from PF. I posted this in another thread, but wondering if I should just ask La Sp to send me proper springs?

Thank you all for your help.

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[peter]

I'll attempt a few answers...

1. Preinfusion. What's good starting point? 3 seconds?
-You'll have to experiment. Some of it depends on your line pressure. I use a regulator set at 2 bar, and have a 5sec. PI.

2. Temperature offset. This came with no offset. Since I have no scace, is there a typical recommended offset that works for most environments?
-Are you sure there's no offset set? I don't know if all North American machines pass through CCS, and/or if they need to be set by the seller.

3. Volume dosing. Once I program the button, how do I unprogram it so it's back to manual? Do you reprogram it every time you dial in a new coffee?
-I have one button set to give me about 30grams of output, and the other one is perhaps twice that; it serves for rinsing the PF after each shot, so I want it a little longer than my standard shot output. It could also serve as your 'manual' shot, and you'd kill it when the stream blondes to your liking. Because I generally shoot for a certain ratio of coffee grams-to-espresso, I don't reprogram the button's output for new coffees, partly because I never have enough of any one coffee to pull bunches of shots. But that's another story.

4. Drain kit. Where's the instructions? Tips?
-I drilled a hole partway up the back wall of the tray, and inserted a plastic tube that was fairly snug. Once the tube was in place, I inserted the tip of a barbed plastic fitting that I cut off a tee, and pulled the tube back against the hole so that the barbs wedged the tubing tightly against the circumference of the hole.

5. Steaming. What is the recommended size pitcher? Amount of milk for the easiest steaming? Any other tips?
-That will depend on how much milk you want to steam, i.e. the size of your milk drinks. I typically use 5.5-6oz. latte cups and use a 12oz. Rattleware pitcher starting w/ ~3-4oz. of milk.

6. Baskets. Super tight. Need a screwdriver to remove backets from PF. I posted this in another thread, but wondering if I should just ask La Sp to send me proper springs?
-I leave my baskets in place.

I hope some of that helps and gives you some food for thought.

[innermusic]

-Are you sure there's no offset set? I don't know if all North American machines pass through CCS, and/or if they need to be set by the seller.

Definitely. Offset was set to zero. I've moved it to -2 for now, but I'm kind of flying blind without a scace. For now, I shoved a sensor up the single PF and filled the baseket with crumpled tinfoil. It showed about 2 degrees lower than the setting.

4. Drain kit. -I drilled a hole partway up the back wall of the tray, and inserted a plastic tube that was fairly snug. Once the tube was in place, I inserted the tip of a barbed plastic fitting that I cut off a tee, and pulled the tube back against the hole so that the barbs wedged the tubing tightly against the circumference of the hole.

Did you use the big black hose that comes with it? and what are you supposed to do with the small clear hose that is partially tucked into the little gutter around the tray?

I hope some of that helps and gives you some food for thought.

Very much. Thanks.

[richardcoffee]

I took the springs out of my portafilters and with 2 baskets, I can easily prepare 2 doubles - 1 for my wife, 1 for me, set the baskets on the sink while I prepare the milk for lattes, and tap them out and clean them when I'm ready for another round. Baskets go in and out with ease. For steaming, Peter is right, the Rattleware 12 oz. is good and what I used for a long time. Now, I really like the Motta pitchers - 6 oz. in the 12 oz, or 8 oz. in the 16 oz. Lately I've been mostly using the 16 oz. Motta. Have fun!

[chas]

I've had the V1, the V2, and now the Dream. The first thing I do when I get one is pull out all the LS PF springs, through them away, and replace them with LM springs I order from Espresso Parts. Light Gauge PF Springs

To compare them, the wire gauge LS uses for the PF springs is like that used in large, heavy duty paper clips and these replacement spring's wire gauge is like a normal paper clip.

With these springs in place you came turn the PF over and whack it on a knock box without the basket popping out yet still remove the basket with your fingers.

Since these springs are so cheap you might want to get a spare or two and also order any other parts, cleaning chemicals, etc, that you might need. Otherwise, if you just order the springs, the shipping costs might be higher than the part costs. One thing I'd highly recommend getting is the LaSpaziale 53mm blind basket. I much prefer this to using that little back rubber disk for backflushing. LS 53mm Blind Basket

[innermusic]

FYI Chas, I tried to order the springs and blank disc from espressoparts and they wanted $35 to ship to Canada! Any other sources for these things?

[chas]

FYI Chas, I tried to order the springs and blank disc from espressoparts and they wanted $35 to ship to Canada! Any other sources for these things?

We have quite a few Canadian members of the Forum. Hopefully one of them can point you in the right direction. I haven't a clue.

[innermusic]

I actually got an email back from the vendor, offering to ship to me for $12. All's well. Thanks.

