Thanks for sharing the pannarello wand replacement. So far stock wand is working great for microfoam after pid mod. As for my dosage, I'm using 15.5g extracting 31ml coffee in 25-30 secs including 6 sec pre infusion using variable SSR on the pump. If I use 16g, I think the coffee ground will touch the screen as I can see the screw mark in the coffee puck.

This post has been edited by pierreye: Apr 8 2016, 07:33 AM

Normally if the temperature is too high, I get the burn aftertaste. Also, with PID, look at the temperature drop during extraction. Normally if it drop too fast is due to either flow too fast or the warm up is not enough. I sometimes very impatient to wait for 20 mins for warm up and use the steam switch to help the boiler reach the desired temp faster but I found out this will cause bigger temperature swing during extraction. I get better extraction if I manage to prevent the temperature drop below 80 degrees. Boiler should kick in when the temperature start to drop due to cold water being pump into the boiler and with PID, the response is faster. Another idea is to bypass during PID during extraction and start the boiler manually but with PWM and estimate the power needed to maintain the temp.

This post has been edited by pierreye: Apr 11 2016, 06:35 PM

I don't think PID will affect your extraction time. Might be the grind issue. You can try this method. Try fill the portafilter half of the coffee ground and tamp. Then continue filling up until reach your desire volume or weight. Then tamp again. I prefer weighting as that give me more consistent result. Try around 15.5g to 16g. If you have a hand grinder, try that too. With the porlex hand grinder, if 2 click from the zero position, I can chock the Poemia.

This post has been edited by pierreye: Apr 19 2016, 07:48 AM

I own both Ena 8 and Macap M4 + Poemia (depresurrized + PID). If you are willing to lower your expectation and in pinch of time, Ena 8 make a passable latte and cappuccino. Note that Super Auto is quite picky on the bean especially oily type.

Also, don't think that Superauto is maintenance free. You still need to dump the ground and clean up the the milk hose after use. Every few months will need to do a flush using Jura cleaning tablet.

Lots of report that Breville Grinder gear will strip if using hard bean (especially light roasted bean). For durability better go for commercial unit. Most likely you only need to change the burr few years later and good as new. I previously consider Smart grinder BCG820 but change my mind due to above issue.

Try using silicone rubber self fusing tape. It's use to wrap up radiator hose and can withstand high temperature. As it is flexible and stick well to hard surface, should be able to prevent leak at joint. Can get this from Ace Hardware. Make sure you stretch the tape a bit while wrapping.

https://www.amazon.com/X-Treme-Tape-TPE-XZL...elf+fusing+tape

This post has been edited by pierreye: Jun 22 2016, 09:41 PM

You should sell it to us under table

Anyone try this coffee machine before? Looks pretty good specs for the price. Digital temperature control, build in timer, analog pressure indicator build in.

https://www.lazada.com.my/products/gemilai-...64JDbq&search=1

Just got Gemilai CRM-3605 from Shopee. If anyone budget for RM 1k for the espresso machine, this would be the machine I get. Previously I'm using Philips Saeco Poemia modified with PID and removing the pressure valve in portafilter.

Pros for the machine:
1. Built in digital PID.
2. Come with Pressure gauge.
3. Timer user adjustable for coffee extraction and hot water. Default is 25s and I set it to 30s. You can stop anytime by pressing the brew button during extraction.
4. Different spout for hot water and steamer.
5. Use standard 58mm portafilter.
6. Come with blind filter for backflushing. I don't expect 3 way valve for such a cheap machine so it's a surprise!

Cons
1. Running on thermoblock. If you wanted dual boiler, they have a commercial model but it's RM 2k++
2. Build quality is kind of cheap. The plastic parts feel flimsy.
3. Included tamper is plastic.




This post has been edited by pierreye: Nov 16 2019, 07:01 AM

The steam wand is the standard single hole. You can unscrew and change it to 3 holes or 4 holes tip. The steam power is good enough but I still need to practice frothing the milk as I'm used to the old Poemia steam wand.

This post has been edited by pierreye: Nov 15 2019, 07:58 AM

dbl post.

