Kostverlorenvaart

Testing three different shower screens for the espresso machine's brew group. These are used on a wide range of machines. I test them on a LONDINIUM I, pulling a short flush through all three. The two screens used first are most commonly shipped with machines and sold as replacements. The third is a special design, bought from Espressomaschinendoctor : "ASI-VST Dusche ø 60 mm  98 Löcher ø 3 mm Stahl AISI 304 - lebensmitteltauglichzertifiziert integrierte Membran 200 µM" The latter is probably, for espresso machine geeks, "sexiest" although I think all three are performing in a compatible way. The video footage is slowed down to see the details better.

Stephen Sweeny from Seattle made me this aluminum funnel for the HG One grinder. Earlier, he sent me his Acrylic gadgets which provide a nice "invisible hand" pulling the portafilter to the exact center below the burrs. The new huge funnel makes sure there is enough room for any thinkable dose of beans. Before, I would lift the HG One ring that covers the burrs to pour in all beans  and shake this ring a bit to be certain that all beans were in. Now the beans slide down the circular slope and disappear into the depth of the very heavy (massive aliminum) funnel, ready to be chewed up by the big burrs. Thanks Stephen! Anyone wants to have one, contact Stephen at ovrthhl@me.com PS Stephen worked on ideas for a "one size fits all" wooden funnel with Tom Chips, before Stephen took this to another level and redesigned the aluminum funnel in two versions, one for each burr size of the HG One. Stephen made the hole as small as possible and then he made a g...

Peter van der Weerd had an alternative for my original vacuum breaker. The (tiny bit of) water and steam that comes out at the start of the day is now released into the drip tray. The way it was originally done was no problem since the little amount of water coming out evaporates quickly, but my machine has glass side panels and they would get steamy opaque at the start of the day. Now they stay dry. Unscrewing the original anti-vac:  The original is out: The new one ready to install: Almost in: Tight enough: The little silicon hose that I have used before when I briefly had a Non-Return Valve is now used and it connects the anti-vac with the nipple I have on the front of the machine: The nipple. When the machine starts up, this is where the "prrrr....shshshsh.... flop" sound and moisture comes out.

Recently I found and bought red rubber seals for the piston of my LONDINIUM espresso machine. They looked good and it was fun to see if these would give a different result. They did seem to seal a little better but it turns out they seal too good. This is noticeable when one tries to remove the piston for service. It's very hard to get the piston out as the seals fiercely resist any movement. This cannot be good for coffee extraction, because the spring that pushes the lever down in the brew group needs to struggle against the seals first before it can press on the coffee puck. Peter van der Weerd of www.kafko.nl noticed this and replaced the seals with better fitting black ones out of his stock. Red seals on piston, try to notice their fit: From this angle: A black seal and a red one held together:  Red and black on the same piston: All black seals:

Having bought a second hand but relatively new and rarely used La Pavoni Europiccola, I wanted to have it upgraded with a pressure gauge and I also wanted to see if the lever could be turned into one that can be easily taken off to make the machine smaller in transportation. I plan to have a travel box made for the little machine, so taking off the lever would save space. Peter van der Weerd of www.kafko.nl had some great ideas! So I made the trip to Hoogersmilde, and stayed the night in Het Rieten Dak near the place where Peter and his wife Corina live. The three of us had a delicious dinner there and the next morning at 9am I was in Peter's workshop. This is what he did. First putting it on the bench.  Looking at the thread on top of the waterlevel-glass. Peter will drill out this thread and cut a new thread for the pressure gauge fitting:  Original thread is gone here: Cutting the new thread, using the big drill to get it perfectly in place and...