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 yup, I just keep a few spare machines on hand….

dutchy101

Haha I like your style, but in my case that would result in at best a divorce, at worst a castration

dutchy101

Just flicked the machine back on and the service boiler seems to be stabilising at 130 / 131 and not going any higher so hopefully switching ot off eaier has reset whatever the problem was before. I guess I’ll know more tomorrow morning when I next steam

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.

CoyoteOldMan

simonc So the issue is that the machine turns off (smartplug/standby mode) but then it turns on with the service boiler on again?

Adding a timed latch circuit (to the service boiler only) is easy, but then it may switch off right when you don’t want it…

simonc

CoyoteOldMan no. Machine is on at mains for 6 hours during which I make 2-3 coffees. The service boiler should only be on for enough time to heat and steam milk. But sometimes I go back to the machine 3 hours later and find the service boiler still on.

Yes a timed latch on the service boiler would be great. Press a button and it’s only on for 20 mins say.

CoyoteOldMan

Et voila…

Timed latch

DavecUK

CoyoteOldMan You will have to wire that one in quite carefully!

It’s a real shame the Minima switch isn’t Off, brew boiler, then brew and steam……..rather than off being in the middle position.

dutchy101

So I steamed again this morning and the issue happened again. The temperature went up to 135 when warming up and then dropped to 114 during steaming. Actually it made a pretty good job of the milk - perhaps this could be the next big thing like a flow control paddle.

I’ll keep an eye on it, but suspect that it is likely to be a problem that will need fixing. How easy is it to change a temperature sensor? I am hoping the answer to be ’extremely easy - lol

DavecUK

dutchy101 It’s a very easy 10 minute job in total. It might well be that there is an initial overshoot on warming up which can be tweaked out using PID parameters, what temp is your steam boiler set to?

Also remember the system is still sinking loads of heat away from that boiler….sop if you steam as son as it’s up to temp, you will experience a much larger drop on temp/pressure compared to normal. I always recommend a few minutes at least at the correct temp before steaming.

dutchy101

DavecUK

OK a slightly different experience this afternoon. It only dropped to 128 when doing back to back drinks (set to 130). I’d let it heat up for longer this afternoon plus it had the benefit of being warmer from this morning.

Might not be an issue after all, but will keep an eye on it.

Thanks DavecUK

CoyoteOldMan

DavecUK There seems to be some space lower down in the case (based on your video of the prototype - to the side of the large Gicar box). The Minima is quite packed, so it could be a bit fiddly. Buy that timer, a few spade connectors and a small plastic case, and with £15 it should be a fairly easy mod, and fully reversible. With the price of electricity nowadays it may even pay for itself in a few months.

I started with the idea to offer a “homemade” one to @simonc, but then I looked at the prices of components and the ready-made stuff is so much cheaper.

simonc

DavecUK as I guess it’s rare, and not advisable, I wonder why it even has a switch for steam. Surely a couple of buttons, 5min, 30min, perm on, for steam boiler would be better? Guess that costs a bit more and more electronics to squeeze in

simonc

CoyoteOldMan was your thinking it writes to existing switch, so it overrides and turns off power after time and you have to flick switch to middle then back to steam to start it again.

That’s certainly doable as you say if it could fit.

simonc

CoyoteOldMan

simonc

was your thinking it writes to existing switch, so it overrides and turns off power after time and you have to flick switch to middle then back to steam to start it again.

That’s certainly doable as you say if it could fit.

simonc

[unknown] as I guess it’s rare, and not advisable, I wonder why it even has a switch for steam. Surely a couple of buttons, 5min, 30min, perm on, for steam boiler would be better? Guess that costs a bit more and more electronics to squeeze in

CoyoteOldMan

simonc Yes. Just connect it “in series” to the current “steam” switch wires, so it will switch off the steam boiler after 30 minutes or whatever.

BTW - the forum software has been updated over the weekend, but it seems you still have some of the old widgets loaded (and they cause errors when posting, so one ends up posting everything twice!). Flush your browser’s cache (or force a refresh of the page, if your browser can do that), and all should start working well again.

simonc

CoyoteOldMan ok, I’m back considering this again (especially as I have to open it up to reword the Earth wire) but possibly with a smart relay where I have more choice on timing and even some automation.

Happy with wiring etc but can I check what power the switch has, I presume it’s dc rather than 220vac?

fwx

Does anyone who bought ACS minima directly from ACS, know how the import taxes and customs duties shipping to the UK are charged?

Paolo_Cortese

fwx you have to calculate more or less 28/30% of the value declared.

fwx

Paolo_Cortese I see, thank you Paolo.

CoyoteOldMan

What I expect:

No custom duty (or if they apply it, you have grounds for appealing… there is no duty on EU products), and ACS machines are definitely “made in Italy” under rules-of-origin. https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/commodities/8516710000

VAT at 20% on overall invoice price, including transportation costs. ACS will send you a pro-forma at the moment of firm booking.

Courier processing/admin costs - no idea how much, but shouldn’t be a lot.

My machine is being shipped tomorrow… we’ll see if my expectations are correct!

fwx

CoyoteOldMan will be happy to hear from you regarding the total cost including VAT.

DavecUK

CoyoteOldMan My machine is being shipped tomorrow… we’ll see if my expectations are correct!

Depends on the declared value. The extra is those pesky handling charges…

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