[innermusic]

-I drilled a hole partway up the back wall of the tray, and inserted a plastic tube that was fairly snug. Once the tube was in place, I inserted the tip of a barbed plastic fitting that I cut off a tee, and pulled the tube back against the hole so that the barbs wedged the tubing tightly against the circumference of the hole.

Are you saying that you didn't bother with the drain kit, or you used it and added a hole to it? In any case, got a picture of what you did?

[slo]

A lot of post have been made over the years about alternate drain solutions
Here is the one where I presented my own take on it:
http://www.s1cafe.com/viewtopic.php?f=57&t=610

A lot of Italian machine have a drain kit with a small catch basin under the main drip tray to drain out. I have found that in almost all cases (at least on my machines) it results in overflow because the catch basin is too small. Another Italian oddity!

[slo]

Also for the springs, instead of buying new springs you can also just make more bends in the straight sections. This reduces the retaining force. The more bends the least force.
I remove the basket for preparation easily before each shot.

[peter]

-I drilled a hole partway up the back wall of the tray, and inserted a plastic tube that was fairly snug. Once the tube was in place, I inserted the tip of a barbed plastic fitting that I cut off a tee, and pulled the tube back against the hole so that the barbs wedged the tubing tightly against the circumference of the hole.

Are you saying that you didn't bother with the drain kit, or you used it and added a hole to it? In any case, got a picture of what you did?

I did not use the drain kit... I posted a pic here somewhere, but don't remember where. You search, I'll search, one of us will find it.

[innermusic]

I posted a pic here somewhere, but don't remember where. You search, I'll search, one of us will find it.

Would love to see the picture. Did you drill a hole in your counter for the drain hose?

[innermusic]

Re the temperature offset: Does -1 mean that the sensor is "told" that the temp is 1 degree lower, and so it raises the temperature by 1 degree? My gear indicates that -1 offest RAISES the temp at the brewhead.

[peter]

I posted a pic here somewhere, but don't remember where. You search, I'll search, one of us will find it.

Would love to see the picture. Did you drill a hole in your counter for the drain hose?

I'll try to remember a photo next time I empty the drip tray. But it's such a simple design, you don't really need one.

The granite installers drilled the hole.

[chas]

Re the temperature offset: Does -1 mean that the sensor is "told" that the temp is 1 degree lower, and so it raises the temperature by 1 degree? My gear indicates that -1 offest RAISES the temp at the brewhead.

If you have your boiler set to 94C the front panel display should read 94C regardless of the actual temperature of the water exiting the group. So if you measure that the water at the group head is 95C, then you enter -1C offset. Then the water temp should match the front panel display at 94C. What you see on the display is always what the temp sensor in the boiler is reading. The offset changes the actual water temperature by that amount.

[innermusic]

If you have your boiler set to 94C the front panel display should read 94C regardless of the actual temperature of the water exiting the group. So if you measure that the water at the group head is 95C, then you enter -1C offset. Then the water temp should match the front panel display at 94C. What you see on the display is always what the temp sensor in the boiler is reading. The offset changes the actual water temperature by that amount.

Is not the water at the grouphead typically lower to some degree than the water in boiler?

[richardcoffee]

If you have your boiler set to 94C the front panel display should read 94C regardless of the actual temperature of the water exiting the group. So if you measure that the water at the group head is 95C, then you enter -1C offset. Then the water temp should match the front panel display at 94C. What you see on the display is always what the temp sensor in the boiler is reading. The offset changes the actual water temperature by that amount.

Is not the water at the grouphead typically lower to some degree than the water in boiler?

I am surely not knowledgable enough to argue a point like this. But now I'm confused. The manual says this: "The programmable temperature offset is designed to allow the user to enter an offset in order to allow the machines temperature lamps to exactly match the water temperature exiting the group." That makes me inclined to think that the folks at Chris', when they set the offset for my machine, set it so that the boiler temperature was higher than the temperature I choose when I choose a light on the front of the machine, no?

[chas]

Here is the CCS method for testing to determine the offset for each machine. The way the S1 V1 and V2 are designed they often need a negative offset. So far my tests indicate I need a huge positive offset though the jury is still out as to why I am seeing such a difference relative to what CCS is seeing when they test the Dreams.

Here is how we perform the test to calibrate.

First let the machine completely heat up.
Leave the Scace device in the group.
We program one of the buttons to dispense 2 ounces of water.
We press that button and pull two ounces through the Scace.
We then take the Scace out of the group.
Watch the blinking lights till the set temp is reached, which takes app 30 seconds, and then put the Scace back into the group and take our reading.
The 30 seconds represents the time it take someone to grind and tamp coffee before putting the portafilter back into the group. We repeat it three or four times before making any adjustments.