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

Amberale

DavecUK

Thank you Dave.
I really appreciate you answering all the questions on all the forums you appear on no matter how often we/I have obviously forgotten our year 11 chemistry.

simonc

Finally looking to check on the earth wire. I can’t see a thin black wire from the gicar box but is this the earth to the frame under the service boiler?

Which boiler and top or bottom were the earth wires placed?

simonc

The brown wire has spade connector to a yellow green earth wire.

simonc

I presume the pressure valve shouldn’t spit water like this whilst heating up. However as the middle bit is down whilst heating it doesn’t seem like a problem with the valve? The washer seems ok and it holds the pressure when pressurised over 100c.
Is the boiler filled too high hence the water bubbling when boiling is too close to the top?

https://youtu.be/FWWYDYWoX9g

DavecUK

It doesn’t look right, it looks like the boiler might be overfilled. You could try draining some water out of the boiler and then allowing it to refill, it looks like the boiler might be overfilled. When it stops, switch off the machine, allow it to cool down and then reheat and see if the vacuum breaker spits.

If it doesn’t spit like that, then you could try disassembling the AUOFILL solenoid valve and descale plus clean it.

If the auto fill solenoid leaks, every time you make a shot, some Water can be entering the service boiler

simonc

DavecUK cheers. I did drain water off after the video as tried steaming and it was too watery. After taking 300ml out the steam was much better. It didn’t refill as I remember and then I turned off. Just turned back on and is up to 85 and no hissing at that valve.

How would I disassemble the auto fill solenoid?
Or rather where is it?

DavecUK

simonc How would I disassemble the auto fill solenoid?
Or rather where is it?

In the machine there are two solenoids, one attached to the group (not that one) and the other will be the first one after the pump output line…which will be the autofill solenoid.

I would imagine it’s going to be a major PITA to get to…I believe it’s going to be there (see arrow)

simonc

DavecUK is that picture after service boiler removed? That looks a right pita!

simonc

DavecUK actually I see the service boiler on its side. So I need to remove that and then take the autofill solenoid out to clean?

I’ll think I’ll do a test first. Drain enough water so it auto fills then turn off and empty, measuring how much comes out.
Then refill and keep making shots (presumably back flushing does same thing) for a few weeks and then turn off and drain and see if I get more out? That would confirm that is what’s happening?

Nate_in_TX

Hey all, new person here. I got my minima in January 2021 (after a lot of recommendations and watching all Dave’s videos.

I have an October 2020 production model and I had just noticed scale and a leak coming from the bottom of the service boiler’s hex nut (see attached picture). So I disconnected the service boiler, cleaned up and descaled the area and refitted it with PTFE. I removed the two temp sensors to drain the boilers before I did that and I thought I did a pretty good job with documenting connections and not disturbing the machine too much, but when I reassembled and followed the fill instructions from the manual, the service boiler filled but not the brew boiler. In fact, the pump kept engaging until the service boiler started shooting out water from the vacuum breaker. After I disconnected the power again and the temp sensors, I was able to confirm that the brew boiler was still bone dry.

Does this sound like it might be the same solenoid issue that simonc might be having? Thanks in advance!

For reference, I use both boilers a lot, as I make about 4 milk drinks a day. The machine will generally stay on for about 2 hours or so each day.

DavecUK

Nate_in_TX +From that photo it’s impossible to tell…It’s highly likely that something has not been connected correctly to do with the autofill. At the moment it could be:

The autofill probe wire
the gicar black earth wire
a wire on the autofill solenoid is wrong
etc..

The brew boiler does not know if it’s full or not. The fact it doesn’t stop filling might indicate 1 fault or 2 introduced to the system.

Nate_in_TX

DavecUK

Understood, I’ll see if I can track down where I might have gone wrong. The black autofill probe wire is definitely connected from where I disconnected it,

but I’ll see if I can track it down on the other end. I didn’t intentionally disconnect anything from the solenoid or the gicar, but I’ll do a better job double checking. Thanks!

DavecUK

Nate_in_TX It sounds as if the pump isn’t stopping so it could be a broken wire/bad connection.

DavecUK

simonc Backflushing will do the same thing, and if you find the boiler gradually fills completely with the service boiler off….then you will know the autofill solenoid is leaking by, as it’s normally open to the brew path. Of course it could be intermittently leaking e.g. after some open and closes it’s fine, and after others it leaks?

Evgenibgr

Hello David. Looking at your reviews of the ACS Minima, I’m already making coffee coffee at home with it. Judging from your experience I want to ask, can you compare the result in the cup with Minima and Lelit Mara and Bianca?

DavecUK

Evgenibgr Hello David. Looking at your reviews of the ACS Minima, I’m already making coffee coffee at home with it. Judging from your experience I want to ask, can you compare the result in the cup with Minima and Lelit Mara and Bianca?

Much better than Mara, very similar to Bianca, and if you add the flow control system then there are only 3 main differences between Minima and Bianca:

Aesthetics
Very quiet Rotary pump vs Vibration pump
Minima has much larger and more powerful steam boiler compared to Bianca (2.3l vs 1.5l)

Evgenibgr

Thanks. I’m still learning how to make the “perfect” espresso. I have put flow control on CoffeeSensor which works fine on Minima. I have also replaced the shower svreen with IMS nanoquartz which has increased the coffee taste. My grinder is DF64P with SSP HU burrs.

I have a friend with a Mara, and a DF64 grinder also with SSP HU burrs, whose coffees become much more aromatic. I wonder if the reason for his more flavorful coffee is the hardware or my espresso skills?

DavecUK

Evgenibgr I have a friend with a Mara, and a DF64 grinder also with SSP HU burrs, whose coffees become much more aromatic. I wonder if the reason for his more flavorful coffee is the hardware or my espresso skills?

Nothing wrong with your hardware………

MediumRoastSteam

Evgenibgr

There are a few ways to figure out:

invite your mate over and ask him to make a coffee.
you go to his house and you make a coffee.
Then decide which one tastes better, I.e.: coffee from your friends hands or coffee from your friends machine.

Then you can narrow down to individuals: grinder, water quality, routine, etc.

Ps:

Evgenibgr I have also replaced the shower svreen with IMS nanoquartz which has increased the coffee taste

Aside from being an integrated shower screen and with a finer mesh so less fines go behind it and makes easier to clean, I very much doubt, based on my previous experience, that it makes any difference pertained to taste in the cup.

Doram

Evgenibgr I have a friend with a Mara, and a DF64 grinder also with SSP HU burrs, whose coffees become much more aromatic.

Sorry if that’s a daft question, but are you using the same coffee? Have you tried asking your friend to show you how to use the equipment?

dutchy101

Are you both using the same water?

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