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My Londinium R Adventure Begins
I posted in the L-R Shipping Schedule thread about the progress of my shipment, but decided to post a new thread here to keep track of my entire journey.
To shorten the shipping part of the adventure, My machine shipped from the UK yesterday (Thursday) and the initial tracking info from DHL showed delivery by the end of today! This morning I received notification from DHL that more information was needed for customs. I contacted them and they needed my SSN and the name and address of the manufacturer of the machine. I gave them that and was told that it could be 24-48 hours before it clears customs.
At around the same time I received a tracking notice that showed that one box (out of three total) was on the truck and would be delivered today. Based on the customs info I figured that it would be the box of accessories. Well, I was surprised when DHL sowed up a few minutes ago with this...
:blink: :blink:
Of course, that part doesn't do me much good without the rest of the group :cheer:
As I was typing this I received a notification that says "Processed for clearance", but doesn't indicate the number of boxes. Hopefully it is both of them.
More to come
To shorten the shipping part of the adventure, My machine shipped from the UK yesterday (Thursday) and the initial tracking info from DHL showed delivery by the end of today! This morning I received notification from DHL that more information was needed for customs. I contacted them and they needed my SSN and the name and address of the manufacturer of the machine. I gave them that and was told that it could be 24-48 hours before it clears customs.
At around the same time I received a tracking notice that showed that one box (out of three total) was on the truck and would be delivered today. Based on the customs info I figured that it would be the box of accessories. Well, I was surprised when DHL sowed up a few minutes ago with this...
:blink: :blink:
Of course, that part doesn't do me much good without the rest of the group :cheer:
As I was typing this I received a notification that says "Processed for clearance", but doesn't indicate the number of boxes. Hopefully it is both of them.
More to come
Comments
I need to take off the protective film, and the area where the back legs sit is about 1/8" higher than the front, so I'll have to level it. The legs are adjustable, aren't they?
You're so close...it must be painful!!
I just realized you are Ron_L from CG. I'm pretty sure we met years ago. Didn't you have an Isomac Millenium? I'm Rob (rbh1515) up in Milwaukee. I used to have a Millenium. Long time ago!
hi ron
i would start by checking that each of the four legs has an o-ring on the bottom of it, as it is relatively easy for one to drop out
i sympathise with the consignment not arriving in its entirety, but rest assured it has happened plenty of times before and the other half always turns up a day or two later
WD-40 or citrus solvent to remove any film residue from the laser engraving
place the panels in a sink of hot water if the film is difficult to remove
kind regards
reiss.
If you Londinium R is the same as my first generation L1, the legs aren’t really adjustable apart from screwing them out a little.
The legs are 40mm diameter with a 10mm screw. If you work out how much you need to raise the front, you could unscrew the leg and place a 40 mm diameter washer on top with the required thickness. On mine the maximum lift would be probably 3-4mm while still maintain sufficient thread contact length. You can see what’s going on by removing the drip tray.
Thanks Greg! We've been gone for the weekend but I will get a level out tomorrow and see how far up the front has to go and then figure it out from there
I did get a couple of strange updates from DHL. This is the most interesting...
I'm not sure what they thought was in the boxes
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Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
Once it warmed up I tried a shot with my current grinder settings. I used 15.7 grams in the stock basket. I had some dripping from the PF during preinfusion, and the shot ran a little fast. It looked good but was a little sour.
The second shot with a finer grind was better taste and timing, but I still had a few drips in preinfusion. I'll try a finer grind in the morning.
Two questions...
1. While the lever is going up I am hearing a slight 'creaking' sound from the spring. Will this go away after a few shots or do I need to re-lube? I hope not. With my clumsy fingers it took me a long time getting the screws to start properly in the group head. I am so paranoid of stripping it.
2. I am getting great shots, but I still get some droops during preinfusion. I've gone another step finer on my grinder (LSM90). If that doesn't stop it I will try a firmer tamp, but it looks like most of you are tamping pretty light. Does that make sense? The beans are home roast two weeks from roast. I have some that is now 4 days from roast so I may try those on the next shot.
The mechanism does not grease itself so I won't expect it to pass. But a some audible proof that a large force is being built up and released is absolutely normal. That being said, in my L-R I managed to get the sound to practically disappear when I greased it promptly before allowing the tiniest particle of metal to grind into a habit of making the sound. After dealing with that I more obsessively listened to the L1-P and minimized the sound there also with some careful greasing.
I did not even take the top off, just greased all moving parts in sight.
That may be a function of the beans you chose, the roasting, the grind setting, your distribution of the grinds, consistency in tamping, but it does not sound like anything related to the machine. If you would document all that exactly, including a well lighted and focused video of your exact routine, that may help.
Thanks Frans... It sounds a little like an old door hinge if that makes sense, rather than something rubbing.
Ah... Good news!
Yeah, definitely not the machine. I need to adjust my routine. My third shot this morning was pretty close to perfection, so I am getting it dialed in.
As far a details, here is the first two shots...
