I've been seeing James Hoffman's vids where he often says more isn't better with extraction pressure and grumbles about consumer & pro-sumer machines where the overpressure valves aren't set correctly to deliver 9 bar. My Lelit Anita - PL42TEMD often reads 13 bar at the beginning of extraction and comes down to maybe 11. Does this machine have an over pressure valve and should it be adjusted? I'm getting 30 ml ristrettos in 30 sec out of 18g from the double basket which is how I like it, but wonder if the result would taste smoother at 9 bar.
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Lelit Combi over pressure valve?
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First crack or nothing
- Nov 13
- 3438
- Sydney (West)
- Filter or long black: clean with crisp acidity
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The guys at Jetblack Espresso said it’s calibrated and set to 9 bar in manufacture and is not easily adjusted as they are set to that pressure by using an adhesive. So it seems I need to 1) lower dose and then 2) try grinding coarser. I’ve now started dosing only 16g for 30 mils in 30 sec but I find if I go less or grind coarser it just under extracts without significantly affecting the pressure (maybe drops to 11 bar). Not sure how to proceed. I did a descale just in case that was affecting things and bought some fresh coffee to check that wasn’t the issue but hasn’t changed anything.
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First crack or nothing
- Nov 13
- 3438
- Sydney (West)
- Filter or long black: clean with crisp acidity
- Send PM
The gauge shouldn't read over ~9.5-10bar even with a blind filter in. Adjusting your grind etc is a workaround not a permanent solution. Maybe the OPV should be replaced with a more easily adjustable one.
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They're actually not difficult to adjust, it's just that the manufacturer use Loctite (or similar) to prevent vibration loosening the mechanism.
Just needs a little direct heat to loosen the locknut then adjustment should be possible. I never found the need to use Loctite again afterwards, just nipped up the locknut and it never loosened, ever...
Mal.
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