Thread: Nuova Simonelli Musica

If you really feel that this is necessary, you may be better to consider installing a PID and SSR

I don't know what an SSR is. It seems there are different opinions on using a PID on a HX machine. What's your take on this?

It will enable you to change the boiler pressure (via temperature change) of your machine without opening it up- not that this should be necessary at all if the machine is correctly configured.

I see. I will try the Sirai pressurestat first and if doesn't work out to my liking, I will consider your suggestion.

Many thanks.

Originally Posted by lukeap69

I see. I will try the Sirai pressurestat first and if doesn't work out to my liking, I will consider your suggestion.

Many thanks.

I just did some mods to my Oscar including changing the Campini pressurestat to a Sirai. The deadband seems much tighter and the Oscar has never performed better. I have had three Campini pressurestats fail, all leaking but still functioning OK electrically. If the Sirai pressurestat will fit an espresso machine I can't see a reason to use anything else.

I did change my p-stat as well to Sirai and I agree with all your points.

Hi Antony,

I noticed your comment about the noisy pump. My Musica had a faulty pump which has been replaced under warranty in the past 6 months and the new one (maybe the old one too) sounds quite noisy. A friend of mine has the LUX model, purchased 6months to a year after mine and his pump is a lot quieter...Could there be something wrong with mine or is it just noisy? Is there something I can do to make it less noisy?

Thanks,

Darren.

Originally Posted by Casa Espresso

Hi Peter,

We are a supplier of the Musica and can up date you on a couple of small changes with the Musica over the last four years

The teething problem you refer to may be the issue with the preostats in the early model. There was a batch of faulty preostats that found their way in some Musicas. These were not an item produced by Nuova Simonelli but rather an item purchased through another supplier. Incidentally this problem also caused issues for other machine manufacturers using the same brand preostat.

This issue has well and truly been resolved since then.

The only real change has been some modifications that now make the vibrating pump a bit quitter in operation

Other then that there are no changes we are aware of.

Please feel free to contact me if I can help any further

Regards
Antony
CASA ESPRESSO

Hi Daren

with the updated Musicas the actual pumps have not changed but rather a bit more insulation around them to muffle some of the pump noise.

We do notice sometimes that some machines are a bit more noisy then others. It may be a slightly off panel alignment that vibrates so check everything over to see if it makes a difference

cheers
Antony

Does anyone know where I could see/play with one of these in Brisbane. I'm looking for something to replace my leaky EM6910. Cheers.

I bought mine from Di Bellas in Brisbane, 3 years ago.

Thanks, I might check them out tomorrow.

I just received my Musica, the pro-pack with the Sirai p-stat. This is my first machine, so I am not familiar with the different sounds. When I turn it on it takes 5min for the element light to go out accompanied by the sound of the water boiling. After this there is the sound of water dripping (large number of drops). After 5-10min this reduces and continues with the sound of 1 drop/ticking sound per 5seconds. Is this normal?

I also have a little bit of steam in the pressure gauge, it formed a single drop of water at the bottom. Has anybody else seen this and will it evaporate after a while?

Who did you buy the machine from? They'd be the first person I'd speak to.

Originally Posted by Barry O'Speedwagon

Who did you buy the machine from? They'd be the first person I'd speak to.

I am based in Norway and bought it in Denmark. I have contacted the supplier, just wanted to get some feedback from other users as well.

Hi,

I have some problem with my Musica, I bought it 2 weeks ago.
But I can't get proper extraction time...,I mean the time from PUSH START BUTTON to START EXTRACTION.
It always take me around 14-19 secs...before espresso comes out.
I tried coarse grind but can't help much.

Below is the video , could you give me a help ? :P


Slow extraction by ns musica - YouTube




Regards
IC55

Hmm... Looks to me like shockingly stale coffee which has been ground too finely in an attempt to slow the flow of water through the puck.

Try some coffee which is <1month from roast (preferably more like 2 weeks) and then you will find you can use a coarser grind.

From our experience 5 min is a relatively fast heat up time for the Musica. In Australian there are not too many sold with the Prof pack, but that should not make a difference to the heat up time.

No idea what the sound of dripping water is. The machine will cycle through heating as the element comes on and off to maintain pressure and you will hear this.

Ditto Barry, I would ask your supplier for some advice

The standard factory setting has the preinfusion setting activated which you can hear operating in your you tube video.

From when you press the button you can here the pump running and then at about 3 - 4 seconds you can hear a "click" as the full pump pressure is applied to the group head.

You can deactivate the preinfusion which will give you a flow sooner after activation.

Ditto Talk Coffee, your grind does look a bit fine, and old....

Not sure if you purchased the machine from us but feel free to give me a call if you need help deactivating the preinfusion system

Cheers
Antony

Originally Posted by AFVN

I am based in Norway and bought it in Denmark. I have contacted the supplier, just wanted to get some feedback from other users as well.

