The General ACS Minima Thread

@Adrianmsmith @DavecUK

Thank you both, that’s great. I’ll take some pics once apart.

@Adrianmsmith where did you get the thin spanners from?

Won’t be until next weekend as building a shed this weekend. Not the weather for it!

PortafilterProcrastinator They look like shower door spanners, or perhaps bicycle ones?

Bicycle cone spanners are narrow

For some reason one of your videos @DavecUK is escaping me but I just got back from a two week vacation. I had done a full back flushing clean before I left. Any best practices i should do on the machine before using it after two weeks?

gregE Do you have the later model with drain valves?

Spanners arrived early so I got to work!

Wrapped a few turns of PTFE around the thread but it leaks worse than ever! Irony being I am clearly a massive spanner!

PortafilterProcrastinator those threads need properly cleaning befor you even buy the ptfe never ming use it!

I can’t lie so im not going to comment about your spanner comment. 🤢

Adrianmsmith Haha, oh yes, these were taken when I first took it apart. All thoroughly cleaned before I did anything else.

I think it must have been a liquid sealant as the gauge doesn’t tighten, it just hits the inside of the group that you can see.

It now doesn’t leak - but this is equally unacceptable! All too late getting into this now, so I’ll have to be offended by the gauge until I can spend some time on it at the weekend.

PortafilterProcrastinator It now doesn’t leak - but this is equally unacceptable! All too late getting into this now, so I’ll have to be offended by the gauge until I can spend some time on it at the weekend.

Put enough PTFE so it’s tightish all the way in and don’t do it up fully, it doesn’t create a better seal, quite the contrary. Just stop when it’s most of the way in and the gauge is level.

DavecUK

@PortafilterProcrastinator

Just to continue Dave’s point here if you are not over familiar with thread sealing especially with something like this pressure gauge, it is the actual contact of the PTFE tape against the faces of the threads on the internal and external part that stop it from leaking.

With the correct amount of PTFE, it will be easy to get the gauge in the correct orientation.

On my synchronika I once set mine so the number nine was at the top but my wife soon made me change it 🤪🤔😶

There is a misconception that it has to go all the way to the bottom but in this case there is nothing to seal / bottom out by going all the way to the bottom.

Hi Minimistas - I’m looking for some guidance. I received my Minima in March and have generally been delighted with it. The coffee’s great and I opted for the gold which looks fantastic.
Unfortunately, after a couple of weeks, I noticed a thin film coming away from the drip tray cover - under the valve drain and the hot water tap - basically where it’s exposed to hot water (not ideal in an espresso machine).
I’ve been back and forth with Maria from ACS and they have sent me a replacement cover (I haven’t risked putting this on the machine yet). But they (ACS and the supplier who does the coating) don’t have an explanation and say no-one has ever complained before about this issue.
It looks to me like an acryllic lacquer that’s not suitable for heat/water or hasn’t been applied/cured properly. My best guess is that it’s an anti-fingerprint coating, sprayed on after the PVD process, but ACS deny this - they say there is no coating applied after the PVD process.
It’s now started peeling off on the top round the vents and they’ve offered to replace this too. I do appreciate the offer but I’m very wary of it happening again. I paid extra for this finish and specifically asked about durability before ordering.
I’ll share some pictures and I’d be grateful for any advice, particularly if you have the gold finish.

Here’s a video which shows the film/coating peeling away better:

clamage

From what you say, it obviously isn’t, but it looks like a protective coating that was meant to be removed on delivery, similar to the white plastic on stainless panels.

Adrianmsmith
Yeah, it’s much thinner and more brittle than that. It’s really like a sprayed on lacquer that’s flaking off. The gold coating isn’t coming off, but where the clear coating comes away it changes the reflectivity of the surface - it’s really noticeable

Presume its a protective coat either lacquer or a powder coat clear of a sort

When you coat diamond cut wheels they use a self etching lacquer but generally it doesn’t last.

DavecUK

That’s the thing - Maria has told me there is no lacquer applied, but when I suggested using a solvent* (I think acetone should remove lacquer but not affect the galvanic coating) she said the supplier said not to use any solvent as it could “peel or remove the lacquer further”.
I feeling a bit gaslit by ACS, if I’m honest. They’ve been generally helpful/responsive, but I’ve provided clear evidence that there is some kind of coating that is coming away from the areas exposed to hot water. Despite that, they’re still telling me: “we can guarantee it wasn’t sprayed after the galvanic treatment”.

• I had been tempted to try a solvent, just to get the finish consistent (I do trust that the galvanic finish underneath is durable).

clamage - It’s obviously a problem on a relatively new machine still under warranty. What will ACS do? Will they replace the machine? I’m assuming if it’s peeling on the tray and on top, it’s only a matter of time until it starts peeling everywhere?

MediumRoastSteam

They’ve already sent a replacement drip tray cover (gold) suggesting “You can use this one when you use the machine and keep the new one when you do not use the machine.” While I appreciate this, I’d rather have the part I paid for - i.e. finished in the colour I ordered and durable enough for years of daily use.
They’ve offered to do the same for the top cover, but this time offering a plain stainless as an option (“you can use them while you make the coffees and put back the gold ones while not using the machine”). Again, I do appreciate the offer - it’s just not consistent with what I ordered / paid for.
As for replacing the machine - I really hope it doesn’t come to that. I live in Shetland and it’ll be a total ball-ache to arrange.
Sigh, I’m trying not to be too negative. I do love everything else about the machine. But I saved up for a long time for this and I want to to be right.