Bought an Acaia Lunar 2021 for the flow rate indicator.

Silly me, I imagined that the flow rate would be displayed as a number.

Oh no, that would be far too easy to read.

Instead the Lunacy Lunar displays a series of tiny LED lights. One tiny LED all lit up indicates 0.1ml/sec flow rate. Ten lights = 1.0ml/sec and so on.

Ever wanted to try counting a constantly changing array of tiny LED lights flashing off and one and rising and falling across the screen of the scale?

Me neither. And having now tried it a few times, I’m still not a fan.

My solution was to cut up equally tiny golden arrow head stickers and stick them on to the scale at approximately (key word) 10 LEDs, 20 LEDs and 30 LEDS, being 1ml/sec, 2ml/sec etc (if you need help with the third one let me know).

I hope this may help any other pour (sorry) souls who bought one of these.

PS And after 30 minutes of farting around cutting out tiny golden arrow heads, cleaning my glasses constantly because the pointy bits of the arrows kept going out of focus, sticking and scraping off crooked stickers with what feels like ten thumbs and no fingers … before you politely point out that arrow number two is one dot too far to the right, please know that such a post will result in me commissioning a hit squad to sneak in to your house in the dead of night and place a million little golden arrow head stickers all over your espresso kit. Fair nuff? 😛

9 months later

@tompoland massive thread resurrection so sorry for that :) I’m curious, how are you getting on with the lunar scales now? I’m in the market for some scales and considering three scales / types of scale which are almost polar opposites, either:

  1. Yagua or similar
  2. Timemore black mirror nano
  3. Acaia Lunar

There is £250 difference between the top and bottom and the timemore sits in the middle. So I’m thinking, are the Lunars really that good, e.g. good enough to warrant that extra cash? It’s a lot of money for a scale…

I won’t be doing pourovers any time soon, though never say never, I may start. Mainly right now for espresso.

    caffeinated-carp I do like them, despite my enduring annoyance at the lack of digital realtime display for the flow rate i.e. the dots mentioned in the original post. But I;ve used them so much now that I know what the flow rate is by the number of dots lit up as well as by (shock) the actual flow.

    So for me, they are still be go to.

        caffeinated-carp I have never had a timemore but that’s a sizeable price difference.

        The flow rate display (in numbers) is pretty cool, just wish they displayed duration, weight and flow simultaneously instead of having to toggle the duration and flow.

        Think I’ll stick with the Lunar but if I was buying from scratch I would likely take the timemore. It’s not just the price difference, the numerical flow rate display is the main reason. Especially helpful as a newbie when using manual flow controller or a direct lever while you are getting a feel for translating from visual observation ofmthe pour to flow rates. Not for everyone, just for nerding out.

          Bought my Lunar in 2018 they still going now . Well I sold them with my machine so all good.

          caffeinated-carp its great - as slim as the lunar so I can get most of my cups on it in the micra.

          It does not do flow monitoring but has all the other standard options.

          I use the auto tare auto pour - so once the cup goes on - it sets to Zero and starts the timer. It then stops once the flow is stopped. All i need to do is flip the switch once I put in the cup !

            Sod it, I’ve bought the lunar. I was very very tempted with the Felicita arc and honestly, I can’t really say with much certainty why I just spent more than double on the lunar. It’s white which I like which sounds like an insanely ridiculous waste of money but oh well…

            I think I figured that when I’m dead, I won’t look back and worry about that £141… 🤷‍♂️

            Timemore was a very close third, but right now I do actually use the portafilter spout on the micra and it’s tight in there, so thinner is better and the timemore is 20mm not 15mm.

            All very ridiculous small things but then again, this is coffee…!

              caffeinated-carp where did you get white lunar for £141? Not that I’m considering but…

              Edit ah £141 extra to the timemore! Yeah the lunar is a LOT