Originally Posted by Casa Espresso

Not sure if you purchased the machine from us but feel free to give me a call if you need help deactivating the preinfusion system

The long arm of Casa Espresso....

Mal.

Hmm..., I using bean which roasted at 24 Feb(according to shop's info) with Full-City roasted.
I tried coarse grind ,but get following result. Start in proper time ,but GUSH out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80G2LX0Byrk


And below is third trial , better,but still GUSH out...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbMzWwt-q5Q


Is it pump problem? or I have to use VERY FRESH bean?

Originally Posted by Talk_Coffee

Hmm... Looks to me like shockingly stale coffee which has been ground too finely in an attempt to slow the flow of water through the puck.

Try some coffee which is <1month from roast (preferably more like 2 weeks) and then you will find you can use a coarser grind.

The pump sounds fine slightly finer grind perhaps

What is the benefit of using preinfusion? Do you guys have it on or off?

Can't help as I have not adjusted my machine since I got it. So have never tried with out the pre-infusion. I get good coffee so I will not play with it.

Originally Posted by Stan

Can't help as I have not adjusted my machine since I got it. So have never tried with out the pre-infusion. I get good coffee so I will not play with it.

Same here, was just wondering.

Originally Posted by ic55

Hi,

I have some problem with my Musica, I bought it 2 weeks ago.
But I can't get proper extraction time...,I mean the time from PUSH START BUTTON to START EXTRACTION.
It always take me around 14-19 secs...before espresso comes out.
I tried coarse grind but can't help much.

Below is the video , could you give me a help ? :P


Slow extraction by ns musica - YouTube




Regards
IC55

Hi IC55, I have similar issue with mine as well even with fresh beans... have you managed to get to the bottom of it?

Steven

Nuova Simonelli Musica mods and undocumented features
Hmm... well don't know if Ivan (IC55) is still around but had been doing some investigation and seems the timing on his machine isn't too bad... if you listen carefully you can tell that he has the solenoid activation delay feature enabled which will add 4 secs to the extraction time. This is not the same as the preinfusion feature, it is an undocumented extra feature. See my findings on useful Musica stuff in my link above

Hi
I am having some problems with my water tank level sensor. Is the float in the tank supposed to be magnetised? When I fill the tank the float comes up, but as soon as I put it in the machine it goes down and activates the tank low circuit. Any suggestions?

Might need to use a small stick to wiggle the float get it to float up properly... Seems to be common and I ended up getting my float replaced with one from another manufacturer...

Thank you for the response, I tried that but it keeps going down. I have also figured out that it is supposed to be magnetised. Seems it must have lost some of the air that opposes the magnet.

Yeh will need to get a new float... Can't remember what brand the replacement float I got was... It wasn't simonelli...

I recently purchased one of these in the Lux version, for occasional use as a portable pour over. I have owned quite a few commercial espresso machines over the years, and currently use a plumbed in La Marzocco and Cimbali. I would expect to do most of the maintenance and repair work on this Musica myself, and to start with I'd like to take a quick look at the internals.

The available online manuals and parts lists (as well as the manual that shipped with the machine) don't make it easy to figure out how to get the case, or parts of the case (such as side panels or top panel) off without the trial and error of removing every visible screw, bolt, and hex nut :-) I've tried a little "trial and error," but removal of the case on this machine is very far from intuitive. And there isn't much out there in cyberspace on this machine, other than promotional materials that accentuate the appearance and basic operation. I bought the machine online from a distance, and live quite a long distance from any dealers in this product.

Has anyone here disassembled their machine, or at least removed the external panels, and if so, could you give a few hints on doing so?

Thanks very much in advance!

Stephen

Have a look at this for example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7yfK_oMxiM

the back panel comes off after both sides...

Originally Posted by stevenh78

Have a look at this for example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7yfK_oMxiM

the back panel comes off after both sides...

Very helpful, thank you. If I was so inclined as to modify the machine, I'd probably PID it before bothering with a Sirai, but I think my machine modding days are behind me.

Thanks again.

Edit: It turns out that my machine already has a Sirai Pstat installed.

I've now played around with this machine, a pour over Lux Musica, for a couple of days, and have some observations and a question, which is likely "unanswerable" without trying it.

By way of background, I've owned commercial espresso equipment in my house since 1998, at which time it was distinctly uncommon. I have owned several Cimbalis (still own and use 2), a La Marzocco (still own it and use it), and for kicks bought a Breville Dual Boiler a couple of years ago when it went on sale at a very cheap price. I roast my own beans on a commercial 1 kg roaster, and own so many grinders that it would be embarrassing to state how many are currently resigned to the basement. But I digress

My first comment is that it is a good machine and anyone with a modicum of skill should be able to produce excellent shots and milk drinks from it. It is way above the minimum requirements needed to reach the point that a skilled operator needs to showcase whatever coffee he wants to produce. I am not an adherent to the idea that something like a Rancilio Silvia is adequate; I'd just drink Starbucks or airplane coffee rather than fight with a machine like that, and just relegate coffee to being a drug delivery system for caffeine before I'd go that route. So I do think that this Musica machine is of a pretty high level if the potential expected drink quality is the metric.

