alternate shower screen configuration

[richardcoffee]

I just stumbled over a reference to an alternate shower screen configuration - with the smaller screen inside the larger screen and the dimple pointing down. This reference suggests that this is a superior configuration.. I'm wondering if any users are doing it this way and why?

[Endo]

The "alternate screen" debate is as old as the Vivaldi. You can read more about it more at the bottom of the page on the S1V1 site here:

s1v1/

Some early users preferred to have the small screen flipped upside-down and placed inside the larger screen. I suppose since the outer surface has more holes this way, it gives the appearance of better dispersion when run without the PF in place.

I think you need to give the designers the benefit of doubt and assume it works best in the stock position. They obviously did a LOT more testing than any single user could ever do and came to the conclusion that the larger holes should be on the outside. To me this also makes sense since the 2 screens are there to resist grounds backflow and trap grounds when the shot is stopped, before they enter and potentially clog the 3-way valve area. If the screens are reversed, the larger holes end up on the "downstream" side of the backflow and therefore fail to act as a more restrictive secondary filter to trap the grounds (as it was designed).

Does it make the shots taste better? I doubt it. My guess would be these early users attributed what were "distribution" problems to "dispersion" problems so they mistakenly assumed it helped prevent channeling. Since then we've learned a lot more about things about distribution techniques like WDT and nutation on the Vivaldi, so I doubt a modern analysis would come to the same conclusions.

[richardcoffee]

Thanks - I'll leave it alone.