Water drains from brew head after pull and removing PF

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StuBaby

Water drains from brew head after pull and removing PF

Post by StuBaby »

Has anyone else noticed this? Immediately after shot is pulled I remove the PF and water apparently drains from brew head. I'm talking a 2-3 second passive flow off water from the screens. The puck is covered with a 1/2 cm layer of water as soon as I remove PF (muddy puck).

This seems to conicide with a new squeak my pump has developed over the last month, similar to a cricket chirping as the pump is running. Any comments on either observation?
Thanks,
-stu
Niko

Post by Niko »

I never heard of the squeek while the motor's running, although the water in the puck is normal but not that 2-3 second drip from the group. Maybe the 3-way is sticking. I'd try a good dosing of Cafiza backflushing if you haven't done so already. Coffee oils cause valves to stick and not do their job properly.
Weska

Post by Weska »

I have to agree with Niko. Soupy, wet pucks after a pull are quite normal while dry ones are rare (and maybe associated with overdosing).

But I've never seen a flow of any duration after removing a spent portafilter. Stuck valve is a good suggestion, and a detergent backflush one time is not likely to hurt anything and could be a cure.
woodchuck

Post by woodchuck »

Just to weigh in here. Never had an issue with a dripping group after a shot. That said I get dry pucks with a little updosing and wet pucks with a normal dose. I generally updose a bit but still deal with the occasional shooters from that horrendous the diffusion screen bolt.
StuBaby

Post by StuBaby »

Crap, here we go again. I wonder what my avatar is going to look like next week. BTW, I did a detergent flush the end of February with Cafiza .
Niko

Post by Niko »

Stu,

That brings up a good point...
You backflushed just 2 weeks ago? How about before that and how often?
Too much backflushing with detergent can actually have the opposite effect. Machines with too much Cafiza tend to "squeek" because the lubricants get dissolved by the cleanser causing valves to slip and stay open too long or just malfunction. This is more common in E61 groups and it would be a 1st time I've ever heard of this happening on a Spaz but who knows...

And may your next avatar be a can of Cafiza.
bbqnut

Post by bbqnut »

Niko wrote:Stu,

That brings up a good point...
You backflushed just 2 weeks ago? How about before that and how often?
Too much backflushing with detergent can actually have the opposite effect. Machines with too much Cafiza tend to "squeek" because the lubricants get dissolved by the cleanser causing valves to slip and stay open too long or just malfunction. This is more common in E61 groups and it would be a 1st time I've ever heard of this happening on a Spaz but who knows...

And may your next avatar be a can of Cafiza.
But are not these "lubricants" from the coffee oils?

So how would the coffee oils cause the valves to stick (as you mentioned earlier), but also be a necessary lubricant?

Not trying to challenge you, just curious...


Chris
StuBaby

Post by StuBaby »

I have only backflushed with detergent once. According to the manual, once a month is recommended. The squeak preceded the detergent backflush. Besides, water flow is away from the pump, even during backflush, so how could the detergent effect the pump (which is where the squeak is coming from)?

BTW, Beautiful photo/avatar, NiKo. Tell me about your kit.
Niko

Post by Niko »

This is still a mystery to me...
The lubricants I was referring to are what they use in E61 machines, they use a food grade variety which comes in a tube. They're used to stop squeeky levers and other parts.
But Stu's squeek is kind of strange.
It really sounds like the 3-way valve isn't doing its job correctly, or not quickly like it should.

As far as my kit, in the avatar you see a very weird looking tamper made of Black Palm with a handle of the same wood in the background on the portafilter. The wood is very porous and it has striking strips that look painted down the sides of the wood, on the very top of the tamper, it looks like painted dots.
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