[ul]
[li]16.7g of home roast blend (Ethiopian Sidamo, PNG and Guatemala) roasted to FC (I don't have a meter to measure it exactly, but if I remember correctly the moisture loss as slightly over 18%).
18 days post roast.[/li]
[li]Grind level is hard since my LSM90 doesn't have any numbers on the setting. I am now two steps finer than my -original grind from last night.[/li]
[li]WDT for distribution, level and what I'll call a medium firm tamp with the Londinium tamper[/li]
[/ul]
The result was a few drops during a 7 second PI, then 36g in 26 seconds. Good taste, but very slightly sour. Very drinkable.
The third shot...
[ul]
[li]16.7g Yemen Mokha roasted to City+ 5 days post roast (moisture loss as slightly over 17%).[/li]
[li]One step finer on grind[/li]
[li]WDT for distribution, level and what I'll call a medium firm tamp (slightly firmer than the other shots) with the Londinium tamper[/li]
[li]7 second PI[/li]
[li]40g out in 28 seconds (before blonding)[/li]
[/ul]
The result was a beautiful looking and tasting shot!
I will do a video, but I'm not much of a video guy
Thanks for the help!
Roasts are a separate subject also and if one would want to discuss that in online text, a logged roast profile would be needed, measured color of grinds, duration of roast, Rate of Rise, and if weight loss measured, moisture numbers of green beans is helpful. So we can skip all of that here as way off topic ;-)
:cheer:
My head hurts just thinking about all of that :-D. I bought a gently used Sonofresco a couple fo months ago and haven't added anything to do profiling, etc, so my actual data is limited. But, as you said, that's another conversation.
My last shot of the day was even better. I kept the dose the same and the tamp as close to the same as I could get it and adjusted the grind finer. This one was 16.7g in (stock basket) and 40g out before blonding in 27 seconds. There is always room for improvement, but it was definitely better than the shots from my Alex, so I am a happy L-R owner
I may still do a video just for fun, but don't expect it to be as nicely done as your are :unsure:
i think you need to adjust your grinder finer, keeping all the other variables the same
i would be looking for 30g in the cup in 30s, an average flow rate of 1g per second
see how that flow rate appeals to your taste - you may even want to push on beyond that to 30g in 35s
note that we are talking about an average flow rate; the flow rate gradually increases as the shot progresses even though the spring pressure is reducing as the shot progresses
let us know how you get on
reiss.
you are looking for a stream diameter more around the 3mm mark, maybe even 2mm, or about half as wide as you currently have
I'll give that a shot in the morning.
I kept the dose and tamp the same, but went finer on the grind. One click finer still had a few drops at about 4 seconds into PI. The shot ran 36g in 27 seconds so I went one click finer.
This time I was at 30g in 27 seconds, so very close. I could definitely taste the difference!
How does this look, Riess? (Or anyone)
I am almost at zero on the LSM90, so maybe a little firmer tamp or a small increase in dose? I am at 16.7g now. I'm not sure if I can go one more click finer or not. There is no way that I can buy a new grinder right now and stay married :D
I am also going to play with the VST 18g basket. Is 18g a good starting does?
Thanks for the help! I know things will just improve as I get used to the machine, but I am thrilled with the way it looks, the build quality, and, of course, most important, the espresso!
Of course, my latte art skills still suck :cheer: And, I had the cup backwards when I poured!
But, it tasted great!
my Londinium R + Compak E8 adventure began a few weeks ago when I first received the grinder. Unfortunately the screen did not work. Without sending it back (I already threw away the box at that point) I received a new one two days later through Reiss immediate and great support.
A few weeks later I received the machine. I had a week so far to try it out and all I can say I could not be happier with the purchase. I consider myself as a total beginner but I am glad I invested in such great equipment. Throughout the stages of delivery I got constant support and updates from Reiss. Moreover I got to know, luckily now a friend, Frans as we both live Amsterdam. He allowed me to play around with his machine and taught me a lot. Thanks again for the support!
Today I just arranged my final set up. I am very curious to learn more and I am sure this will happen every day, every espresso. Currently I am using an Ethopian bean from "White Label" roasters in Amsterdam. Frans gives me home roasted beans from time to time as well which I consider much better than the ones I bought so far. Nevertheless the Ethopian bean I am using right now paired with this machine and grinder enables great results. Most of the time the crema has a leopard pattern, the espresso is rich and sweet. My mouth is not trained well enough yet to describe it better.
As I said I am still in the learning process. I am playing around with tamping, grind and dosing so far. It is interesting how every small detail effect the outcome, however I feel like that the machine is very forgiving and always giving me the best.
In the future I am planning to share my experiences and questions here. A huge and grateful THANKS to Reiss for the great communication and gear and to Frans for helping me out with every newbie question and introducing me to the equipment.
Conni
PS: I answered before to Ron's last post instead of posting in the forum. Just that you know Ron!
Attached files
frans, thank you for the time you have spent getting constantin off to a good start
kind regards
reiss.