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LR - small divot on the left hand side of the coffee puck?

Dan TochtermanDan Tochterman
in LONDINIUM R help (& 2012-2016 L1)
Been playing around with the LR for almost a month now, switching back and forth between the VST 18g basket the IMS 68 basket. For the past couple of weeks, I've been getting a fairly consistent result with my extractions, regardless of basket and regardless of bean - this little divot is always present when I remove the puck. Its always on the left hand side too. I wouldn't pay attention to it because the shots have been excellent on taste alone, but I do notice that during extraction, the shot does blonde on the right hand side first and/or faster than the left hand side. always!

so here is my full prep/equipment:

grinder - monolith flat
tamper - kafatek levtamp
beans - espresso roasts, usually 10 to 14 days post roast (from counter culture, stumptown, coffee collective, etc).
I am dosing aprox 18 to 18.3g in the VST basket and 18.7 to 19g in the IMS basket.
I use WDT
tamp is light, i think.
PI is usually 10s

here are photos of the right hand and left hand side of a puck from this morning.

I emailed with Reiss a little bit and suggests tamping harder. Will try again in the AM but was curious what the group here things as well...

thank you all in advance for your input!



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Comments

  • Reiss GunsonReiss Gunson
    hi dan

    as i said in my email, if you tamp too lightly the coffee will float on top of the water as it enters the basket during pre infusion - what are your extraction times like? (brew weight in how many seconds?) as the grind looks quite coarse too

    for this reason i think you should tamp harder - one of the benefits of the LR is you dont have to worry so much about a light tamp (unless you really turn the PI down hard)

    the other thing is i think you will get replies from others saying dose 17g in an 18g VST

    let us know how you get on

    kind regards

    reiss.
  • Gary DahlGary Dahl
    Also good to check your shower screen to make sure that it hasn't become fouled by Loxeal.
  • Reiss GunsonReiss Gunson
    yes, that is a good point gary.
  • Frans GoddijnFrans Goddijn
    Dan Tochterman post=13247 wrote: this little divot is always present when I remove the puck.

    Is it there also if you lock in the portafilter and then remove it immediately?

    From your description it seems to me that the divot is only created in the puck when the puck is saturated and after the shot it relaxes from the pressure and expands a bit, just touching that one lower part of the shower screen that is maybe not completely flush against the group.

    You could try a different shower screen, or re-fit the current one, maybe first marking the point where the divot is and then putting it back in after a half turn so the divot would be gone or appear on the other side.

    Anyway if the extraction is fine, it's nothing to worry seriously about. What happens to the puck after you pulled the cup with delicious espresso is of no consequence to taste.
  • Dan TochtermanDan Tochterman
    ok, so I have lowered my dose to 17g in the VST and 18g in the IMS basket, and tamping much firmer....

    no more divot! pucks are perfectly even when I take the pf out of the group and extractions are now nice and even.



    Frans, if i removed the pf immediately before extraction, grounds were already stuck on the screen. I imagine u was overfilling the basket :)

    I just have to learn how to consistently tamp with the same pressure. when i tamp too light, i start to get these early streaks of water during PI. when i tamp too hard, extraction results in multiple streams.

    but at least my OCD has something else to pre-occupy itself with now!

    this is the great thing about this product and forum, Reiss is so knowledgable that he usually immediately knows what the issue is. good luck getting that kind of instant feedback from a mass produced product!

    Attached files

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  • Reiss GunsonReiss Gunson
    your gratitude is appreciated, but i very much do not have all the answers, particularly for geographically specific issues, for example where to buy a certain plumbing item local to where you live, what suitable bottled water might be available local to you, local coffee roasters, etc

    but with a network of over one thousand owners dotted across 46 countries there has never yet been an occasion when an owner has found themselves stuck i dont believe

    if you are sitting out there with a question about your londinium machine please do open a thread in this forum, regardless of how old your machine is we will support you

    kind regards

    reiss.
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