The General ACS Minima Thread

gregE

Patrick Sorry for the late response. It has been an additional length of time (3 months) since using the machine because I had a kitchen project going on. How can I identify the drain valves? Got the machine in March/April of this year. So the question remains if I need to do much to fire up the machine after this long.

Patrick

gregE I can't remember what the issue was now. Drain valves are underneath, there is an access hatch, may be covered and require 2 screws undoing may be an open hole.

FadedFrontiers

My Minima’s vibe pump finally wore out and stopped pushing out water so after confirming it was indeed a faulty pump I decided it’s time to do the Lelit silent pump upgrade, have also ordered the Quickmill Pulsor along with it so will report back on results. I know a few have done the silent pump upgrade and are happy with the results but I’m curious to see if the pulsor fits and has any additional benefits.

dutchy101

Intrigued to hear how you get on

ballblo

The pulsor will fit, I’ve tried both together, works just fine. Smoother ramp up, noise: Can’t tell.

FadedFrontiers

Yeah was just about to say the pulsar fits and works well when coupled with the Lelit silent pump, smoother ramp up and a more pleasant, less high pitched noise compared to stock. I was pleasantly surprised at the difference even when testing the pump with the Minima’s cover off.

Will do more testing and share results but so far I recommend adding both if your pump needs replaced anyway, or if you find the normal vibe pump sound particularly abrasive in the morning.

dutchy101

I’ve had my Minima for coming up to 4 years now. I received a spare thick rubber gasket with the machine but have never changed it.

I can’t seem to get the bugger on every time I try. Anyone else had issues with this? Perhaps I need to put it in boiling water for a bit to soften up and try again. Didn’t think it would be so hard to change haha.

Perhaps a silicon replacement is a better option

FadedFrontiers

dutchy101 have you tried wrapping it around the showerhead dispersion screen then locking a portafilter without the basket on to secure it in place? That usually works for me

dutchy101

Yeah I just can’t get it in evenly - one side goes in but not the other. Either the rubber gasket is too thick or I am. Possibly a bit of both haha

Think I don’t have enough strength in my hands to do it. Might just get a silicone one.

Raziel

Er help…

Both boilers hissing from the same place. Looks like the small boiler has been leaking for some time and top is covered in deposits.

Elcarajillo

What exactly are you asking ?

Your machine is heavily scaled up and has several leaks. There are no quick fixes, it will need de-scaling , thorough cleaning off and leaking joints stripped cleaned and refitted = thorough service.

You need to use suitable filtered water as that is the main cause of your problem is the water you have been using.

Raziel

Through descaling is fine, I used unfiltered water just a handful of times. Stripping and refitting the joints I have no idea where to start. I’m not an engineer.

If it’s more than two days of my time it’s cheaper for me to just buy another machine.

I’ll see if there is a local service company that will do anything other than commercial work that can help.

MediumRoastSteam

Raziel If it’s more than two days of my time it’s cheaper for me to just buy another machine.

I’d buy another machine in that case. Descaling process is somewhat laborious, and you’ll need to take all those fittings out, clean, put them back, and hope that limescale hasn’t dislodged and cause problems elsewhere.

Raziel

Just in case it is of interest. Despite the scale on the top of the coffee boiler from the leak, there was actually minimal scale inside the machines.

However there are multiple leaks at different joints and sorting those slowly.

Abcan

Hi All.

My Minima is coming up to 2 and a half years old and the steam wand has started leaking slightly. Anyone know if the seals are replaceable or does it require a new steam valve?

Thanks

PortafilterProcrastinator

Abcan

Hi Al,

I have not done it myself, but I understand that the seals are replaceable. You could email ACS and ask if they will provide the sizes required?

yoyokrazy

Hey all,

Unfortunately having a nearly identical issue to what @niakapa encountered back in May (https://coffeetime.freeflarum.com/d/330-the-general-acs-minima-thread/1083). This happened ~a week after I descaled my machine. I have been backflushing with cafiza powder approx 1/week, though admittedly I started this habit late. The machine was bought June 1, 2024 and has received fairly regular daily use, with some peaks and lulls in usage.

