Afternoon, My previous post on this seems to have vanished so hoping this is all good - I bought a Minima with a known fault that the steam was watery, which was predicted as boiler overfill. Also potential steam boiler overheating I haven’t yet tried this as I wanted to firstly take a look inside to check the earthing was now on the frame, but when doing so I found the jacket around the steam boiler to be wet! I also saw that the wire I was looking for on the other boiler to remove and reposition wasn’t there, but also didn’t seem to be in the place instructed. On further investigation of the dampness, and to check the wire, I released the steam boiler off its supports and took some pics, as I found some gunk around the joints on the bottom! This also seems to be where there’s some moisture. So, my initial questions are: With the gunk and moisture around joints on the bottom of the boiler - would this directly relate to the watery steam and/or overfilling, assuming a slight leak will mean pressure loss? Is there anywhere else this black wire (that was on the boiler but needed moving to the the frame) might be? I’ve attached a few images showing all of this, including damp jacket, gunk on joints and earthing area. I’m new to this so any advice and help would be fantastic. A friend has suggested some work on those joints may sort, but welcome any other comments from those that know here. Thank you! [URL=https://i.imgur.com/Iydq9EP.jpeg][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/Iydq9EP.jpeg[/IMG][/URL] [URL=https://i.imgur.com/esRWjEs.jpeg][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/esRWjEs.jpeg[/IMG][/URL] [URL=https://i.imgur.com/XRD7P68.jpeg][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/XRD7P68.jpeg[/IMG][/URL] [URL=https://i.imgur.com/RjzZWXi.jpeg][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/RjzZWXi.jpeg[/IMG][/URL] [URL=https://i.imgur.com/1KqQVLK.jpeg][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/1KqQVLK.jpeg[/IMG][/URL] [URL=https://i.imgur.com/xY5spUN.jpeg][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/xY5spUN.jpeg[/IMG][/URL]

Blimey. How old is the machine? Is it covered by a warranty?

@"HarveyMushman"#p62433 2019 I believe. I don’t know what ACS warranties are but unlikely I guess

@"Mr_H"#p62434 It won't be covered by warranty after almost 5 years **and the photo I want to see is the entire top inside of the machine (especially the steam boiler (service boiler)**…just to see if the vacuum breaker is leaking, which it probably is….as all that crap on the top must come from somewhere. 1. You want to look at the vacuum breaker and see if it is leaking all the time, or on warmup…but as I can only guess the type until I see a photo, I don't know for sure. 2. Clean all the stuff off everywhere really well, cos you don't want to do more work than necessary 3. The tea staining/mild rust will always be a thing on a weld in stainless, or when exposed to water with chloride Ions…this can happen if water leaks from the safety valve or vac breaker, down the side of the steam boiler. 4. **Is the 3rd and 4th photo down the steam or brew boiler?** 5. The corrosion on fittings and blanking plugs might be from water that has run down from the top, or it might be they are leaking? 6. If those fittings and plugs are leaking, there is a simple explanation and solution. 7. The earthing wire is in the correct place. to bring the machine up to a fully working standard and almost as new should not be too expensive….but might require a bit of elbow grease, cleaning, dismantling, boilers out etc…It's not a hard job, just needs a few spanners and a bit of patience. Carefully read and answer my questions in order (so it's easy to keep track) and provide information requested. if you don't answer something, I hate having to ask again and again (as you can guess this often happens). It basically looks like the results of a lack of maintenance and an annual case off visual check to spot things going wrong and fix them before things get much worse. *P.S never provide just guess what this is macro close ups, without distance shots to put it in context, or mentioning the part, boiler, position etc..*

@"DavecUK"#p62435 @"DavecUK"#p62435 Hi Dave - ok so first up the entire machine from the top, hopefully that’s the pic you mentioned having? All of this is on the steam boiler And I did spot the earthing wire just now, at the bottom of the frame which is the third image. if the first image top down is correct I’ll await your thoughts and then run through the questions Top down: [URL=https://i.imgur.com/RzrR6Yq.jpeg][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/RzrR6Yq.jpeg[/IMG][/URL] Steam boiler: [URL=https://i.imgur.com/JeiDvWd.jpeg][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/JeiDvWd.jpeg[/IMG][/URL] Found the earthing (it’s reflected in the metal hence showing 2 of them!) this is in the middle of the machine, hard to do a wide view [URL=https://i.imgur.com/UFGvK6E.jpeg][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/UFGvK6E.jpeg[/IMG][/URL]

Sorry to see, I remember the thread where you were offered the machine with ‘minor repairs’…

@"Mr_H"#p62436 I can't tell anything for sure, could be leaking safety valve, vac breaker not sure…they might even be fine…just a weirdly dirty machine inside.

