Naked portafilter EM 6910

[rawill]

- not a god shot but heaven in a cup -

Never quite thought of God having coffee in the morning, just been reading "Big Bang to God" (only up to the part about the development of language) so who knows, God and coffee, could be part of the evolutionary process.

[rawill]

Speaking of bond(age), it was actually your use of the word "tied" that had my imagination going.

Tamp "whips & chains anyone?" It

hehe, I hadn't even noticed my typo-spelling until now.!~!

Well, I have had the icecream lid in there quite a while, done a clean and it was still all good.
I will check, never thought of it bonding-melting. Thanks

Pity, it is exactly the right thickness, to bring the handle back from away around to the exact right spot.

[TampIt]

Hi to Tampit and Jm, always like reading your posts.

I have two old brass P/F. One I made Naked!
Yes I have cleaned the shower screen, replaced the blue seal and made an icream lid "washer" to go above the blue seal.

My water spouts are the ones that come out of the basket during the pour, and mess the cup, no leaks at the seal, which is tight at right angles, directly straight out from the coffee machine, not at an angle.

I will work on my grind and tamping skills, and go for some more reading.
Thank you again, and seems I should not have used 'nailed' and naked in the same sentence!~!

Hi Robin

Get your icecream washer out while you still can! Use light card, it won't melt & bond...

Speaking of bond(age), it was actually your use of the word "tied" that had my imagination going.

Tamp "whips & chains anyone?" It

[rawill]

Hi to Tampit and Jm, always like reading your posts.

I have two old brass P/F. One I made Naked!
Yes I have cleaned the shower screen, replaced the blue seal and made an icream lid "washer" to go above the blue seal.

My water spouts are the ones that come out of the basket during the pour, and mess the cup, no leaks at the seal, which is tight at right angles, directly straight out from the coffee machine, not at an angle.

I will work on my grind and tamping skills, and go for some more reading.
Thank you again, and seems I should not have used 'nailed' and naked in the same sentence!~!

[Journeyman]

re: micro-splatter - It might be the grind is very slightly too fine or very slightly over-dosed. I started new beans a few minutes back and, given I have been trying extra-fine with the VST I turned the dial down to 8. Slow drips that eventually became a stream just before the timer cut the flow. Smelled the shot and wasn't oo impressed so dialled back up to 9 and did it again - not a god shot but heaven in a cup - you'd almost think it was fine quality cocoa the flavour was so good and so sweet...

Anyways, back to the topic... I noticed on the 8 I got some spatter. I was using a small cup so it was a lot lower than the normal mug I use for my lattés and there's a dozen or so splats in the backplate of the machine and some around the upper level of the cup. Given the gauge was surging (a sign it is too fine I think, 'cos I tamped lightly and dosed about 5mm down in the 15g VST) and I don't normally see spatter, I am guessing as to the too fine cause as per 1st line...

[TampIt]

Mostly maintenance clues you may need to prevent spouts

Well I tied this morning with the Naked P/F, and my single basket, wouldn't say I have it "nailed" yet.

But, tamped twice, just enough above the ridge (mounded) to tamp it in the centre, filled it up, smoothed with finger to a concave shape (mounded), tamped and off we went.
three dark streams, merged inot one blond stream, one little water spout, then right at the end of the pour a few water spouts.

But the coffee tastes great, again many thanks to the posters with their pointers and tips for this novice.

Hi Robin

Tamping: Just to initially dial it in. Try no more than 3mm of "fluff" at a time and just use the weight of whatever improvised tamper you have to "compress it" just a tad. Check out "Carl Staub" and "Nutating Tamping" if the tamper fit is poor. Repeat until desired dosage is reached.

Water Spouts: A lot of the newer style 6910's (including mine!) do this when using their stainless steel p/f (obvious when naked, "just" fouls up the shot if you use a spout). The older style 6910 has a brass p/f, and none of the dozen or so I have encountered pull this stunt. I guess SB "bastards inc. division" were given the old 6910 to "fix" as their next project to frustrate users.

Too many fixes to list, however if the "blue seal*" is OK (i.e. not torn, cracked or too hard or anything else amiss) you will have to turn the handle further around before you hit "go". Dosing less / grinding finer often helps this: according to Kaminsky you need 3 to 4mm under the showerscreen, whilst VST say 1 to 2mm. Perhaps your naked has a different lug height or the different shape means the basket sits lower and the p/f exerts less pressure on the seal? I have seen a few crazy naked p/f's (possibly from a Gaggia: one model is interchangeable with a 6910 except for lug height).
The next alternative: as you are in NZ, you may not be able to get paper / light card spacers ($5 here in WA, JM got them for $1 in Vic) to go above the seal to create a little better seal. The old "wheat bix packet gasket trick" is a perfectly good substitute - just cut out a seal sized piece. 90%+ of the time it is not the collar clearance itself. I posted info on JM http://coffeesnobs.com.au/brewing-eq...tml#post507740. As long as you are positive lug height is the problem, the last "home user" alternative" is to grind the lugs down a little at a time in a lathe.

blue seal*: For reasons that defy all good coffee maintenance logic, the manual does not have this essential bit of maintenance. Be warned in advance, if your machine has not had the showerscreens cleaned yet you may be in for a shock! Use a No2 philips head and undo the central screw in the grouphead. This releases the two showerscreens and the seal. http://coffeesnobs.com.au/attachment..._Head_Seal.pdf has the link (just looked it up via google). However it is usually a lot easier to do it with the machine the right way up (the showerscreens fall out easily or you can use the same screwdriver to gently do a side to side & remove them). Another method, still with the machine upright, use a large bowl, take the screw out and when the bowl is above the level of the group hit "go" (no p/f needed): it will spray everywhere. Make sure the bowl is high enough, be careful. If the seal is really wedged in, it often moves via this fix: no showerscreens, use the p/f and run a double (large bowl tight up against the group again). Take the p/f out and turn the machine off at the wall. The "shot heat" will expand the seal so it often falls out about 20 minutes later when it cools down. At the very least it will loosen a tad.

