Is It Bad To Choke My S1?

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peter

Is It Bad To Choke My S1?

Post by peter »

I suppose I could simply call Chris', but this will perhaps generate some discussion.

I have noticed that grinding too fine or tamping to heavily will choke the machine, evidenced by the three blinking yellow LED's. But I can usually tell by the drips coming out of the bottomless PF, that it will 'unchoke' shortly.

Is it harmful to the pump to let it struggle like that, even if it's maybe for only 10 seconds?

Thanks.
coffeeowl

Re: Is It Bad To Choke My S1?

Post by coffeeowl »

For few seconds is ok, but anyway, be the witch and learn to guess grind accurately. :smile:
Endo

Re: Is It Bad To Choke My S1?

Post by Endo »

Interesting question.

Keep in mind, even when there is no flow out the group head, a vane rotary pump is still circulating. All the water flow is simply redirected through an internal by-pass. If there was no water flow, the pump would overheat in seconds (which is what happens if you run it dry).

I'm inclined to think you could run it with or without output flow, without any difference in wear. After all, this is pretty much what happens for every ristretto pulled in a cafe (and they do 1000s a day). The output pressure is still 9 bar whether the shot is choked or not.

But I'm not 100% sure since it's possible there is some extra heat build-up depending on how the by-pass flow is recirculated.

I'll see if I can find out more and report back.
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