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. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aIb3ReM3DU 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.

@"Juanjo"#p8898 - 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…)?

@"Juanjo"#p8898 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.

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

@"MediumRoastSteam"#p8901 No, it doesn't leak with the stock portafilter. I tried the stock config as well. Same thing.

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?

@"Juanjo"#p8906 - 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"#144 - Victoria is a 58mm machine.

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.

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.

@"dndrich"#p8915 Apparently they have a wood one too: https://www.ecm.de/en/products/details/product/Product/Details/stainless-steel-wood-portafilter-bottomless

@"Juanjo"#p8914 - 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. [upl-image-preview url=//i.imgur.com/i3agEUd.png] 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.

Leaking Lelit Bottomless wood portafilter.

erkal

delta76 I do love waking up to a warm machine, if a frequent 3 pounds gasket change is all that it requires then so be it! :D

MediumRoastSteam

erkal - the problem here was you tightening the PF with both hands and not thinking much about it.

My gasket is 3 years old, to put in perspective. But I wrap my equipment in cottonwool. 😉🤣

erkal

MediumRoastSteam Well initially I wasn’t using both hands, only since it started dripping. So how do you tell the gasket is worn out by looking at it? What am I looking out for?

delta76

erkal not as experienced as @MediumRoastSteam but I guess you can tell that yours is out of shape instead of wearing out.

you change your gasket when it becomes “hard” (i.e. loosing elasticity/ability to “seal”), not because because of it wore out.

erkal

delta76 3 years vs. just a few months is a massive difference though…

delta76

erkal I was referring to me. I have had mine for 2 years (and if memory serves correctly, this day two years ago I ordered my Elizabeth). Have had a lot of fun with it, no major issues, only minor issue with the tip of the Teflon tube in the steam wand (which took me longer than it should to figure out). Guess I am lucky-ish.

Now eagerly waiting for my Bianca but for anyone who want to get into espresso, I wholeheartedly recommend Elizabeth

erkal

delta76 what’s with the teflon tip?

delta76

erkal it was deformed.

now I think of it, if you feel like your steam is not powerful enough, you can try to unscrew your wand tip (tip: you can use a double sided tape to make it easier to unscrew), check if that teflon tube to see if there is anything stuck. elizabeth steam should be powerful enough to steam 500ml no problem (I just did).

erkal

delta76 I think it’s very powerful, but 4 hole seemed easier and even faster.

Any other tips you can recommend for improving my experience with the Elizabeth?

delta76

erkal not really, I stopped playing with it a few months later and switched to other hobbies (still use it but more “routinely”). But as mentioned above, you can try puck screen/paper filter, keep the shower much cleaner. I also like a simple WDT (I bought one for like 5$ from aliexpress) which help a bit with channeling.

erkal

delta76 I made my own wdt with champagne cork and acupuncture needles, seems to work ok. Might look into paper screens. Trouble with having housemates is that not everyone who uses the machine is as dedicated and are more careless.

What grinder do you use?

MediumRoastSteam

erkal - I have a Niche Zero and a Niche Duo.

erkal

MediumRoastSteam Sorry I know it’s off topic for this thread. Would you say the upcoming 83mm Niece or DF be overkill?

MediumRoastSteam

erkal Would you say the upcoming 83mm Niece

Niche? That’s no longer upcoming my friend. 😉👍 - it’s been released over two months ago.

delta76

erkal no, in most cases, the grinder is (likely) the limiting factor. Niche Duo or DF83 v2 are not overkill for it (i’ve seen people use those on “less” fancy machines).

erkal

MediumRoastSteam oh ok then that makes it easier lol

erkal

@MediumRoastSteam

@delta76

Hello!

Just a quick update, swapping out with a new silicone gasket and a new o ring has totally solved the leakage. I can feel the new gasket is so much better when locking in the PF, no need to really force it much either. It’s just so much more solid. I also lowered the amount of coffee and the group head comes out pretty clean every time. All this has been a nice step forward in my learning curve. Now I just need a better grinder and better water and I’m almost ‘there’ :D

Thank you for the tips!

MediumRoastSteam

erkal - So… What solved the problem?
a) The new gasket;
b) the new o-ring;
c) lowering the dose;
d) None of the above. :-)

PS: Glad it was an easy fix.

erkal

MediumRoastSteam

Definitely the gasket, o ring was just a safety measure, I thought might as well change both.

I had lowered the dose during the couple of days waiting for the gasket to arrive and there still was some leakage.

My new Monsooned Malabar is tasty but definitely expands a lot more than all the other coffees I used so lowering dose was necessary, but I wouldn’t have know that if gasket was not leaking :D

I really hope that this was the last problem with my brand new Elizabeth…

PS. that curve does not exist on this gasket, its completely straight on both sides, so I am guessing when the gasket gets curvy like that it’s pretty worn out already? I thought that’s how they come when new. I need to warn my buddy with the Profitec 600 because I noticed his gasket looked exactly like that as well and his machine is older.

MediumRoastSteam

erkal PS. that curve does not exist on this gasket, its completely straight on both sides,

Look carefully. One side is bevelled and has some writing, the other side is completely flat. We can keep going on and on, I have a gasket like that and so do you. Mine is like I describe. So, you are more than welcome to remove your gasket, take a picture and prove me wrong. 😀

erkal

MediumRoastSteam

Yeah this red ones is exactly like you described, it has brand name printed on one side and the other side is completely flat. But the one I took out, the bottom is not flat, or it’s no longer flat, I don’t know what it looked like when new, but now it’s angled inwards. I can show you a better photo now.

The first photo was the PF side, you can see it’s curvy, is that how it was or is that because it’s worn out?

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