Recently I find that my ridgeless IMS basket occasionally gets stuck on the brewgroup when I remove the portafilter. It only happens when it is hot. Usually a jiggle releases it but today it was very solidly stuck and I had to lever it off with a spoon. I am tempted to remove the brass block from the brewhead and turn it down slightly to increase cleanse between it and the basket. Has anyone got a better solution?

@"MBdoc"#p38252 yes. If the basket is getting stuck, you could either buy a ridged basket or you can increase the tension of the PF spring, so it grabs the basket more intensely.

Thanks. I have the standard ridged basket but changed to a ridgeless IMS as I was getting a lot of pucks stuck on the screen when removing the portafilter. This doesn't happen with the straight sided IMS basket. I have adjusted the spring to increase the 'grip' on the basket but it's still quite easy to remove. Today the basket was really locked onto the brewhead and really hard to remove it. I usually fit the portafilter quite loosely when I switch on in the morning and leave it to heat up - often about an hour before first coffee. I am pretty sure it's getting stuck on the brass part as the basket has a score mark on the inside which corresponds with the edge of the brass disc. It never happens when there is coffee in the basket.

@"MBdoc"#p38254 oh! I see! This would happen most likely if the basket is wet, and would form a vacuum. Make sure the basket is bone dry, and make sure your group is not dripping. Let’s go from there.

The basket is usually slightly wet but was dry today. I can't see how it could be due to 'vacuum' as this could not be maintained with the 'open' perforations on the bottom of the basket. It seemed to be very solidly stuck under the brewhead and as it is smaller diameter at the top than the inside of the brewhead it must be stuck on the brass disc.

I would either try another basket as this one may not fit or…. dose a bit smaller. It could be the expanded puck sticking to the shower that is causing the problem. Try a gram lighter and see how you go.

I have just had another look at this. When I remove the brass disc and drop it into the basket the score mark on the basket matches exactly the top of the brass disc. I note that the hole in the centre is larger than the screw so it occurred to me that when I fit the disc and scre it up it could be slightly off centre (ie not concentric with the inside of the brewhead) so I tried leaving the screw just snug then fitting the portafilter and tightening it to centre the disc in the basket before removing the portafilter and then tightening the screw. An alternative might be to leave the screw tightened only 'snug' to allow the disc to move slightly. Any other ideas before I try to reduce the diameter of the disc at the top edge ( it is very slightly tapered towards the bottom)?

@"Amberale"#p38261 The puck doesn't stick with this basket. I dose 20 g in the basket which seems about right for two lattes.

I use 18g in a 18g Lelit basket for 1 latte. However I have no idea what machine or basket size you are using. My thoughts are that the puck could be holding on to the shower screen more than the basket holds to the porterfilter but less than it holds on to the basket. Anyhow costs one gram less in a shot to check. I would still be looking for the correct size basket before modifying the machine.

Thank you for the ideas. The basket doesn't stick if it's full of coffee only when it is empty during initial warmup. It's an IMS basket on Lelit Elizabeth.

I can only imagine that the IMS basket is slightly narrower than the Lelit. If you dose less in the Lelit basket the puck should not stick to the shower screen. Perhaps a different basket :IMS competition, VST, Pesado might help.

Stuck filter basket

MediumRoastSteam

MBdoc this seems strange, in all honesty. Is the gasket (seal) properly seated? try removing it, give it a good clean on the group and the seal, and see if that helps.

MBdoc On my other Elizabeth I have a similar VST basket and

To eliminate culprits, you could swap the brass dispersion plates (If I read correctly you have two Elizabeths?) and see if the problem gores away snd manifests itself on the other one.

MBdoc

A good idea. Unfortunately they are in two different countries!

jhf

If only the IMS cart is stuck and not others, the problem is in the cart. I had the same problem with the IMS The Single h.19.5 basket, but I think it was because it was too low. So I just don’t use it…

MBdoc

You might be right. I can’t remember if it happened with the VST basket or not.

However if loosening the screw fixes the problem I won’t need to change anything else. Time will tell.

ajohn

It your machine originally used ridged baskets it’s unlikely to hold a ridgeless well. An easy answer to getting ridged out if that was a problem is an extraction tool. Amazon,. few quid and 1st class post included

An empty basket sticking, strange, I had some odd problems with an OE rubber seal on one machine but the problem wasn’t yours. Replaced with a part made by a company with the name of CafeLat or something like - carefully selected grade of silicone rubber.

Coin test, IMS basket, I’ve found it’s not a good idea to assume that the capacity IMS state will be correct on all machines. To be pretty sure the basket isn’t overloaded I’d suggest no impression from a 5p coin but some would suggest a 1p.

MBdoc

Thanks for the ideas.

I changed to the ridgeless basket because with my favoured 19-20g load the puck was sticking badly as the tapered basket wouldn’t cope with this load. The ridgeless baskets have straight sides so hold the higher load easily with only a light impression of the strainer on the puck after the shot.

The problem with sticking is only with basket empty never after a shot.

I suppose it could be sticking onto the rubber gasket but I assumed it was the brass plate as there is a definite score mark on the inside of the basket at about the bottom of the brass disc level.

I do clean the gasket after each shot with a ring brush so it shouldn’t get dirty enough to stick but next time I clean the portafilter, screen etc with detergent I will give the ring a good scrub with the so,Union as well.

I will see how it goes with the centre screw just snug.

MBdoc

A short update.

I am now back in France and using the VST 18G ridgeless basket. This one doesn’t stick and no mark on the inside of the basket has appeared. Maybe the IMS basket is very slightly smaller in ID so that it just binds on the brass disc. I might take the VST basket back with me and try it on the UK machine to check.

MBdoc

A, hopefully, final update on my experience with sticking baskets.
An earlier idea was that the sticking was caused by the thick brass disc being slightly off centre and thus binding on one side of the basket. My solution was to leave the securing screw only just tight enough to snug the brass disc against the rubber O ring. This did seem to work initially but latterly I have been getting sticking again with my VST 18g basket.
New thoughts are that maybe by leaving the brass disc looser it is sitting lower down and thus engages deeper into the basket and sticks as the basket narrows slightly towards the bottom.
I have now tightened the centre screw much more so the O ring is compressed and hence the brass disc closer to the portafilter mount.
So far it has worked.

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