Meths & a toothbrush is probably the easiest "home accessible" way of cleaning dirty showerscreens. You may have to soak and repeat at first. Don't get meths anywhere near the seal, ensure the showerscreens are thoroughly rinsed and free of meths before they go near the seal. Perhaps some other CS'r has a more efficient, widely available solvent to remove the showerscreen's gunk? I do, however it is not widely available.

The seal: I usually just add it to my daily manual dishwashing process by adding it to the water early and gently cleaning it last. Note: do NOT put the seal in a dishwasher... I suspect it would trash it.

Hope this helps, as water spouts ALWAYS indicate action as needed.

TampIt
PS: "Well I tied this morning with the Naked P/F, and my single basket, wouldn't say I have it "nailed" yet." ... sounds kinky, tell us more!

[rawill]

Well I tied this morning with the Naked P/F, and my single basket, wouldn't say I have it "nailed" yet.

But, tamped twice, just enough above the ridge (mounded) to tamp it in the centre, filled it up, smoothed with finger to a concave shape (mounded), tamped and off we went.
three dark streams, merged inot one blond stream, one little water spout, then right at the end of the pour a few water spouts.

But the coffee tastes great, again many thanks to the posters with their pointers and tips for this novice.

[rawill]

I mean I get a few dots of coffee on the sides of the cup, machine etc.

Me too, especially when I started with my Naked P/F.

Now with better grinding (finer) and tamping 2x, first in the bottom of the single shot basket, the "drops" are way down, to almost nil.

[Darkfalz]

I mean I get a few dots of coffee on the sides of the cup, machine etc.

[Journeyman]

What do you mean by 'micro-splatter'? Mine (for the 6910 so perhaps not relevant) starts with a few bubbly drops across the bottom that almost instantly become 2 or at most 3 streams that almost instantly become one stream. I get good views of it and there are no micro-drops coming off it at all.

Does the edge of the PF hole clear the edges of the basket? Just wondering if you are getting droplets from the sides of the filter that might be hitting the edge?

[Darkfalz]

I finally got my Naked PF for the EM7000 today from Things Cofffe. I could see it was a challenge to modify with the design changes by Sunbeam to their stock PF, you need to tamp it at the edge of the bench for example due to the angled handle, and the rim is a bit sharp. It's also very deep which means it can take a quad basket with ease but also means you need to crouch at quite the angle to see the bottom of the basket screen.

My shots coming out looked pretty good. Was hard to gauge the blonding point (got some impressive beans which are giving massive volume) - seemed to just want to pour forever. No squirting or anything but there is some very fine "micro-splatter" - is this normal?

[Journeyman]

and so the pleasure begins...

[rawill]

AND, this mornings coffee, I decided to tamp twice, using my single basket, with the double spout back on, not using the nake P/F for now.

So taking Tampit's suggestion re the 7 gram VST basket, I tamped the first part of my stock single basket, not a hard tamp.
Basket was filled to only juut above the ridge.

Well the pour was great, pressure went straight into the red, but only just.
Coffee tasted great, I will try the naked P/F with this approach next time.

Oh and I filled the basket to slightly above the rim untamped, tamped it and I thought it was a bit under dosed, but decided, no just leave it and try it.

As I said, all good.

[rawill]

Hi Robin

Brave man starting w a 7g. Errors in dosing may do your head in for a while, however long term it will improve you technique (or you will go over to teabags).
Have fun


TampIt

hehe,
it will be a cold day in **** before that happens!

I know I have read heaps about using the double basket to get a better result, and tossing half the pour out!.
But my "income level" dictates I do not waste the good beans!

And it will be fun, I am sure.

Thanks again, oh and the guys at Pullman were so fast and efficient, JM thanks for the link.

[TampIt]

VST basket, 7 gm, ordered and paid for, freight NZ half the price of the basket.

We will see how it goes.

Hi Robin

Brave man starting w a 7g. Errors in dosing may do your head in for a while, however long term it will improve you technique (or you will go over to teabags).

Thanks JM for dobbing me in. Robin you are welcome to PM me for some extra tips.

Tip: Initially, do not go coarser on your grind or raise your dose. Now I have my scales, 7g of my finely ground, tamped coffee does not even fill the lower level (by about 2mm) of my 7g VST. Essentially, when I thought I was underdosing, I was still well above the rated basket capacity. Yes, other roasts will differ quite a lot. Dose less & use progressive tamping (gently at first) to slow the pour to something sane. If you get a choker, smile: you can dose less again. If you get a gusher, grind finer. That should be enough to get you in the zone after a few shots.

One other issue: I do not know if "smart water" is available in NZ, however the full bottle inverted makes a "good enough to get the concept" tamper for the nether reaches of the basket. You need to have something flat which bottoms out about 2mm before the bottom of the lower level to get the critical first tamp correct or it will spray everywhere with your naked. It is the only lid I found over here that fits "properly". Feel free to improvise away....


Have fun


TampIt