I decided to watch all of the Bean Pounder Insta videos. An hour or two of my life I will not get back! However, I learnt quite a lot more about the project.
He is in Seattle and although he doesn’t say so, the prices he suggests I assume are in Canadian $. Only comms I could find from him are on Instagram. This is a project in train. Prototype PCBs and software are continuing to be developed and as is usual with these projects with one man and few resources, errors have been made necessitating revised PCBs to be ordered and timelines slipping - but he is admirably up front and transparent about that. He is impressive in speed of rectification of errors and keeping the project moving forward. ETA for beta test release is now end of June. So a full release in Summer 2026 is likely. Initially on Lelit Elizabeth, but he intends to make it much more widely adapted for other vibratory espresso machines.
Some highlights I learnt:
1. This is not a ‘Decent XL replica’ on a cheaper base espresso machine. It only can vary vibratory pump pressure (which is what Decent does) to give flow control. There is no temp manipulation. There is pre-infusion time & pressure control though.
2. See here as to how it works - https://www.instagram.com/p/DYnVegFNfiP/
The firmware is taken from Gaggiuino. With their agreement of course.
3. PCB - this is where BP differs from Gaggiuino. The latter substitutes a whole control box for the original. BP does not but rather adds a ‘piggyback’ BP control PCB working in conjunction with the OEM control box.
4. Weight control: it seems that Bluetooth scales are used to control the weight of the espresso in the cup and shut off the flow when target weight is reached.
5. Tablet: seems to be your own tablet connecting by Bluetooth. That works for me and reduces cost if you have tablet. The software on the tablet looks clear and well laid out. And provides a lot of data. Thumbs up on that front.
6. Pricing: well this was refreshing. See explanation here:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DZNRUlVtZfr/
Almost seems too good to be true, but he has used Gaggiuino firmware and only has a relatively simple add-on control box and pressure sensor, so costs are kept down. Keeping price of the kit to nearly cost and making money from add-on subscriptions is great for consumers, as you can choose whether to subscribe or not.
I will be following his progress with interest.
PS All the above I got solely from watching his Insta videos. I have had no contact with him direct. So hopefully correct info, but subject to my misunderstanding.