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

DavecUK

dutchy101 Not going to admit when you last dropped it for cleaning? 🤣

dutchy101

DavecUK

Haha - it was probably a week. I dropped the screen and gave it all a goof clean this morning and seems to have sorted the issue - thanks. I’m using a puck screen and thought this helps to keep the group a lot cleaner, but will keep on top of it every few days.

Thanks

MediumRoastSteam

dutchy101 The portafilter has been quite hard to put in ever since I got my VST basket

Is the VST basket sitting proud on the PF compared to the other baskets? Is the gasket flat side facing the portafilter basket (I.e.: is it the right way in)?

When you drop the shower screen next, make sure the group where the gasket goes is clean. You can use a brush to clean it, or if you don’t have one just a wet kitchen paper towel.

dutchy101

MediumRoastSteam

Thanks - I’ve got a brush which I’ve used.

Gtbarringer

Update: Converted the Minima to the Lelit quiet pump, and the difference is night and day. For $120 and 1 hour of work, I think the investment is well worth it. Decibel measurements (iPhone sensor) read 74 dB sustained (spike of 80dB) on old pump to 62dB ish sustained on Lelit. The only observation is the lelit pump’s flow rate appears to be slightly lower, but that is unsubstantiated.

PortafilterProcrastinator

Gtbarringer Very interesting indeed. Did you take any photos of the process??

DavecUK

Gtbarringer It is a little lower, but it should still work absolutely fine. I still need to do the mod on my Minima. I have a Pump all ready for it. Do you have any videos showing the noise of the new compared to the old, or even the new?

Cuprajake

oooohhhh thats a mod i considered

Gtbarringer

Yes flow rate is not low by any means, but a point if looking todo really fast flowing turbo shots.

No videos of the install process. But if you can use basic hand tools and unplug some connections, its very straight forward. I just took photos of all the connections on the way in and repeated them on the way out.

I will take some videos this week of the new pump.

DavecUK

Gtbarringer Yes flow rate is not low by any means, but a point if looking todo really fast flowing turbo shots.

I’m not into “Turbo” shots…I think perhaps I’m too old

simonc

Been off here for a week and in 20 mins find myself eyeing up a Skuma and now a new pump. 😂

CoyoteOldMan

simonc You are getting away lightly; I’m awaiting delivery of an Evo Leva…

DavecUK

CoyoteOldMan You are getting away lightly; I’m awaiting delivery of an Evo Leva…

Time must be running real slow… 🤣

CoyoteOldMan

DavecUK Tell me about it… last week it was long weekends in both Italy and the UK, which didn’t help matters! It should be shipped this week.

simonc

Is there an issue beyond power consumption in leaving the service boiler on all day (not that I forget to turn it off!). Does it make scaling worse if the water is scale forming?

DavecUK

simonc Well everything gets hotter, components on the service boiler get more heat fatigue. I think it’s just not necessary to leave it on all day

simonc

DavecUK it’s not through choice !

CoyoteOldMan

simonc Smartplug?

Amazon has an offer on TP-Link Tapo P110 for £9.99. Can program various on/off times, and even a “random” setting to simulate occupancy by switching lights on in the evening when you are away. Not that one would use that on a coffee machine…

PortafilterProcrastinator

CoyoteOldMan simonc

I use that exact plug. Has worked without issue since I got it.

Turns on automatically in the morning and then I switch the machine on and off remotely as needed. Given the service boiler only takes 10/12 minutes to warm up, I either set it to on or just turn it on as soon as I get in.

simonc

CoyoteOldMan I have one. The issue is the service boiler switch. I turn on to steam, then steam, purge and pour then get all excited about drinking I forget to flick the switch every time.

dutchy101

So today the temperature on the service boiler seems to have started fluctuating on the led screen. It’s set to 130 and when I looked at the screen earlier (after letting the machine get up to temperature), I noticed it was up at 135. I checked whether the setting had been changed, but it was still set to 130. I assumed it had overshot a little while getting up to temperature and thought nothing more of it, but I don’t recall seeing this happen before.

then, during steaming I’ve noticed that the temperature has started to drop during steaming. This happened twice in a row today and I’m fairly sure this has never happened before during steaming. It also felt that the steam power was dropping a little with the temperature. I am due to drain the service boiler next week, which will be 6 weeks from the previous time I drained it and the water I am using is remineralised Zero water - any ideas as to why this is happening please?

DavecUK

dutchy101 I am due to drain the service boiler next week, which will be 6 weeks from the previous time I drained it and the water I am using is remineralised Zero water - any ideas as to why this is happening please?

At this time it’s tricky to say….it “might” be a temp sensor on the way out…or it might just be coincidence?

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