You might want to get Urnex Grindz to clean your grinder monthly too. Also, I change shower screen to IMS nanotech shower screen. Compare to the stock shower screen, there is no coffee oil residue at the back of the shower screen after one week compare to stock. Stock would show some coffee oil stain after 3 days.

Just use some old coffee bean to flush out Grindz. I would said after the first flush with some older bean would be enough. You might be surprise how much gunk and stale coffee powder it will flush out. My routine is always when running out of coffee bean, I'll keep around last 16g of coffee bean for flushing.

This post has been edited by pierreye: Jan 8 2020, 11:51 AM

I got it from eBay.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/IMS-CI-200-NT-Comp...872.m2749.l2649

You need to check your shower screen size and type. Also I get IMS 21g basket from the same seller (for bottomless portafilter)

Search for Urnex Grindz. Do not use this for fully automatic espresso machine as it would expand when in contact with water.

I got my beans from Ymeng. No problem for 2 weeks.

Experimenting with 50 degree C water in water reservoir to stabilize brew water temperature in thermoblock machine. Been pulling few shots for past 3 days and I no longer have any sourness in my espresso.Note that ULKA vibe pump is only rated at 25 degree C but the normal water temp that I measure are at 27 degree C. Will monitor how long the pump will last as changing the pump shouldn't be difficult and it's quite cheap.

This post has been edited by pierreye: Mar 22 2020, 08:22 PM

I just use the hot water dispenser and pour hot water back into the reservoir before brewing. Shouldn't have any problem as the reservoir temp will drop to room temp after brewing.

Try up dosing instead of finer grind. Finer grind is more prone to channeling. I'm using 21g IMS basket and up dose to 23g. As long as the puck is not touching the shower screen that should not be an issue.

This post has been edited by pierreye: Mar 26 2020, 02:14 PM

Don't worry too much on wet puck. My IMS basket also produce wetter puck compare to original basket. Not sure it's due to straight basket design. Once you take out your portafilter, leave it in the basin for 10 secs. The puck would be dryer and look at the surface. If you have small hole then you have channeling problem. I do have the same problem initially when switch to IMS basket. Change my technique by tapping the portafilter on the silicone mat to compact the grind first before using distribution wedges. This help to eliminate the channeling issue.

This post has been edited by pierreye: Mar 27 2020, 07:43 PM

Yep. Those tiny holes are sign of channeling. Also using 22g grind, try to extract 44g espresso. I change to bottomless portafilter to check for channeling during extraction. Another plus is you can use taller cup.






This post has been edited by pierreye: Mar 28 2020, 03:46 PM

Looks much better. Try this tweak. Flush some hot water out first before you put in the portafilter. This will warm up the pipe and group head.

This post has been edited by pierreye: Mar 29 2020, 12:44 AM

I bought Gemilai CRM 3605 last year for RM 999 from Shopee. Overall without mod, it's a class above entry level Delonghi or Saeco Poemia. Reason to choose CRM 3605 over CRM 3601 is the brew pressure gauge. Another advantage is using standard size 58mm portafilter.

In order to dial in 9 bar pressure, I had added in variable resistor to control the pump pressure. As it's running on thermoblock, note that it will heat up the brew group. Always run hot water thru the brew group to heat up the portafilter and warm up the cup. Also, in order to maintain the temp during brewing, I pour hot water into the water tank until it reach 50 degrees C. This will remove sourness from the espresso due to temp drop.

You should remove the shower screen and wash the internal. You will see coffee stain from the other side. Or if you are lazy, get IMS shower screen with nanocoat. There's no coffee stain at the back even after one month of usage.

Used to do it every week but after changing to IMS nanocoat shower screen, I do it once every 2 months. It's not even dirty when I remove it.

Just bought a Niche Zero white from Dankoff with 10% discount. I'm tired of cleaning the Macap M4 stepless as I only single dose. Hopefully it's latest batch with NFC disc.

Been trying few type of beans for espresso around RM 70 to RM 100 for a kg. So far I still prefer Reframe's brazil beans.

Get a bottomless portafilter for easier observation of channeling. I no longer get any sprouting during extraction and by tweaking the grind preparation parameter one step at a time, I make a mental note what works and what not.

Still waiting for POSLAJU delivery. No delivery yesterday and today . My main reason for changes is the neater workflow for single dosing. Should be improvement in grind quality too as it's 63mm conical burr vs my Macap M4 stepless 58mm flat burr. I called Dankoff and looks like the unit I'm getting is the latest version with NFC disc. No more popcorning and more consistent grind.

It's here. First time set the grind at 16 and it choke during extraction. Second try set at 19 and still a little bit too fine. Will try again tomorrow at 20 and hopefully I could extract 23g in 46g out around 30-35 seconds. The second shot I used it for Australian ice coffee.

From workflow perspective, definitely simpler for single dosing. Also compare to old Macap M4, the grind have no clumping even though I didn't RDT. Just weight, grind and flip the cup over the portafilter and give it a few tap. Then use distribution tool and tamp.

I'll compare the taste after few days later. So far no channeling and no pin hole on the puck.




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Gemilai CRM 3605.

Stock setup the cons as below:
1. Thermoblock system might not able to keep the temperature stable.
2. Weak steam.
3. OPV not set to 9 bar and release the excess water flow to drip tray. In fact, safety valve would not open at 15 bar which is the max pressure generated by ULKA pump.
4. Flow rate too high. Recommendation is around 200-280ml / 30 seconds. I measure around 360-400ml / 30 second. Indirectly causing the pressure too high.
5. Single thermoblock machine. Can't brew and steam at the same time. If you only make a cup each time, then it's not a big issue. Only take less than 10 seconds heat up to steam temperature. If you want to brew second cup, just purge hot water from steam wand for 5s and temp will drop to brew temperature.

How to overcome the issue.

By heating up the water in the tank to 50 degree celcius (get this idea from Decent Espresso machine), I manage to solve issue 1 and 2. No more sourness in espresso and steam is more powerful and dryer. I heat up the water tank by running hot water from the steam wand for 30 second, then pour the hot water back into the water tank. Do this 3 times and it should be around 50 degree celcius (only when the tank is full).
As for pressure and flow rate, I install a solid state variable resistor to control the pump. Doing this I manage to control the pressure for pre infusion and ramp up the pressure to 9 bar when I see first drip of espresso from the bottom of the naked portafilter. By using lower pressure during pre infusion and let the puck fully saturated will reduce channeling issue.

Overall, I'm quite happy with the machine performance after mod. Temp control with PID and using standard 58mm portafilter, you can get lots of accessories for the machine. Also build in pressure gauge and brew timer (user changeable) which make it quite a good entry level machine.

This post has been edited by pierreye: Apr 8 2020, 07:21 PM