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

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!

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.

simonc

DavecUK turns out that was after this was made. However as the screw threads for the feet are on the body not the foot, I unscrewed them and just moved them back further under the body so they fully sit on the counter. As long as I don’t move the machine it will be fine. Is on rubber feet and won’t move.

simonc

I have a problem. New 2nd hand machine. Filled with lockhills, turned on and off a few times for A7 and then all good. Both boilers came up to temp.

Shocking first few shots as missing funnel and wdt and the puck prep was too poor for light tamp with normcore v4. Switched to strongest spring and some basic wdt and got some better shots but still too fast. Probably 8 shots pulled all fine. Played with some steam. All good.

Went 2 notches finer and it seemed to have choked watching the scales. I then saw that it was still at 2 bar. Previous shots were 9.5.

Stopped that and put in the blind basket and still 2 bar. After 2 more blind shots it’s now at only 1.8. What’s going on?

Cuprajake

Umm sounds like a possible blockage somewhere.

Piece of scale broke off in transit poss

simonc

The pump seemed to be running a lot more than it was supposed to do before the problem so I checked and water was very low. I filled up with water and pump ran for short time and then I pulled 40 seconds of water through the group and it seems ok now.

Maybe just a bit of air in the system?

simonc

It all seems to be running well this morning, so maybe a thorough flush of water was all that was needed, as indeed the manual says!

Getting close to getting it dialled in and getting a reasonable 1:2 now in 28 seconds with 20g and its nice to drink. Not perfect, but after 300g of coffee through it, its the first one I want to drink.

However for all of them the puck appears wetter than I expected and has a few ml of water on top of it when I take the Portafilter out. it seems to steam off and the rest of the puck seems dry when I knock it out, ie it holds its shape in the knock box. Is this normal?

DavecUK

simonc I always let the puck drain for a while on most machines (esp profilers), I put the portafilter aside for 20 seconds and that seems to let it knockout much easier.

Some coffees require a very fine grind, which seems to give wetter pucks. It’s nothing to worry about.

Cuprajake

water on the puck can be a few things but nothing to worry about, it can be depth of basket, bean dependant etc

simonc

DavecUK Cuprajake @ “DavecUK”#p12120 Thanks.. will do that, but think its getting better as I prep better.

Boren

Can anyone comment about how dry is the steam from the Minima? Even better if someone can compare it to the Elektra Microcasa a Leva (which I own), where the steam is super dry and requires no purging.

Thanks!

simonc

As there is no lever to lose lubrication from use of puly caff, is there any downside to backflushing with it? Not that I’ll use it daily obviously but can you use it more regularly than I might do with a lever?

DavecUK

simonc You can backflush as often as you like, bit realistically once a week or once every 2 weeks depending on use is fine. It also prevents the solenoid clogging up with coffee oils.

pete4eyes Anyone know if direct from Minima comes with any kind of warranty?

2 years parts only.

pete4eyes

I’ve read of a couple of quality issues with newly received Minimas and I’m now considering the Mara X and the ECM Classika PID in the running. But I think I’d regret it despite the risk of a quality issue. I’m being daft right?

Anyone know if direct from Minima comes with any kind of warranty? If Bella Barista still stocked it I’d not hesitate cos of warranty care.

pete4eyes

DavecUK

Thanks Dave. That makes me feel more comfortable. I’m an engineer by trade so it’s not fear of having to fix it. It’s fear of having to fix something that I’ve paid so much for.

Having a warranty does put my mind at ease and I think I’ll regret going for a HX machine when I mainly drink (oat)milk based drinks along with my wife. Will drop ACS an email for the options list.

Will be paired with a Solo df64 which I think a few people here have alongside a Minima. Currently on a modded Gaggia Classic and the wife has given approval of an upgrade (not sure how that happened and not sure if I should be worried, she used the words “you deserve it”)

Alexvs

pete4eyes you deserve it

Haha my wife said the same to me, however I was buying 2nd hand lol. You’ll love the machine, there’s a few new owners here so I’m sure they’ll relieve your worries of new batch quality issues. @dutchy101 has the same pairing with the DF64 and know he’s loving it.

pete4eyes

Alexvs

Haha it was very strange. I’d have thought she was having an affair if I didn’t know how busy she was! What’s the order process from ACS? Their website has no purchase options but they have an info email? Anyone know the deal?

dutchy101

Alexvs @dutchy101 has the same pairing with the DF64 and know he’s loving it.

I am indeed - think it pairs very well. The Minima is a fantastic machine - you won’t regret it

Alexvs

pete4eyes As Dave said, email Paolo direct on that email, he got back to me really quickly when I was originally looking at new. They may even have a deal on if you’re looking for wood kit as know they did an offer recently. Always worth a try.

« Previous Page Next Page »