Bezzerra pressure constantly fluctuating

[pbw]

hi guys

i am a new owner of a mitica and am wondering if its normal for the boiler pressure rise to 1.3, switch off then drop to 1 and kick back in to 1.3 again. It does this every 3 mins or so all the time its on.
Is this normal ? my instincts tell me it should stay at 1.3 rather than fluctuate but i know little about espresso machines
cheers

[roburu]

Assuming that your machine does not have a PID installed, I would say the boiler pressure fluctuation is normal (although a bit on the high side). The cause of that fluctuation is the pressure switch, that measures the pressure in the boiler. The pressure switches have a so called deadband that typically sits in between 0.1 and 0.3 bar. Basically they turn on the heating element when a preset boiler pressure is reached (1 bar in your case) and cut off the element when they reach value+deadband.

[Dimal]

hi guys

i am a new owner of a mitica and am wondering if its normal for the boiler pressure rise to 1.3, switch off then drop to 1 and kick back in to 1.3 again. It does this every 3 mins or so all the time its on

Welcome mate...

What does your vendor have to say about it? Always the first port of call for a newly acquired machine in my opinion...

Mal.

[Yelta]

Welcome to Coffee Snobs pbw.

I own a Bezzera Domus Galatea, basically a Mitica in a different case.

After reaching operating boiler pressure 1.1 Bar, it drops to approx 1 Bar over about five minutes when the element kicks in and bumps it back to 1.1, so yours seems to be around the mark, bearing in mind that these pressure gauges are not calibrated scientific instruments, so, variations between machines are bound to occur.

From my understanding as the boiler cools the pressure drops, at a set point the thermostat kicks in and raises the temp/pressure again.

Ambient temp will have an affect on the time between heating cycles.

Of course using steam or drawing hot water will also cause the thermostat to actuate.

Your machine seems to be operating in a similar manner to mine.

[pbw]

thanks for the reassurance guys, i thought it may have been an issue. Perhaps hoping it was the reason why my shots were inconsistent :P

Guess I have to keep practising !!

[Yelta]

Perhaps hoping it was the reason why my shots were inconsistent :P

Guess I have to keep practising !!

Given we have similar machines, if I can be of any assistance, just say the word.

Have had my Galatea for some years, pull pretty good shots and know it quite well, certainly the best machine I have owned.