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

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

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.

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

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

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

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…

LMSC

fwx

Re: Total cost

Recommend you call Paolo or Maria of ACS
Please ask them the cost and delivery
Add 20% VAT
You may or may not pay the additional customs. This will be a smaller amount compared to the VAT.

Edit :

Paolo has already given you the range. If you contact him, you may know straightaway 😊

CoyoteOldMan

fwx Just got the courier bill for VAT etc: total 23.2% on invoice price. They incorrectly applied excise duty, which I will appeal against… but without holding my breath. The courier (DHL) admin charges were very reasonable at £11 all in.

PortafilterProcrastinator

@dutchy101 Please could you email me at the address below? Cheers.

dutchy101

PortafilterProcrastinator

Message sent. I did try to message last week before I went away, but it doesn’t seem to have sent for some reason.

DavecUK

CoyoteOldMan Sooo, what was the total, did you have any extras on the machine or in the order ?

CoyoteOldMan

DavecUK Slightly hard to say precisely because transactions happened at different exchange rates (and I had some EUR), but the total including transport, VAT, admin charges etc. came to £3000 (within £50 either way).

Machine with black back and sides, olivewood knobs and accessories - otherwise standard.

It cleared customs at LHR 6 hours ago, so with a bit of luck I will be enjoying a coffee from it tomorrow!

DavecUK

CoyoteOldMan That’s a very good price…especially considering a Londinium LR24 would cost you £700 more and only has a 1 year parts warranty, not 2 years. I can see why the Evos are popular.

CoyoteOldMan

DavecUK I can see why the Evos are popular.

I can think of a few other reasons too… 😁☕

Cuprajake

That’s custom wood and powder coating too so really a cracking price as I know the wood is a £250 option.

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