I have no experience with the Oscar, but from what I have read the guts of this thing are identical to it, although there have been quite a few iterations of the Oscar over the years. And, I think that will be my major negative observation on this machine, the Musica, that they have made the Oscar "presentable," have added some useful features (pressure guage; water tap; cool-looking case) but also a lot of what they have added is no more than fluff to any serious "barista."

I've made around 10 shots & milk drinks in total with the Musica since I set it up, and haven't had a bad result, at worst a mediocre result, with any of them. The frothing is more or less brainless, the tip produces very good quality microfoam. The water tap doesn't work very well but then I don't drink boiler water anyway so I couldn't care less. The preinfusion is of questionable value since vibe pumps have a slow ramp up to pressure anyway and hence are much more forgiving than a rotary pump is when it comes to basket preparation and grind setting.

My major beefs with this machine are the non-intuitive control panel and programming, the cheapness of the control panel itself, and the price of the machine, not necessarily in that order. In my opinion, no serious barista uses volumetric dosing; I never end a shot arbitrarily based on volume alone. I end shots based on a combination of factors including the dose used, in grams, the appearance of the shot as it pours, the timing, and the weight of the produced shot as it pours. Most people don't do the latter step, but for me it improves consistency.

Bottom line, in addition to the money spent on the nice casing, the entire electronic set up and control panel are a waste of money in my view. I would much prefer a simple on and off button, and perhaps dedicated buttons for such things as preinfusion so that one would not have to go into the extremely non-intuitive Italian programming in order to turn it off.

So that is my review of this machine; it is very competent and capable, nice to look at, however overpriced and with a lot of fluff bundled into its electronics and cheap push buttons which are a waste of time and money, plus they look like a cheap pinball machine from the 1980s .

Now to my question: before receiving my machine I contacted friends who own an espresso machine parts store and ordered a number of things including a bottomless portafilter and an in tank softener cartridge. I was unaware of the design of the water tank in this machine at that time. The in tank softener cartridge (it was disposable and cheap so no biggie there) has a nipple on one end and intended to be attached to intake tubing used in many pour over machines but obviously not this one, which uses a valve at the bottom of the tank instead of a feed tube. I think this type of in tank softener cartridge is very common. I took some pictures of it but don't have an online site to host the image so I apparently can't easily post it here. In any event, it occurs to me that with the right sort of silicone or other plastic tubing, with the right internal and external diameters, that one could get one end of the tube with the internal connection connecting to the softener cartridge and the other end, the tank end, if with the right external diameter, it could fit into the depression in the bottom of the water tank. Whether or not it would stay there is another question, and whether it might interfere with the "draw" of the water into the vibe pump is yet another question, although vibe pumps have dealt with this sort of situation in pour over machines, e.g. drawing incoming water through a constricted tube, since pour over machines first appeared on the market.

Has anyone tried an in tank softener for this machine? I called NS in the USA and they told me that they did not have such a product and that they advised an external source of softened water, which in my view is a design flaw in this machine.

Thanks to anyone responding.

Hi. A few people on here have commented positively on changing the Campini pressurestat to a Sirai one, and I'd like to know a bit more about how this affects the coffee.
Are there any benefits other than the actual device being more reliable and easier to adjust? That is, if they're working and set OK, do they both produce the same result?

Originally Posted by lindsayward

Hi. A few people on here have commented positively on changing the Campini pressurestat to a Sirai one, and I'd like to know a bit more about how this affects the coffee.
Are there any benefits other than the actual device being more reliable and easier to adjust? That is, if they're working and set OK, do they both produce the same result?

Lindsy

All the standard Musicas come with the Capmini pressurestat. There was/is a version called the Professional but very few of these are sold, they have the Sirai pressurestat.
The Sirai version is a commercial pressurestat that will allow you to adjust the pressure easily as you have mentioned.

However, in a machine like this the Campini or other domestic style unit is fine. If it is correctly set you are not going to notice a difference in every day performance

Regards

Antony
www.casaespresso.com.au

Thanks Antony.
My pressure sits at 1.5. Should I be aiming for something else (lower)?
I tried adjusting it last night and it's really hard. I think I got it down by about 0.05 but the screw was getting damaged.

Originally Posted by lindsayward

Thanks Antony.
My pressure sits at 1.5. Should I be aiming for something else (lower)?
I tried adjusting it last night and it's really hard. I think I got it down by about 0.05 but the screw was getting damaged.

1.5 is high, it should sit at about 1.1 to 1.2bar on the Musica.

Unfortunately the domestic presurestats are not made to be adjusted too many times, after a few adjustments the screw will be damaged, like your has.

If you can take it a service centre and get it adjusted correctly

Cheers

Antony
www.casaespresso.com.au