Thanks all. Appreciate your good words. The Bianca has arrived today and I am thinking my game plan to test drive it. May I leverage this thread to get some beginner advice? In particular, as a manual lever user, I can control flow, preinfusion time, amount of pressure freely manually. I do not understand how I can work with these with the Bianca. Suppose I can achieve the same control via the flow control(?). At the moment, I imagine the workflow can be: 0/ wait for temp to buildup, usual puck prep. Any flushing needed for the group head? 1/ while keeping the flow control closed, the pressure will build up slowly after I press the button. Then preinfusion starts. 2/ when I see the first drip, I pull the flow control all the way to the right to start the extraction. (Note: so I think I have no control on preinfusion time at this stage? I can only affect the preinfusion time via grind size.) 3/ during the extraction phase, I can monitor the pressure. So I think I have no control on the amount of pressure at this stage (instead I should change the grind size to change the pressure)? Or I can play with it by controlling the flow control? 4/ once I have the desired amount of liquid, I close the flow control. 5/ Remove the PF and clean up. Any flushing on the group head needed?

@"Knluk"#p28346 GL and we look forward to your setup, photos and first impressions. Sure, you are going to love it. You will get plenty of assistance from Dave, Jake and a lot of past and current Bianca users. Please do watch some of the YT from Dave! All of them are a few years old and I won’t know if anything has changed since then! *Normalising Grind settings on Bianca* https://youtu.be/dAvY8Om77-0 *Internal tour* https://youtu.be/XW72A1SmQZ4 *Lelit Control Centre* https://youtu.be/Fr8YvPD9ij4 *Long PI Shot* https://youtu.be/MDTGHr9lL8g Dave has a YT video showing 8 types of shots on Bianca. I guess it’s a BB guide. I can’t find it on the YT.

@"Knluk"#p28346 - I've only used the Bianca a few times (At Dave's) so my advice here is limited, but: * You don't need to flush the machine before hand; You can if you want, but I wouldn't bother; * If this is your first E61 machine, I advise you to leave the flow control valve alone, fully open, and see how the machine behaves/works for the first week or two; * Once you understand how the machine works, start with the valve fully open and try reducing the flow gradually to reduce the pressure gradually as the shot goes. Aim to finish the shot at 7 bar, for example. There's a lot of parameters with the Bianca. Don't let all of those get in the way and frustrate you right at the start. It's a lot to take in. Start simple, and progress gradually.

just check the pid setting dave asks you to change, after that use it normally for a while flow control open, then you can start with the valve, its great for slowing shots if you grind wrong

@"Cuprajake"#p28350 @"LMSC"#p28348 @"MediumRoastSteam"#p28349 Thanks all. Lots of useful info to study on. I also like the idea to start from simple and learn from there. Will keep everyone posted here 🙏

Just came to reply but everyone has already sent better tips than I could! The BB guide in the box (written by @"DavecUK"#1) Is incredibly useful and had loads of great info. Thanks again for a smooth transaction and enjoy many great coffees!

> @"Knluk"#p28346 1/ while keeping the flow control closed, the pressure will build up slowly after I press the button. Then preinfusion starts. The paddle for the flow control can be adjusted so that in the closed position you can have no flow at all, or that you have some flow (e.g. a trickle). You can easily check by lifting the lever without a portafilter and seeing if any water is coming out of the group. If in the fully closed position your valve is completely closed (no flow at all), then if the paddle is in the fully closed position there will be no water entering the group and no pressure will build up (so no pre-infusion). As for changing the pressure with the flow control - once the group is under pressure during a shot there will be water going in to the group and water coming out (through the coffee). As long as the flow into the group is the same or higher than the flow out through the coffee, the pressure will be maintained. As soon as the flow in becomes slower than the flow out (by closing the paddle), the pressure will gradually reduce. This is how you can change the pressure by closing the valve to slow the flow of water into the group.

@"Knluk"#p28346 Welcome to the club, really enjoying using mine since getting hold of one last month My favorite shots so far have been by bringing pressure up slowly to 2bar with paddle half open then maintaining at 2bar for about 5 sec, opening gently to about 9bar then gradually tapering off towards the end of the shot Here is one I did earlier, I am sure someone more experienced can point out if I am doing anything wrong https://youtu.be/vMd3YtdfHyU

Thanks all for the advice and tips. Always find helpful support here! it is here now. With my previously injuries but recovered back, I had to ask my wife to help to lift out from the box. It also looks much much bigger in real life. I was kind of admiring the compact size but worried about it is not solid built before I saw the real thing. I off to start reading and learning now. [upl-image-preview url=https://i.imgur.com/qo0acxc.jpeg]

@"Knluk"#p28411 It's heavy enough to be solid….

