I hope everyone have had a wonderful time during the festive season . I bought an ACS MINIMA back in October from @"BlackCatCoffee"#126 and have been very happy with the machine , However the last three days the machine temperature is playing . My brew boiler temperature has been set to 94 degrees and the steam boiler has been set to 125 degrees . The brew boiler shows 95 degree even though it has been set to 94 and also the service boiler temperature sometimes shows 126 and most of the time it drops quickly when I use the steam . it drops from 126 to 120 and then 113 and then 100 within few seconds of using steam and also the steam pressure decreases alot so I have to wait for the service boiler temperature to go up in order to use it again . Does anyone know what can be the reason for that ?

@"Omid"#p2087 My Evo has minima boilers. I would ignore any overshoots when the machine is warming up from cold, say the initial 30 mins. However, I would not worry too much about the 1C overshoot. Furthermore, it’s also normal for the steam boiler temp to drop after steaming - the pump will kick-in to fill cold water into the service boiler. Why do you do back to back steaming ?

You will often see 1C over the set temp of the brew boiler even after an hour, although it will oscillate between set temp and +1C. It does seem quite strange that the steam boiler temp drops from 125C to 100C in a few seconds - that’s not normal to me. Depending on which steam tip I use, I will probably see a drop of 5-6C after steaming for 20s or so. Maybe @"DavecUK"#1 or @"Rob1"#171 can advise. After closing the steam valve it will very quickly return to set temp.

Thanks for the quick response , well what worries me is that the steam pressure and temperature drops very quickly from 126 to 110 and even lower very quickly and it wasn't the case till few days ago . If it is normal then why the service boiler temperature was still stable and around 125 to 124 degrees even after frothing a milk for one coffee ? Happy new year to you and all the members too :)

@"Omid"#89 are you seeing a drop from 126 to 110 after steaming for one drink or multiple?

> @"Omid"#p2097 well what worries me is that the steam pressure and temperature drops very quickly from 126 to 110 and even lower very quickly and it wasn’t the case till few days ago . If it is normal then why the service boiler temperature was still stable and around 125 to 124 degrees even after frothing a milk for one coffee ? That is not normal at all the Minima has a 2.3l boiler and is a stronger steamer than most machines. It sounds as if the heating element is actually switched off when you start steaming. this can only happen if * The machine is waiting to autofill the service boile, or is autofilling it * the machine is in last shot protection mode and if you try and steam while the shot is extracting, it won't switch on the heating elements * Something is misconfigured, though I can't think what * There is some fault that I cannot fathom > @"LMSC"#p2089 Furthermore, it’s also normal for the steam boiler temp to drop after steaming - the pump will kick-in to fill cold water into the service boiler. This statement puzzles me, but if you are steaming as soon as the machine has warmed up and it's just about to do an autofill/does an autofill, then yes, this will affect steaming Where I am totally unclear is how you are using the machine when steaming? * are you steaming and brewing at the same time * have you checked your advanced settings * are you steaming immediately the machine has warmed up after switching on and it's autofilling * does it do this **every** time you steam, or only sometimes - this is quite and important question * are you drawing a nice big cup of hot water before steaming Perhaps if you can put a video up on YouTube as unlisted, and we can see what you are doing…obviously show the temperature readout.

I steam 330 ml at a time for 35s. After steaming, I see it dropping to 110ish from 130. It doesn’t bother me as I don’t do back to back steaming. IMO, it’s a function of how long and how much. These will determine, amongst other parameters, how much cold water enters the service boiler. Edit Steaming oats take a little longer - as much as 50+s.

Well I steam only for one drink after the machine has warmed up enough at least 40 min or more and the pressure and steam drops quickly . The machine was fine till few days ago though but since then I have this problem . https://youtu.be/8cZOxlkhuJ0

@"Omid"#p2104 - what type of water are you using?

Watched the video, that doesn't seem right and you are using a 2 hole tip not even a 3 hole. It's as if the heating element isn't kicking in at all. Can you detail all your advanced settings please. How long does it take to get back up to temp once you stop steaming?

ACS Minima temperature

DavecUK

Easier you go through every setting and tell me what it is…..Or if easier, what settings are not the same as in the image below, what the are and what values they are set to.

