Having hassle getting completely different groupheads in your machine to tug photographs on the similar price and quantity? Jon Ferguson troubleshoots the difficulty.

BY JON FERGUSON
BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE

Pictures courtesy of Jon Ferguson

Have you ever ever imagined what it might be like to mix “Automotive Discuss“ radio and “Pricey Abby“ to create a column that focuses on espresso tools service points? Our new “Tech Discuss On-line” sequence would possibly simply be your reply!

On this biweekly column, tools knowledgeable Jon Ferguson can be offering responses to frequent questions on espresso tech and serving to troubleshoot points that baristas, café homeowners, and different espresso professionals have about any and all espresso and brewing tools. In at the moment’s installment, he’ll be discussing what to do when completely different groupheads in your espresso machine aren’t pulling photographs on the similar price or quantity as each other.

Obtained a query for Jon about café tools? E-mail techtalk@baristamagazine.com and let him know!

This Week’s Query: I’ve a two-group espresso machine the place I can’t appear to get each groupheads to tug on the similar shot time or quantity. What’s occurring?

Jon’s Response:

There are just a few easy exams and inspections which you can simply do to slender down a number of the prospects.

First, backflush your machine and take away the dispersion display and plate (if relevant). If the screens look concave or well-used, now is an efficient time to switch them. Examine your baskets and your portafilter situation. Make sure the spouts and pathway by means of the portafilters are clear. Take out the hampers, then clear them and examine them. Are they an identical in basket form, dimension, materials, and model? If unsure, it’s best to verify by changing with an identical baskets if utilizing each portafilters for every grouphead. 

Subsequent, in case your machine has stress or stream profiling options, confirm that your programming parameters match for every grouphead. There might be an opportunity {that a} setting resembling pre-infusion was adjusted or added to at least one grouphead with out copying the recipe to the second grouphead. Confirm that your programmed brew recipes are an identical. 

Lastly, conduct a guide stream price take a look at on every group head. You’ll need a small metric scale ideally with a tolerance of 0.01 grams, a vessel that holds as much as 800 grams of water weight, and a digital timer. To start out the take a look at, take away the portafilters from the machine. Tare (zero out) the burden of the container for use to catch scorching water and place it beneath the primary grouphead. Interact the brew button and let scorching water freely stream into the container for 30 seconds. When completed, place the container of water onto your scale and write down the burden. (Repeat this course of thrice to get a median quantity.) For the second portafilter, repeat your entire course of and examine water weights from each groupheads. If the ensuing weights are inside a tolerance of 5 to 10 grams of water weight, there may be possible no main stream price difficulty. If there’s a vital distinction, this might level to a clogged stream restrictor in one of many groupheads. 

Espresso machines are distinctive of their use of stream restrictors, a lot that individuals prefer to name them by a number of names, together with gicleurs and jets. They arrive in several sizes and styles, so stream charges from one machine can be completely different to the following. If a machine has just lately had a jet changed in a single grouphead however not all of them, there may doubtlessly be a mismatch within the sizes of the jets that have been changed; this could be a rarer incidence, but nonetheless attainable. It doesn’t matter what the state of affairs is with a clogged jet, gicleur, or stream restrictor, a certified service technician must be referred to as to assist treatment this example. Finding, cleansing, and changing stream restrictors can turn into a really difficult, harmful, and warranty-voiding state of affairs. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jon Ferguson has practically 20 years of expertise throughout numerous aspects of the espresso business. He believes that with a deeper understanding of apparatus used all through your entire espresso provide chain, we are able to achieve a deeper respect for the labor and know-how required to remodel fruit seeds into the drinks all of us dearly love. 

Subscribe and Extra!

As all the time, you possibly can learn Barista Journal in paper or digital format. Learn the February + March 2025 difficulty without spending a dime with our digital version. 

And for greater than three years’ value of points, go to our digital version archives right here.