As for the timeline leading to issues, I did a full descale on a Friday evening (including running ~15L of fresh water through the machine to clean it out), made myself coffee personally, then hosted an informal brunch where I pulled ~20 shots, and continued to use it for a day or two after that. Then I skipped maybe 1 or 2 days of coffee and came back to find a machine that didn’t work.

The main diagnostic questions Dave asked were (with my answers):
1. What does the water return to the tank show, is there lots of water going bac to the tank
- There is no water going back into the tank. When I pull a shot, the pump kicks on, and I get extremely low flow to the grouphead. I measured approx 1.5g/s flow rate (15g in ~10s per the PID timer). When I stop the shot, I do get some backflush into the drip tray.

2. Is water coming out from the group venting system while pulling against the blind filter
- While pulling, no.

3. If you pull against a blind filter for longer than 18 seconds e.g. 30 or 40 seconds does the pressure rise eventually
- No.

I’ve confirmed that there is no water going back to the reservoir by directing that line to a separate container. Additionally I’ve drained the service boiler to potentially diagnose if the machine could be vapor locked, but now am left in a state where turning on the machine tries to refill that boiler, leading to the vibratory pump running non-stop until an A7 error for a pump fill timeout. During that time, I’ve confirmed that the water levels in the reservoir don’t change at all, meaning that there is no draw through the pump at all. I’ve also inspected the intake line from reservoir to pump and confirmed to breaks or blockages, so that’s left me thinking that there could a blockage on the outtake of the pump.

I’m relatively comfortable with the mechanics of this machine, but am curious if there’s a robust disassembly guide out there I can follow, or if this is a matter of just carefully recording every step I take and working my way inwards?

Raziel

Mine is now all sorted! Been with a professional machine service company for a while.

Minor descale. That was not the problem.

In the end there were five leaks found across the machine. They thought it was a nice machine but reflected there were some “interesting” engineering choices in the machine and recommended a Fracino next time :D

Tal

Recently acquired a Minima! Fancied one for a while, I like it’s reduced footprint, looks and simplicity. The Vesuvius is a beast in every aspect, so I’ll be running both together for a while.

See if I can live without the capability of pressure profiling and a quiet gear pump for the benefit of more worktop space and simpler maintenance.

Got the Minima as a spares repair, I’m rather enjoying repairing machines lately, so thought I’d give it a go.

Arrived in pretty good nick, it’s a Jan 2019 model, so must be an early production model.

From skim reading this thread and inspecting my machine I have: Original PID screen/control rather than rectangular upgrade, no boiler drain valves, Gicar earth is on the brew boiler instead of the chassis, no 5th leg!

I will look to relocate that earth to the chassis at some stage to avoid filling issues.

Anyway, I inspected the machine, decided to fire it up in brew mode, it turns on, heats up etc, pump can push water through the group, so all good there!

The second I switched it to service and brew boiler mode, it instantly tripped the power.

I removed the case, inspected everything, then disconnected the boiler element power cables, I was able to switch on the machine in service and brew boiler mode. So I contacted ACS for a new boiler, as well as the new gubbins required (presumably the drain tap).

In prep for the boiler arriving I decided to take the machine apart and remove the service boiler, familiarise myself with the machine ahead of time etc. I got as far as getting the main cover off and spotted something on the brew boiler side….. a loose connection on top of the Gicar box….

This photo was taken after I pulled the plug back out to take a photo, you couldn’t see the green section when I spotted it. But it was not fully inserted…. Surely not as simple as that…

So I reconnected it, plugged the service boiler element back in and decided to put it back together to test…and…. Everything is working! Success…for a small loose connection.

Had to panic cancel the boiler order with ACS, as it was due to be collected by UPS the next morning … I had to stomach some international tarrif and conversion fees frustratingly, but I’ll get over it.

Will descale it tonight and it should be good to go tomorrow!

TL:DR: bought a spares repair Minima expecting it to be needing a new service boiler. Turns out to be just a loose Gicar connection! Success!

edit: Here it is:

dutchy101

A great result.

My last shot protection device seems to be on the way out. Not sure how easy it is to replace this?

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