Don’t forget Gicars little joke, press and hold only the right hand button in when you power on…it’s a factory reset and evidence gone for ever. It’s really easy to do accidentally when trying to press both buttons to get into the advanced menu.

I still want to kick the Gicar programmer who did this. Cos if you press one button for the advanced menu and muck it up, nothing bad happens. If you have to press 2 buttons, do it wrong and you factory reset the machine…someone needs a slap.

Omid

Thanks David. I tried my best to press both keys at the same time hahaha . I checked the advanced menue parameters and the values were all the same as the recommended settings( highlighted in blue ) on the chart you have sent me .

DavecUK

Then I do not know?

Omid

😕 I guess my bad luck then . When someone like you get confused then it should be a very complicated issue .

DavecUK

Well there’s a number of things it might be….but I’m not sure which…

Do you have a power meter, that you can plug into the wall, plug the Minima in and see the wattage draw of the machine?

Omid

Unfortunately I don’t have it but I can buy one and check if it’s gonna help

DavecUK

It’s to see if the machine is actually drawing extra power while you are steaming, actually just seen your post, you can hear the element going…so it probably won’t help?

DavecUK

check out the review with steaming shown

https://coffeeequipmentreviews.wordpress.com/2019/03/06/acs-minima-final-production-machine/

That’s how it should be…you can try a higher temp perhaps?

Is that a 2 hole tip, and the one that came with the machine….could the machine be scaled?

MediumRoastSteam

Omid I’m using mixture of Tesco Ashbeck and Volvic

DavecUK could the machine be scaled

It’s possible, but given the time of ownership (2 months) and the water used, it’s unlikely. It will scale eventually, but I wouldn’t expect it to be scaled after two months.

Rob1

Omid

MediumRoastSteam

It probably started to scale in the service boiler within about a week. That’s assuming steaming is done for about 1 minute a day on average. That’s not to say it’ll be scaled badly enough to cause this though…I’d expect not anyway.

I was thinking the fill level may be low for some reason.

Omid

Is that a 2 hole tip, and the one that came with the machine….could the machine be scaled?
The machine came with the two hole tip . I’m going to watch the video of you checking / testing the steam temperature and compare it to mine
Thanks

MediumRoastSteam

Omid

Omid dont think its gonna scale anytime soon as I use it for few drinks daily and I have it for 2 month

It will scale in a couple of years, no doubt about it.

Omid

It’s possible, but given the time of ownership (2 months) and the water used, it’s unlikely. It will scale eventually, but I wouldn’t expect it to be scaled after two months.
I dont think its gonna scale anytime soon as I use it for few drinks daily and I have it for 2 month .

HVL87

@DavecUK is it worth draining the service boiler and measuring how much water is in there?

DavecUK

HVL87 It might be worth assessing the water level. That could be done by getting the steam boiler up to temp, then draining as much water out as possible via HW tap. Also noting whether the HW tap blows steam at the and rather than water just stopping and vac breaker opening.

The ml of water drained will indicate the boiler fill, and someone with a Minima machine on the counter can do the same and measure theirs

LMSC

DavecUK Also noting whether the HW tap blows steam at the and rather than water just stopping and vac breaker opening.

What if the HW tap blows a combination of both steam and water meaning the water doesn’t flow smoothly?

Omid

DavecUK I drained the service boiler today and 1.7 liter of hot water came out of the HW tap . I didn’t noticed any residue or any material inside the water and the water was cristal clear though . The funny thing is when I check the steam temperature today it didn’t dropped as quickly as it was dropped yesterday and it was fairly stable between 125 to 122 and went up quickly as I stop the steam temperature check but what I have notecid was the brew temperature dropped 3 degree with no reason ( I wasn’t making any coffee ) while I was checking the steam pressure and temperature . Maybe I am thinking too muh and 😏🤣.

DavecUK

LMSC What if the HW tap blows a combination of both steam and water meaning the water doesn’t flow smoothly

Then that will be normal behaviour

LMSC

MediumRoastSteam One can minimise it by drawing a small cup of hot water out after steaming, can’t we?

HVL87

If I remember correctly last time I measured around 1.3l drained from the hot water tap. It’s due another empty soon so I can check again.

MediumRoastSteam

LMSC - yes. But by doing so you are reducing concentration, but at the same time adding more minerals. Unfortunately it’s inevitable.

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