Leaking Lelit Bottomless wood portafilter.

Juanjo

Hi,

I’ve bought a Lelit Elizabeth ten days ago. Tweaked it with Dave’s recommended advanced settings and although I’m still struggling with boiler on or off… temperature (93º or 94º)… the “right” boiler temp texturing milk, and of course pre infusion times (which drive me crazy) I am very happy with the machine.

Since I am not a big fan of the looks of the stock portafilter I decided to purchase the 58mm Lelit wooden portafilter. I pair it with an IMS LT200 competition shower. Tried it and immediately started leaking water through the group head. I observed all the variables, i.e. grind size… too much tamping pressure… wither I had screwed the shower right, etc… I tried using the stock portafilter under the same conditions: perfect. Repeated both scenarios with the same result.

I looked on YouTube and found someone with a Victoria show had the same problem. You can see it here:

Although a bit too long you can skip to min 4:20 and see the exact same result I have.

For obvious reasons that most of you probably share I want to be able use a bottomless portafilter. So.. the question is… can someone recommend a nice and reliable 58mm WOOD portafilter that I can buy in Europe and that is compatible with the Elizabeth?

And while I’m still at it… although I am aware is off topic… What preinfusion time do you usually set it to? Boiler on or off? what brewing temp?

Thank you.

MediumRoastSteam

Juanjo - Clean the group of your machine, include gasket. Do not overtighten the shower screen.

I don’t think the issue you are seeing is anything to do with the portafilter.

A few questions:

Does it “leak” when you use the stock portafilter?
Does it leak if you revert the machine to stock configuration (shower screen, etc…)?

hornbyben

Juanjo Can you rotate yours further round, and if not why not?

The portafilter in the video is still pointing to the left. The basket seals against the gasket, so the only thing that could be causing the issue is if the lugs on the portafilter after thinner. If they are then measure the difference versus your standard and see if you can get a thicker gasket.

Juanjo

MediumRoastSteam No, it doesn’t leak with the stock portafilter. I tried the stock config as well. Same thing.

Cuprajake

is the victoria deffo a 58mm? i know the grace is 57mm?

as above clean everything, if not, then look for a silicone seal, 8mm and 8.5mm

not sure if it makes a difference but the pf like that is desgned for the e61 group

Juanjo

Cleaned the gasket too. Brushed, etc.

Is there another portafilter brand I could be looking into that any one of you would suggest, just to be safe?

MediumRoastSteam

Juanjo - Is this a Lelit original PF? It makes absolutely no sense.

Are you locking all the way in?

Any chance you could do a video of you backlashing the machine with the said PF?

@Cuprajake - Victoria is a 58mm machine.

Juanjo

The guy from the video assured me that he was locking all the way in, just as I do. He mentioned one thing though… That he almost immediately (for whatever reason) upgraded to a Mara X and used the same portafilter. He said that there have been no problems whatsoever. I take it the Elizabeth and the Mara X do not share the same group head, but still that shouldn’t be a problem, right?

So far I am a bit tired of so many tests, and I would rather prefer to try another compatible brand. What naked portafilter is Dave using with his Elizabeth? I think I recall it was not a wood one.

MediumRoastSteam

Juanjo - I use an ECM one. You must do whatever you feel it’s right for you - but personally I think you are barking at the wrong tree, and it’s up to you if you want to trust the guy on the video. Me…. errr… I’m not so sure.

His portafilter is barely locked. Just watch the video carefully. You wonder why it’s leaking like that.

The Lelit Elizabeth group is compatible with E61 ports filters - So there’s no reason why a wooden bottomless portafilter from Lelit would be any different from the stock portafilter from Lelit in terms of how it fits the group. Yes, the wooden portafilter has a handle made of wood (irrelevant) and the bottomless portafilter has no spouts (also irrelevant). There are may happy users of the Lelit Bottomless portafilter using on an Elizabeth who do not have this issue.

Make sure the gasket is seating correctly the right way up and it’s an 8mm gasket.
Make sure the shower screen is not over tighten - this is important.
Make sure the portafilter is locked in properly at 6 o’clock position.
Make sure you are dosing and appropriate amount of coffee into your basket and it’s not overfilled.

That’s why I asked for the video. But I leave it up to you to decide on what you want to do next.

