Gaggia woes

Other than the felt feet, I would have to think about that. The machine works just great. I would definitely follow the DaveC documents I linked, and program the machine to his settings right out of the gate. I keep button 1 set for 6 seconds pre infusion, and 30 second run time. This is the button my wife uses since she does not weigh the shots. She just wants some rote way of doing it. For me I have button 2 set to 6 seconds of pre infusion, but no end time. So when I pull a shot I use button 2, and have the cup on a scale. When I reach my ratio of say 2.5 to 1, I push the button to stop it. I look at the shot timer to see how I did. With my coffee I find a temperature of around 198 and around 35 seconds of extraction to be perfect. I can steam milk while watching the scale, and hit the button. Very simple. For the next shot I then weigh out the beans, and grind. While grinding I knock out the puck and do a quick purge by hitting button 1 and 2 at the same time, which is what it is designed to do (hold 1 and hit 2, then let go). By the time I have the portafilter loaded and ready to go, the temp of the brew boiler is back up to 198, so ready for the next one. I have my machine set to show the actual temp, not the target temp. Again, that is in the programming.

You’re gonna love it.

I also put some foam drawer liner on top of the machine to protect it from scratches from the inverted cups heating there. You can see the stuff on DaveC’s videos of the machine. Nice protection. Looks good too.

Oh, also, the sweet spot for the stock basket appears to be around 16-16.5 grams. Stick with that. And, the stock basket is an IMS basket, so no need to upgrade that one. It is an excellent basket they supply.

Shelf liner, like this:

I have in my mind that those VST baskets are hard to learn. I think the grind has to be finer. The stock basket is really good. The difference in caffeine between the 14 gm basket and the 16 gm basket is probably nominal. I should think you could stay with your 14 gm basket on the Elizabeth, since it is a standard size portafilter.

The difference in a gram would be like 0.00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000002700

One last tip that I forgot about. I use the Lelit 35L filter that comes with it for softening the water. These are excellent. But, for some reason the nipple on the filter is just a bit too big to fit the inlet hose. The inlet hose is the smaller gauge hose in the tank, and it comes with a little plastic screen on it. Remove that. The inlet hose has a “V” notch cut in it. But the filter will split that. So, what I did after I sadly split it was cut it to freshen the edge. Amazingly I have had to use some sand paper and make the nipple of the filter to have a smaller outside diameter to fit the hose. I emailed Lelit about this, and got really no response other than they would look into it. Others have complained about this on other forums, and maybe even this forum. Some have had success heating the hose with hot water to get it to fit. I tried that but it just split later. So, since I change that filter every 6 months I just sand the nipple. Works fine. But truly a quirky problem.

Very nice, does it fit the gap?

Ps can’t beat that service,

Looks great. Enjoy getting to know your new machine

Just keep in mind that all machines have their own particular characteristics that you need to master to get the best out of them. Dont get frustrated if all is not completely perfect from day one. You will have the machine for a long time and your coffee will only get better the more you get used to it. A very capable machine so you will be able to get some great coffee from it.

DrForinor Nope. Should be great!