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

Raziel

Mine is now on order. When they offered custom paint jobs and two wooden finishes I was sold on it…

dutchy101

Great stuff. Make sure you upload pics. Hope you enjoy the machine - I love mine

Raziel

Fortunately they had just made one close enough to the colour I’m ordering!

CoyoteOldMan

Raziel That looks very metropolitan chic!

dutchy101

Must admit, the wooden handles have never really done it for me , but that looks pretty special. What paint job is that @Raziel?

Raziel

dutchy101 RAL 5011 Midnight Blue

dfk41

Boom!

Raziel

dfk41 out of interest, how long from order to arrival?

CoyoteOldMan

What is that? An epidemic? 😁

simonc

I finally descaled the service boiler after 10 months of having it, got used from someone who said they descaled before shipping.

It’s only has Waitrose essential and then more recently Zero filter water with TWW espresso blend. I did I think 2tbsps citric acid into the water tank and filled the empty tank with it. Left it for probably 90 mins then drained and rinsed 3 or 4 times. No signs of scale in the water or little filter on the hot water wand. (I also ran some of the fluid through the steam wand)

Does not seeing scale mean my water process is ok, I do empty the service boiler every 4-8 weeks and if remember fill with pure zero water rather than after re-min and take the odd cup out for long black.

Interestingly my steaming seems noticeably easier and quicker now. Does this indicate anything?

Cheers all

CoyoteOldMan

simonc Both waters will scale in a steam boiler - how quickly depends on usage. Not seeing scale in the rinsing just means that there are no big flakes coming unstuck - whether that’s because there was very little scale or because the acid dissolved it… no way of knowing without taking things apart.

By ‘easier and quicker’ steaming you mean the boiler getting up to temperature faster/being more stable, or the actual process of steaming? If the former, it’s possibly because there was a bit of scale on the element, and that doesn’t transmit heat as well as metal or water. If the latter, it’s also possible that there was a little scaling in the wand, and it got dislodged or dissolved when you purged the acid solution through it.

simonc

Thanks. So still worth descaling. And I guess probably more frequently than I did.

Yes I mean the actual process of steaming. Maybe there was a little bit in the wand? Would it be worth taking the wand off and soaking in puly caf or descaled?

CoyoteOldMan

simonc Puly isn’t going to do much to the scale, and my only recollection of taking a wand apart isn’t a positive one… I found it quite fiddly (and easy to ruin the finish of the various bits); YMMV. Perhaps start by removing the tip, giving it a really thorough clean (with puly milk, if you have it - or a fairly strong solution of sodium bicarbonate in zero water: 10 grams in 500 ml water), and run some steam through the tip-less wand (with care and into a deep container).

It’s unlikely that there is much scale in the wand, as it only gets steam/superheated water, so it will have very little TDS. If there is anything obstructing it, it’s probably because a flake has detached from somewhere else and made its way to the wand.

simonc

Thanks

Raziel

Picking up some accessories ahead of the machine being finished. Normcore tamper, a funnel with cutout for the mignon.

But I am tempted by a VST basket just on the background as described by Hoffman. No idea if it would make a discernable different :D

Cuprajake

I find them hard to prep, because of this I’ve always stuck with ims baskets

There are some vst on eBay atm coffee hit

Cuprajake

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255887975305?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=BIeFx4q2R-y&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=8nPtpNt4SJC&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

simonc

I use VST 15g and 20g baskets in a naked portafilter and generally all good consistent results with some wdt. Occasionally bad shot squirts out the side but as no experience of other baskets no idea if others would be better. Only made espressos for 9 months since getting the minima.

Raziel

So hurray, it’s here!

Sooner than expected from DHL.

The machine is gorgeous.

I need to set it all up, but two observations:

You really can’t get much of an angle on the steam wand for swirling milk. Will test this in practise later.
The wood finish is cheap and nasty. Don’t bother paying for this, go aftermarket.

DavecUK

Raziel Just remember to read this article.

https://coffeetime.freeflarum.com/blog/1387-compression-type-steam-and-water-valves-important

dutchy101

The machine is a beauty alright. I agree on the wood finish.

The steam wand takes a little getting used to but you’ll get there with it with some practice. There was a section about steaming milk and positioning the wand in this thread as I recall asking about this when I first got my machine. I think the best position is to push the wand back as far as you can with it straight on as someone suggested in the thread.

PortafilterProcrastinator

dutchy101 Brilliant.

Looks like ACS have improved the labelling too - cut outs rather than stickers on the main body. Sharp.

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