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Anemic steam/different water flush pattern
This morning, my L1 suddenly started acting up. The steam was virtually nonexistent and, at the same time, the water flush out the group head was a different pattern than usual. The machine was on, boiler pressure was normal (at 1.25 bar). The steam picked up a lot after I left it open a few seconds, but I still don't think it's quite normal power. Flushing the group is still acting peculiar. I recently changed the piston seals to the "new custom" variety from Reiss. At the same time, I switched to a 35 microgram IMS screen (with new gasket). With my previous IMS 200 screen, the water flush came out somewhat irregularly over the entire area of the screen. With the 35 screen. the flush patter has been about 2-3 cm wide, squarely in the center of the screen, and in quite an even pattern. Now this morning, the flush pattern goes across the entire screen and is irregular, just like it was with the 200 screen.
Does anyone have any idea what's going on? What would affect the steam/flush circuit? The coffee is still fine, since the extraction is driven by the spring which should be unrelated to the steaming, I think. I'm guessing some valve is partially blocked/sticking. My L1 is about a year old, the latest iteration, I believe. I haven't had any problems with it. Michael
Does anyone have any idea what's going on? What would affect the steam/flush circuit? The coffee is still fine, since the extraction is driven by the spring which should be unrelated to the steaming, I think. I'm guessing some valve is partially blocked/sticking. My L1 is about a year old, the latest iteration, I believe. I haven't had any problems with it. Michael
Comments
thanks for posting! i would say the anti-vac valve is sticking. the trouble is it may not be occurring every time, so the first time you test for it the issue may not occur
to test you would start your machine in the normal way, and at the time where you would normally consider it to be ready for service watch the pressure indicated on the gauge, open the steam valve momentarily and fully close it again. what has occurred to the indicated pressure?
if the system is functioning normally i wouldn't expect the indicated pressure in the system to drop by more than about 0.2 bar
if the anti-vac valve is malfunctioning the pressure will drop away to almost nothing (assuming you perform this test at startup before and shots have been pulled, or the steam or water valve have been opened)
another way to test if the anti-vac is functioning is to unplug the machine from the power supply and remove the top, and if necessary to get a better view the side panel also. after about 20 minutes come back and watch the anti-vac valve; you should see it drop down into the open position about 20 minutes after the machine has been unplugged. if the anti-vac valve hasnt dropped down after 30 minutes you can assume it is sticking the in up position
if the anti-vac valve is sticking it is not able to perform its function and therefore at start-up you have 'false pressure' in the system, i.e. the pressure gauge gets to 1.3 bar and shuts off the element but the trouble is the pressure reading is incorrect and therefore the system is running too cool and when the steam or water valves are open for the first time after startup the pressure in the system will fall to almost zero. after this the machine will heat up to the correct pressure
if you do not believe it to be the anti-vac then its going to be a steam wand tip clogged with milk (unscrew tip and hold up to the light to ensure light is shining thorough every hole) and a shower screen that has become fouled with silicone grease as a result of not pumping the lever about 30 times after changing the piston seals (remove shower screen and hold up to strong light to ensure all the holes in the mesh are open)
let us know how you get on
reiss.
It's cold now, so I'll start it up again and see what happens. I'm sure the shower screen is not clogged, since I did pump it 30 times. Also, however, the flush water ABRUPTLY started looking funny at the same moment the steam because anemic. If it was clogged, it would have acted up before this. Michael
i think it would be remiss of me not to offer advice here;
based on my experience with the machine (its all ive done for the last 5 year pretty much), at the risk of sounding arrogant i can all but guarantee that it will the anti-vac (as there simply is nothing else to fail!)
given how easy it is to at a minimum remove the anti-vac, disassemble, inspect, clean, refit i suggest that is the most time efficient manner to resolve the issue. if you fit that it is beyond repair it is an inexpensive item to replace (assuming you haven't bought one previously and have it on hand for this moment)
as for removing any of the boiler fittings, use a metric set spanner of the correct size (not an adjustable) and the strike the end of the spanner with a hammer. it is counter-intuitive but the shock ensures the male and female thread part company and thereby minimise the risk of turning the boiler inside out - which is what will happen if you simply swing on the end of the spanner, pulling harder & harder
reiss.
1. the anti-vac valve seems to be operating normally and I haven't had any more issues with the steam power at all in the last month. I didn't take it apart. Since it was only that one day the steam power was off, I'm waiting to see if it repeats.
2. Reiss, you were right that there was gunk in my screen which was causing the funny water flow. I'm using the 35 IMS screen. When I removed it, the center 1/3 of the screen was partially blocked up. Looked more like coffee grounds and not grease. I ended up soaking it several times and cleaning it and now it works normally again.
3. Piston seals: Shortly before this all happened, I had replaced my year old seals with your new improved ones. The old ones were grabbing at about 60 degrees most of the time so I thought they were worn. The new improved seals still grabbed at 60 degrees. Anyway, I thought the seals might be bad and involved in my problems so I replaced them with some Cafelat silicone seals which I ordered. The lever still grabs at about 60 degrees most of the time, so in retrospect, I almost certainly didn't need new seals.
In summary, my machine seems to be working normally. I've been trying to keep enough headspace in the basket to avoid getting the screen too dirty and I've been cleaning the screen more regularly.
I've noticed the lever seems to grab earlier with shorter pre infusion times. Is this true, Reiss, or not really? Also some coffees give me much soupier pucks than other coffees.
BTW, the Cafelat seals are very easy to put in because they stretch like a rubber band. We'll see how well they hold up.
Thanks for your help, Reiss.
if its a 60 degree grab with our new seals then the pre-infusion phase is not completing
what dose are you using & what pre-infusion time are you allowing, and what boiler pressure are you running (the max value shown on the pressure gauge)
kind regards
reiss.
if a dose of 15.6g doesnt give you one drip on or around 10 seconds i think you are grinding too fine
i presume your maximum indicated boiler pressure is 1.3 bar?
giving the steam wand toggle a stab to force the element on before you pull the lever down may help you out too
let us know
reiss.
today on the R120 i backed the dial off by perhaps as little as 2mm travel on the dial and it transformed the result in the cup from a stuttering delivery to a clean pour without interruption, which is what you are looking for; just flowing
im not saying it applies in your case, but it is very common for people to compensate for either poor distribution (of grinds of differing shapes and sizes) or simply a poor grinder where the standard deviation of the grind size & shape is too large by grinding finer
if you can improve the distribution of the grinds of different size and shape (i.e. you dont want all the large ones together and all the small ones together, you want the full range of size and shapes evenly distributed though the puck, a bit like making concrete) then you will find you can grind more coarsely
the result will be a much better taste in the cup, and in the case of the L1(2012-16) the lever will catch lower as there is less chance of creating an impenetrable coffee brick that the water is unable to penetrate using boiler pressure
kind regards
reiss.
a guy i know in auckland here who is discerning (which you can read as: if it didnt measure up it would be going back) when it comes to coffee, ordered a Monolith flat and was sent a conical by mistake
but it turns out it wasnt an issue because by the time the flat arrived he liked the conical so much that he decided to keep them both
they are easily the most compact grinder of their class and i think they offer exceptional value for money (price check the 'competition' which dont seem to come close as an overall ownership experience from what i can see)
if i could i would be selling them here, but happily for denis he has a queue running out the door and down the street
and dont think for a moment that ive only written this because denis is a 'mate' of mine; he is the only customer to have the dubious honour of cancelling his L1 order three times before finally proceeding with it!