@"DavecUK"#p62439 Sure OK. So I know, which are the vacuum breaker and safety valve?

@"HarveyMushman"#p62437 It's no biggie, was a risk being unknown but I'm still hopeful it's not too serious and can be sorted, just trickier identifying what may be the issue.

@"Mr_H"#p62440 Red vac breaker, green, safety valve. [upl-image-preview url=https://i.imgur.com/iQfvkC0.png]

Minima repair advice

Mr_H

On another note, and this may just be part of the learning process, when I used the single portafilter with 18g of ground coffee, the water struggles to get a good flow through - would this be due to the grind of the coffee and it being compacted too much therefore making it hard for the water to get through?

Never really had this issue with the double portafilter.

I also note the single doesn’t quite lock in to 90 degrees but is very tight

DavecUK

Mr_H Never really had this issue with the double portafilter.

Do you mean the single portafilter basket or the single spout portafilter vs double spout one?

simonc

Mr_H can you confirm where your earth wire is located? Want to compare to mine

Mr_H

simonc it was in the middle of the frame at the bottom, but is now as advised by ACS here, along with the yellow/green wire

Mr_H

DavecUK this one, used as it is in pic

simonc

Mr_H cheers. Think that explains my previous intermittent problem. My wire is not there. Makes sense to actually connect it to the earth wire for best conductivity.

Verion

@Mr_H that’s a bottomless portafilter.

From what I’m understanding, you’re using a single basket in it and dosing 18g?

Mr_H

Verion that’s what I did before then trying the other. So the bottomless is for single dose then? Sorry learning curve for me!

DavecUK

Mr_H that’s what I did before then trying the other. So the bottomless is for single dose then? Sorry learning curve for me!

No, the BASKET that goes insde a single, double or bottomless portafilter is what we are talking about.

There is a single basket that will hold from 7 to a maximum of possibly 10g of coffee, and a double that holds from 16 - maximum 20g.

Does that make it clear…nothing to do with bottomless or not.

Mr_H

DavecUK Right I see. So separating them as per pics, I can see that they are different. So I’d need to be using the basket that was in the double portafilter if wanting an 18g load, and max 8/9g in the other one

DavecUK

Mr_H Yes

dutchy101

Sorry to hijack this thread but I’m also a Minima owner and after juat over 2 years of ownership, I’ve never taken the top off. Until now.

I have no performance issues but I’ve noticed what might be a couple of leaks on the top of the brew boiler (or maybe it’s nothing at all). @DavecUK do these orange / rusty marks indicate a leak if some sort / loose connection please?

DavecUK

dutchy101 @DavecUK do these orange / rusty marks indicate a leak if some sort / loose connection please?

Nah, boilers are A316L stainless, can’t rust like that look like dried excess Loctite thread locker. All looks fine.

dutchy101

Superb. I had hoped that’s what you were going to say. Multiple use every day for over 2 years and literally not one problem / adjustment required.

I love this machine.

Thanks for your advice @DavecUK - I’ve never gone wrong with a recommendation of yours

Mr_H

Evening - a little advice now we’re learning the machine - what is the ‘norm’ in seconds before coffee starts to pour through the portafilter into the cup?

I’m experimenting with grind settings and getting various results so handy to know roughly what to expect

Many thanks

DavecUK

Mr_H With the minima the ramp is slow (which is nice), to by the time it reaches 9 bar you should see coffee coming from the bottom of a bottomless portafilter. If it’s a spouted portafilter it can take a few seconds longer to show.

simonc

Mr_H if you haven’t seen it yet, there is an article excellent general Minima users thread with a lot of good information in it.
https://coffeetime.freeflarum.com/d/330-the-general-acs-minima-thread

Mr_H

DavecUK Righto OK. Yes spouted one. I think I was comparing the timings we used with the training which was on a different machine, so hearing a few seconds longer is positive. Had variance of 7-12 or so seconds depending on grind settings.

Mr_H

Ok so just revisting this timing - it seems not matter what I do to the grind settings, finer or coarser, and regardless of a hard of soft tamp, it’s taking 15+ seconds to come through in a spouted portafilter. @DavecUK having watched a video of yours, granted on a bottomless one which is 8ish seconds, is 15+ too long for spouted?

DavecUK

Mr_H video of yours, granted on a bottomless one which is 8ish seconds, is 15+ too long for spouted?

It’s difficult to say, show us a video.

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