Yeah the steam knob gets a little ‘springy’ at the end, that’s where I stop, steam slows down and then and feels like I haven’t closed it fully but it’s closed. I mean it’s not a foolproof system.
In regards to water, that is still an issue. I am currently only using the filter in the water tank which came with it and tap water :/ I am looking to invest in a BWT Bestmax filter ASAP. It should be good for drinking tastier water as well.
Will that be sufficient? What do you use?
Sorry the bevel is the side that was facing the portafilter is what I meant. That bevel is non existent on the new Cafelat silicone one. It is completely flat on both sides plus the brand imprint on one side.
Edit: I see what you mean now, you are not talking about the obvious curve you see on pic 1, you mean there is a slight angle on the flat side as well. Was that side meant to be facing the PT? Because that’s how the machine came.
Had to look it up, on average water hardness of London tap water is 293 ppm :o. where I live ca + mg is less than 50 ppm, usually around 30. no wonder why people were talking about using diluted water + minerals
erkal Sorry the bevel is the side that was facing the portafilter is what I meant. That bevel is non existent on the new Cafelat silicone one. It is completely flat on both sides plus the brand imprint on one side.
Edit: I see what you mean now, you are not talking about the obvious curve you see on pic 1, you mean there is a slight angle on the flat side as well. Was that side meant to be facing the PT? Because that’s how the machine came.
On your first picture - the gasket has a bevel due to DAMAGE. It should not be like that. I have explained how it was damaged in the previous post.
On your second picture - there’s a bevel to it, and there is no damage. That side faces the group. I think it’s clear and it’s all good.
Let’s put the gasket topic to bed. There’s nothing more I can answer here. I leave it in your good hands.
I use a ZeroWater jug and remineralise with 100mg/L sodium bicarbonate. Machine is over 3 years old, and still sounds and behaves as it was brand new out of the box.
erkal can’t say exactly where, but of course not UK, a bit north of Europe :)
glad that you fixed the leaking though - I can imagine the enjoyment. Now with proper usage and maintenance your Elizabeth should last a very long time. Remember that good advice from @MediumRoastSteam - if you need to force something you are probably doing it wrong. that applies for most things in life, actually.
Hi guys,
I am sorry to say this but I started getting the occasional “pssst” with clear water shooting out from the back part of the portafilter again.
The new silicone ring has been working great and it also seems that coffee residue doesn’t stick to this ring as much as the previous one did, so its almost always very clean, but the leaking still happens once in a while regardless of how I lock it.
I am using under 17g which does not leave any marks on the puck so I did not reduce the dosage any furtgher.
I am wondering if the pressure, which is a little high, could be the other culprit?
Thanks!
erkal apologies if i was asking the same question that was answered before - no time to re-read every post, but
From your previous photo something is not quite right with the puck, it should be more “uniform”. Can you take new photos of your puck before and after extraction, even better a video of the extraction process ?
Hello!
Sure I will make a video and take photos as well an a bit. The problem is I cannot replicate the leak, it just happens randomly and I cannot figure out why.
I currently use 16.5g and I get around 32-34g espresso in 30s including 7s pre infuse. My grinder is not ideal so this is as fine as I can go with these new beans. They are medium roast from Pebble and Pine, fresh roasted, probably too fresh as they are roasted on order, I don’t know if that matters.
I use the WDT tool to fluff it all up and a Normcore tamper with the medium spring.
The pressure gauge shows 11 bars.
I see, so definitely should try to reduce to opv to 10 bar or less (I noticed less channeling when I reduced the opv on my bianca to 9 bar).
My Elizabeth is wrapped now and too lazy to unpack it, but I recall it is a bit higher 10 bar max. it is 10.5 bar out of factory IIRC so yours is higher than it should. My suspect is that because the pressure is too high, the water will find wherever it can flow. due to variables in your shot prep, sometimes it has to escape through the crack between the gasket and portafilter. I’m quite positive that if you reduce the opv it will be solved.
delta76 I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this since its brand new. I will call Bella Barista and find out if it voids the warranty. I mean my grinder is not ideal but shots are alwas on the bitter side as well so I suspected this was always a problem. I don’t think I can improve my puck until I get a new grinder, I might go for the DF63 from Bella Barista. But they are so confusing, I don’t get the difference between Gen 2 and V4 and if DF83 is worth the higher price or not
I can understand, I was hesitant to open my Elizabeth as well. but it’s pretty quick and easy thing to do. Call BB and check but I’m sure they will be fine with that.
If your coffee is bitter, try reduce the temp? your flow seems to be good so temp is the main suspect. For medium I usually go with 93-94 but you might want even lower. some roaster “medium” is closer to dark than medium.