DavecUK

Juanjo I use one with thin ears and a wood handle…it’s not really a brand, just a cheapie. Quite often, ones with thick ears can be harder to lock in properly on some groups.

dndrich

This is an odd one. I am using the ECM porta filter, which is not wood, but it works great as a naked porta filter.

Juanjo

dndrich Apparently they have a wood one too:

https://www.ecm.de/en/products/details/product/Product/Details/stainless-steel-wood-portafilter-bottomless

Juanjo

MediumRoastSteam

Thank you for the checklist:

The dose is 18g always

The gasket sits correctly.

Portafilter locked at 6 o’clock

I just need to double check that the IMS competition shower is not overthightned. I will do this tomorrow (it is almost 1:00AM here in Madrid)

I will make a video tomorrow and post it here.

MediumRoastSteam

Juanjo - also

Which basket are you using? The original which came with he machine or the one which came with the PF?

Do you have a link to the portafilter you bought?

Also, watching the video again, in my opinion, the user is overfilling the basket. You can tell as the tamper sits quite high on the basket after tamping. If the coffee puck touches the screen, it will push the PF/basket down, get in between the lips of the basket and spray like you are seeing. So it’s important the gasket and basket are clean to form a proper seal.

The other thing I could think of is that there’s a manufacturing defect with a particular batch: maybe the lugs are too thick? Hence not locking at 6 o’clock like the video. Or maybe they are at an angle?

The thing is, is that the portafilter only holds the basket against the gasket, forming a seal. So the seal is between the gasket and the basket, not the PF.

erkal

I am having the same issue with the Lelit bottomless portafilter I have just purchased.

My Elizabeth is only a few months old so I don’t think it’s a gasket issue and I have brushed/backwashed recently. I lock it all the way in as much as its physically possible. I tamp with Normcore medium springed tamper, use 19 grams in the double basket. No matter how I grind I get a few drops of leakage.

What else shall I look out for?

MediumRoastSteam

erkal - If you share a video showing the leak and how the portafilter has been locked (i.e.: showing the bottom of the portafilter and group) as well as the position the portafilter is locked in, that would be helpful.

It’s likely to be a dirty gasket preventing your new Portafilter to lock in properly.

Are you using the same basket on your new bottomless portafilter?

erkal

erkal MediumRoastSteam

The portafilter is locked all the way, there is literally no more space left to turn, I use both hands.

The bottomless is Lelit and brand new but I am using the same basket that came with the machine originally.

I have used a group head brush to brush the gasket many times, although I must admit I probably don’t backflush as often as I should.

Here is a video I hope it helps

delta76

I had problems with leaking on my Elizabeth a couple of months ago. At first I thought it was the problem with the gasket, as I just cleaned it. Ordered cafelat gasket and it did not fix the problem. Took me a few days to figure out, it turned out it was with the bottomless portafilter, a no brand, cheap-ish one from China. as the basket does not perfectly fit to the portafilter it caused the leak. (forgive the marks, it has been unused for quite some time)

lelit bottomless pf is of course nicer but it’s not impossible that yours has some imperfection

MediumRoastSteam

delta76 - are the lugs at 9 and 3 o’clock? Feels like it’s not. Also, IMS baskets have two different times of rim diameter: 70mm and 68mm. A 70mm rim diameter will not sit well with some portafiltes - Gaggia being an example.

delta76

MediumRoastSteam yes 3 and 9 o’clock. but you can see the gap between the basket and pf. I have another pf with “ears” at 1 and 7 o’clock which is probably from ECM or Giagga - can’t remember and works just fine

delta76

erkal a few photos of the pf would be helpful. have you ever changed your gasket ? (the black rubber ring)?

and as long as you secure the pf, don’t try too hard. it could damage your pf, your group head, or both. assuming you have averagely strong hand, stop when you can’t move the handle anymore. don’t try to force it

MediumRoastSteam

erkal very helpful, thanks.

He leak looks like it is rained with coffee so I’d be very confident it’s coming from the gasket.

Get a piece of kitchen towel, moisten it and clean around the group where the gasket is.

Losen the screw which holds the shower screen in place slightly. It shouldn’t be tight, at all.

You shouldn’t force the portafilter into the group, definitely don’t use two hands. You are doing something wrong.

In all honesty, I think I know exactly what the issue is. The key is to losen that screw, to the point that’s literally hand tightly. Do that and then use the blind basket and do a bsckflush, using the original lelit PF. Have a coffee and let us know if the problem is still there.