Everyone must now know that I always have too many questions. So let me fire away: 1/ I used some stale bean to try a couple of shots. The first one I used same grind size as that for my Robot. Almost choke the machine and got 18g in and 35g out in 75s. For the second shot, I tried two dot coarser, similar result. Wet puck too. I will try to go coarser. But do you think the soupy puck is due to the choking? 2/ I dose 18g and mess up with coffee ground spilled around. Do I need a ring or the dose size is wrong or my technique is bad? [URL=https://i.imgur.com/tMmScgE.jpg][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/tMmScgE.jpg[/IMG][/URL] 3/ between shots, I followed the instruction to remove the PF, left for 15sec, then flush the group head and clean it with cloth. Do I really need to use the brush every time? 4/ I found two scratch in the inner wall of the PF. Don’t think it is deep enough to cause channeling. Was it design like this or did I do anything wrong to scratch it? [URL=https://i.imgur.com/v7YFQub.jpg][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/v7YFQub.jpg[/IMG][/URL] 5/ how do I know the machine is ready for the next shot? 6/ when standby, the pressure is 1.4 bar for the steam boiler but zero for both the group head and boiler pressure is it normal?

Lelit Bianca just arrived

Knluk

I just ordered these shits. Hope it will improve the taste if any. Today will have my own maintenance routine. Wish me luck.

MediumRoastSteam

Knluk - third item top to bottom…. Yay! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Knluk

MediumRoastSteam not sure any of these will improve the shot/ workflow. I am just trying skeptically.

Knluk

Hm. It seems it is impossible to remove the screen. Should I force the spoon between the seal and the screen or outside the edge of the seal? And I am scratching the surface with mark :(

MediumRoastSteam

Knluk - the screen is held by a flexible rubber gasket rubbing the edge of the group. Just go for it, careful for the spoon not to slip. There’s a ridge on the screen. Slot the spoon on it and use it as a lever against the group. Unless you are extremely careless and have absolutely no clue of what you are doing, there’s no way you can damage anything!

Knluk

MediumRoastSteam so I should try to lift up from the outer edge of the black rubber ring?

Knluk

Oh. I got it. I was doing it in a wrong way as always. Thanks. All solved now.

MediumRoastSteam

Knluk - brilliant! Great news. Clean the gasket with water, thoroughly. Clean the shower screen with a brush, water and a drop of washing up liquid. Rinse it.

Put the tiniest smear of molycote 111 on the FLAT side of the gasket. That side faces the group, as per your photo. This is so they the rubber doesn’t bake against the group and next time removing it is a lot easier.

Alternatively, buy a cafelat silicone gasket. The Bianca needs a 8.00mm gasket (I think) which is the red one. Because it’s silicone, it will last years, it won’t harden over time, it won’t bake against the group, and you don’t need the smear of grease. 💪👍

Amberale

Knluk

Hey matey, I have to say, I have never had such a dirty shower screen.
I am not a cleaning fanatic.
I wipe my screen after every pull, I back flush with a blind filter once a fortnight and I pop the screen maybe once a month.
That is for 2-3 shots a day.
I am not saying you are wrong but how did that happen?
I dose 18g in the stock basket, what is your normal dose?

Cuprajake

when you finish making coffee, are you blind basket flusing?

Knluk

MediumRoastSteam great advice as always. Thanks.

Amberale

MediumRoastSteam

Actually MediumRS is probably right again.
The I removed an old blue gasket last night and replaced it with a new blue one and it fitted beautifully when everything was cold.
This morning when the machine was up to temperature it was stiff and would only close to approximately 7 o’clock.
That is probably why I had a spare blue one and not a spare red one too.

Cuprajake

take note of the way the gasket fits, one side is rolled

Knluk

Cuprajake well noted. Thanks.

Amberale

I just checked my V2 Bianca.
I actually even swapped out my old blue silicon gasket for a new one, 8.5mm.
Portafilter sitting at 6 o’clock.

Knluk

Amberale thanks for the sharing. I just got the machine so I will pop the screen and check again next week. I am using a 14 to 18g basket and I dosed 16.5g. Let me share a pic in the pre and post shot puck for your information.

your maintenance routine sounds like a dream to me. Think I have to figure out the dose and bucket size. When you say back flush with blind filter, what does it mean?

Also, do you open your flow paddle all the way to the right?

Cuprajake

Don’t forget he’s only just got it so learning the machine, easy to over dose baskets n make a mess I’d hazard a guess the next clean won’t be as bad,

Mine was always clean but I water back flushed every day

Cuprajake

Back flush

There’s a solid disc that fits in the portafilter.

Open the flow control fully, start a shot with the blind basket fitted. Let’s it run to full pressure. And then off. It cleans the crap out

Same as that but no cleaner.

Knluk

Cuprajake thanks! now I know what the little disc hidden under the drip tray does. What is the square black thing for?

dutchy101

I recognise that arm.

Wouldn’t say that outside of this board

DavecUK

Knluk You might be talking about the catcher for the drip tray? You put a drain pipe on it and remove the drip tray blanking plug. This means you don’t have to empty the drip tray any more, but it gives something to get very messy over time.

Cuprajake

Need a pic haha

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