So there's a lot of people buying Minimas on here at the moment and a few experienced users so I thought a thread dedicated to the Minima with questions / information on the machine would be useful to myself and the others who have recently purchased and are about to take the plunge (and to prevent myself from hijacking other people's threads). One question I have to kick us off is about the brew boiler and PID. For some reason my Minima does not seem to like bring set at 93 degrees. Despite me having it set at 93, the display shows it settling at 94. I'm not sure if this is indicative of an issue or standard behaviour. It occasionally will drop to 93 but then goes up to 94 again

Edit…I've just found the PID Values Explained section at the back of the manual where it explains this is normal.

Mine does the same and I confirmed with other Minima users when I bought the machine.

> @"dutchy101"#p6482 Edit…I’ve just found the PID Values Explained section atvthe back of the manual where it explains this is normal. Very good manual that one…, online version available as well. https://sway.office.com/xofz72xFBgYyiWqi?ref=Link

@"dutchy101"#56 @"HVL87"#57 How have you found the stock filter baskets? I'm already thinking of upgrading, but won't do unecessarily quickly - although that is also partly tamper dependent.

@"PortafilterProcrastinator"#p6679 they are fine. Easier to pull a nice looking bottomless shot - in my opinion that doesn’t mean much. I moved on to a 18g VST to optimise my shots as much as possible.

It's been a bit of a transition for me this week as I've changed from Sage 54mm baskets and didn't have a 58mm tamper until a few days after the machine arrived. I got a new distributor yesterday which has also helped so still finding my feet a bit with the stock baskets, but pretty happy with them so far

Thanks both, if they're a similar ID then I can get a tamper (thinking bravo ATM) first and upgrade the basket later when looking for refinement, rather than just trying to make something palatable!

Yeah - I've got a Nomcore 58.5mm tamper on order and coming this week so will get a better handle on things once that has arrived

@"dutchy101"#p6686 I'd be really interested and grateful to hear how you get on. How are you finding the Minima overall?

Absolutely loving it - so glad I went with it I'm really enjoying using it. How about you? Made my wife a tea using water from the service boiler to drain some water this morning and she commented how much better it looked and tasted (using the zero and remineralised water I've been making up).

The General ACS Minima Thread

Cuprajake

With the milk, its easier to learn with more. Takes longer to heat.

You will be fine, practice with water

Dan070857

Well she has finally arrived and wow! She’s even more stunning in the flesh. It looks great and feels solid, although anything metal would of felt like an improvement coming from a plastic sage barista express.

I’ve had quite a hard time trying to dial in and wasted a lot of coffee in the process lol. I either chocked the machine or had gushers! I noticed the ramp up really slowed around 6 bar. I thought I’d test this with a blind basket and it doesn’t seem right to me but I am no expert. Does this look a little slow?

DavecUK

Dan070857 I thought I’d test this with a blind basket and it doesn’t seem right to me but I am no expert. Does this look a little slow?

Is there a video? machine looks great BTW, they do look stunning in the powder coat finishes

simonc

Dan070857 wow looks stunning. Wish I’d got a black one but budget stretched to what was on eBay. My shiny one arrives Wednesday. Will be following your experience before I dial mine in then! I’m coming from a Rok so imagine my learning curve!

Dan070857

DavecUK yeah I’m having trouble trying to upload it, files too large. Any suggestions?

The powder coating is done exceptionally well!

DavecUK

Dan070857 Upload to YouTube as unlisted and then paste the link here. I don’t allow any file uploads to the forum itself, even though our donations allow it. This keeps our sever footprint as low as possible and the forum super responsive, especially as we are by far the largest and busiest forum on Freeflarum!

Worth remembering that when a machine is new, there “might” be a little “compressive delay” for a few days, as any trapped air is absorbed in the brew boiler.

Cuprajake

this was mine

Dan070857

Cuprajake definitely slower than yours

DavecUK

DavecUK Worth remembering that when a machine is new, there “might” be a little “compressive delay” for a few days, as any trapped air is absorbed in the brew boiler.

this

Dan070857

HVL87

Dan070857 I found an old video of mine from when I first bought the Minima. It was a test shot and the pressure ramped up slowly. Now the ramp up is faster for whatever reason:

Cuprajake

try it a few time with the blind one after another, are they all the same?

Dan070857

It’s faster but still seems to slow down around 6 bar for some reason

Dan070857

HVL87 Yeah that looks exactly like mine! Very strange your has rectified itself.

@Cuprajake Yeah I’ll take the top off and have a nosey round.

Thanks for your help guys! Really appreciate it 👍

Cuprajake

i wouldnt be overly worried, perhaps just pop the top off make sure there are no crimped pipes, round the opv area etc, unplug electric first obs

HVL87

A more recent shot for your reference:

DavecUK

simonc The Minima is a machine that actually looks good in colours because of it’s unusual shape. White (which is not bone white), Black and even the blue I have look great. I actually think some other powder coat colours commonly used on metals would look good as well.

Alexvs

Welcome to club Minima @Dan070857 😁 Looks great!

Coming from the SBE too, you have to forget what you dialled in previously as it’s so different with this combo. I’ve had an issue with my Niche staying on a setting but I’ve had some great results from the pair. I’m no cofficionado so even the not great results, I still drink them as have them with milk which helps. Stick with it but try not make too big an adjustment each time and you’ll get there.

Dan070857

Alexvs It definitely is a steep learning curve coming from 54mm baskets to 58mm. My bottomless portafilter arrived today which has definitely helped with dialling in. I really need to get some decaf beans because I’m shaking right now with all the caffeine 😂

Alexvs

Dan070857 Haha yeah I never did that, I just wait patiently till my next planned coffee as when I’ve had a 3rd any day it tips me over the edge lol. I have just ordered an extra bag to take my fortnightly subscription to 4 × 200g bags as my intake keeps increasing. I’d buy a 1kg bag but the wife isn’t happy about how much space everything takes so not allowed any storage containers on show 😆. Have just ordered an 18g VST basket as not a fan of the standard ridged one. Looking forward to that.

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