This post has been edited by pierreye: Nov 15 2019, 07:00 AM

Need advice how to hit 9 bars pressure and around 25-30 sec brew time. Yesterday after adjust the grind and pack 19g of coffee powder, I hit 12 bars of pressure and 27s of brew time for 37g of espresso. This morning, I try slightly coarser grind (19g of coffee powder) and still hitting 12 bars of pressure but the brew time drop to 22s for 40g of espresso.

How to decrease pressure yet increasing brew time? Tamping issue? I can't pack 20g as it's touching the shower screen.

This post has been edited by pierreye: Nov 15 2019, 04:17 PM

Just got Gemilai CRM-3605. Do I need to get OPV? I can modify the machine as I just take a look at the internal. Not too complicated. Actually I do see it had another thicker pipe to dump water into drip tray just above the tube going into the boiler. Could be an OPV?

Thinking about it, I wouldn't mess with the OPV. Might mess up the back flush. Will transplant Variac controller from old Poemia over to control the pump flow rate.




This post has been edited by pierreye: Nov 15 2019, 05:52 PM

I bought a fully automatic Jura ENA Micro 9 which is suppose to be a great fully automatic coffee machine. It's been in the storage for 4 years as I feel the taste is far from good compare to cheapo Saeco Poemia semi auto modded with PID and a good grinder. Personally I would prefer separate grinder and espresso machine. Spend on quality grinder and cheap espresso machine first if budget is tight. For RM 4k++ you can get quite a good choice of grinder + espresso machine.

Personally if you only make one to two cups of coffee per day, I would get conical grinder with zero retention which is easier to clean up. Also, I prefer stepless or those with micro adjustment. Sometimes, you just need that small adjustment to tune in the grind. I owned flat burr grinder and it's a PITA to clean up everytime plus it's always retain around 0.5g in the machine. Need to flush out the old coffee grind every few weeks with Urnex Grindz.

One of the recommendation around RM 2k is Baratza Sette 270.

As for espresso machine, there's lot of recommendation. I'm more value for money type so I don't mind China machine but I prefer PID temperature control. No guess work involve. If you are not the kind of person that can fix thing, then I would suggest you get a try and tested machine.

This post has been edited by pierreye: Nov 16 2019, 07:34 PM

Update to anyone with cheap espresso machine that would like to control the flow rate. I managed to install a solid state potentiometer relay to control the pump rate (Ulka EX5). Managed to hit 9 bar brewing pressure with flow rate around 210 - 230 ml per 30 seconds without portafilter. You can also turn the knob to higher resistance so that it run around 3-4 bars for pre-infusion if your expresso machine do not have a build in function. Overall, it's a good mechanism to control the brewing time and pressure.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Solid-State-Relay-...497.m4902.l9144
https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Variable-Solid...497.m4902.l9144

Note: You need to find the right value for the highest resistance before your pump stalled. So that when the knob at minimum your pump is still working. If I remember correctly, the first time I use a 100k ohm and the pump stalled when it's at 30% and below. After that I change to a 50k ohm potentiometer and work out perfectly

This post has been edited by pierreye: Nov 20 2019, 10:04 AM

Not really expensive. I paid less than rm40 for the SSR and potentiometer few years back. Anyway I just transplant from my old machine. Can’t remember where I read the article but the recommendation is either Variac controller or variable SSR.

SSR got 2 types. One is just a relay with 12v trigger. Another type that I link is with potentiometer that will control the power output. No need special circuit. Just connect the pump live wire to SSR and back. The other end just connect a 50k ohm potentiometer.

This post has been edited by pierreye: Nov 21 2019, 10:45 PM

Don't forget you might get tax and it's unpredictable how much the custom will charge you. I once bought my coffee grinder from overseas store and the custom ask me to get Suruhan Tenaga approval. Really troublesome and paid RM 200 for nothing. Ask me to send them product brochure and they just approved after checking with them for 2 weeks. Feeding those useless gov servant.

Just get Electronic Contact Cleaner and spray on the connection. Sometime it's the rust. Coffee machine normally is simple to repair without complex electronics. If it's the PCB board, then it's different story.