Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Silvia PF leak

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Silvia PF leak

    Hi, I did a search for stuff about this and found nothing, so here goes:
    I got a silvia/rocky for xmas (woohoo!, also got a SS tamper, a bunch of espresso cup/saucers and a steaming pitcher) since this is the first serious machine I have ive been playing with it for 2 days straight trying to perfect my temperature surfing and such. For a while I had the grind too coarse and when i put it on notch 7 or 8 i started to get stronger with much better crema, the problem is though that I get a leak in the portafilter at the front and can see a stream of near-clean water dripping down the side of the filter and off the little bump between the two spouts.
    Any idea if this is a PF problem? or could it be that Im over tamping (about 10-14Kg on the home bathroom scales) or overdosing or something? I dont have scales and my rocky doesnt autodose, so I just fill it till it looks about right, originally I used the little plastic measure spoon to get a feel or what that is. The PF locks on fine all the time, even when this leak is evident. I say this because once I was seeing how much i could fit in that double filter basket and wasnt able to lock the PF into the machine at all, but Ive come to realise her limits now
    Just wondering if anyone else has seen this and what I could do to go about avoiding/fixing it?
    Cheers, oh by the way, great forum!

  • #2
    Re: Silvia PF leak

    A few common reasons for this:
    Portafilter is not being locked on tight enough
    Basket is being overfilled
    Gasket seal around the shower head isnt clean

    When I first picked up the silvia I was locking the head until it felt firm. It was only when further tightening it that it stopped leaking ie I would tighten it until the nossels on the bottom of the portafilter were parellel to the machine.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Silvia PF leak

      Hi Sammus & welcome to the group!

      (Im a recent joiner here too)

      My bet is that portafilter is not on tight enough because of too much coffee in the basket. Try filling it a bit less - it takes some trial and error with your new machine to figure out how much is too much. I had the same "problem" in the first days of using my Silvia, and was ready to return the "faulty" machine until I realised I was over-dosing.

      By the way: Just getting a new group gasket last month meant my maximum coffee level on Silvia suddenly changed after 2 years (probably because the brand new gasket is slightly thicker than the old, worn-in one).

      Also, as Matthew pointed out its important to clear any coffee grounds from around the group seal so that it seals well and to prevent it wearing out too quickly. You can get a group brush ($5 - $8) to do this from most places that sell espresso machines.

      Enjoy your new machine!

      Rob

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Silvia PF leak

        Sammus, the "leak" you describe is almost certain a result of either loading too much coffee into the basket so that the portafilter cant lock tightly onto the gasket....or the grind is too fine or the tamp is too strong or all three.

        Too fine a grind means the pump will need to use all its 15 bar capacity to try to force water through. At that sort of pressure, if the water cant go through the grinds, itll exit at the gasket.

        Ditto, if the tamp is too strong.

        As you have eliminated overloading the basket, turn your attention to these two variables.

        Good luck,
        Robusto

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Silvia PF leak

          Cheers everyone, I have it fixed now, my problem was the PF wasnt tight enough, Ive also changed my grind too so it could have been that...either way its all good now :P

          Comment

          Working...
          X