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Rancilio Silvia - no crema / pours slow

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Discussions > Espresso > Machines > Rancilio Silvia...

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D4F
Senior Member

Joined: 15 Mar 2012
Posts: 1,191
Location: USA
Expertise: I like coffee

Espresso: Gaggia Classic PID
Grinder: Preciso

Posted Mon Oct 1, 2012, 9:17pm Subject: Re: Rancilio Silvia - no crema / pours slow

Sorry, I do not have Silvia and cannot visualize that part. PF is portafilter. It seems that the pump works and will pump through the group or through the wand. I am back to wondering about the grind and the coffee and freshness. You need to find a slightly coarse setting on the grinder that will brew too quickly. Since water flows well in an empty PF and basket, it is going through the group. Use the grinder at say 15 macro and see where the flow is on that setting. I am pretty sure that 15 will be too coarse with any calibration. Some of the Precisos are calibrated differently so I cannot give you an exact number. My first Preciso gave the correct espresso grind for me at about 10 macro, and the new one is about 13 - 14 macro. I was told the the second one came with the tightest calibration and would be espresso from 14 - 10 and getting to turkish below 10 macro. Find a setting too coarse and one too fine on the macro settings and then work between.

D4F
Senior Member

Joined: 15 Mar 2012
Posts: 1,191
Location: USA
Expertise: I like coffee

Espresso: Gaggia Classic PID
Grinder: Preciso

Posted Mon Oct 1, 2012, 9:23pm Subject: Re: Rancilio Silvia - no crema / pours slow

As in the previous posts, if you do not get the boiler full before brewing, you are trying to generate brew pressure against an empty top of the boiler. Run the brew switch with the wand open and then close the wand and you should flow lots of water out the group. With the boiler just filled try the 15 macro grind and see if you get flow. This should be too fast as noted. A poor but suggestive pressure or flow test.

rpaulo
Senior Member

Joined: 28 Sep 2012
Posts: 22
Location: USA
Expertise: Just starting

Espresso: Rancilio Silvia
Grinder: Baratza Preciso

Posted Mon Oct 1, 2012, 9:38pm Subject: Re: Rancilio Silvia - no crema / pours slow

I tried settings 2,3,4,5 and none generated any crema (setting 10 is like french press style, and will never work, I tried in the past). Setting 1 chokes the machine. I'm getting a replacement grinder, but I got good crema in the past with this grinder, that's why I suspect there's something wrong with the machine. Without touching the grinder setting the machine suddenly stops brewing crema. Even my previous $95 espresso machine could do better :-) Anyway, I tried your method of filling the boiler but the results were the same: tasteless black coffee with no crema.

rpaulo
Senior Member

Joined: 28 Sep 2012
Posts: 22
Location: USA
Expertise: Just starting

Espresso: Rancilio Silvia
Grinder: Baratza Preciso

Posted Mon Oct 1, 2012, 9:40pm Subject: Re: Rancilio Silvia - no crema / pours slow

Also, setting 5 was pretty fast.

D4F
Senior Member

Joined: 15 Mar 2012
Posts: 1,191
Location: USA
Expertise: I like coffee

Espresso: Gaggia Classic PID
Grinder: Preciso

Posted Mon Oct 1, 2012, 9:53pm Subject: Re: Rancilio Silvia - no crema / pours slow

Not worried about crema or taste yet, just pressure/flow. You made it sound like the pump would not give enough pressure or flow to brew. Setting 5 was fast and 1 chokes, so is there a setting of macro that is close to 2 oz in 25 seconds? You are getting a replacement grinder? What is the grinder issue? Might that be part of the issue with the machine? You may have difficulty with crema, flow, and taste if you cannot get consistent grind. Further explain that the machine stops brewing crema. Stops flow, or flow but not crema. If flow how much? Measure flows after crema subsides so that you get a fluid volume, or weigh the crema liquid mixture. There are too many variables knowing that something is wrong with the grinder and not knowing specifics.

rpaulo
Senior Member

Joined: 28 Sep 2012
Posts: 22
Location: USA
Expertise: Just starting

Espresso: Rancilio Silvia
Grinder: Baratza Preciso

Posted Mon Oct 1, 2012, 10:22pm
Subject: Re: Rancilio Silvia - no crema / pours slow

D4F Said:

Not worried about crema or taste yet, just pressure/flow. You made it sound like the pump would not give enough pressure or flow to brew. Setting 5 was fast and 1 chokes, so is there a setting of macro that is close to 2 oz in 25 seconds?

You are getting a replacement grinder? What is the grinder issue? Might that be part of the issue with the machine? You may have difficulty with crema, flow, and taste if you cannot get consistent grind.

Further explain that the machine stops brewing crema. Stops flow, or flow but not crema. If flow how much? Measure flows after crema subsides so that you get a fluid volume, or weigh the crema liquid mixture.

There are too many variables knowing that something is wrong with the grinder and not knowing specifics.

Posted October 1, 2012 link

Regarding your first question, setting 2A was what I was using. The grinder seems to have a common manufacturing problem where it doesn't grind fine enough. Baratza told me that 2A is not normal. I'm no expert, but the grind seemed consistent. That could be the problem, though.
The flow is sort of ok, but I never see crema. It starts by brewing really black coffee and no crema ever shows up.
We decided to wait until the new grinder arrives, since that could be the problem.

D4F
Senior Member

Joined: 15 Mar 2012
Posts: 1,191
Location: USA
Expertise: I like coffee

Espresso: Gaggia Classic PID
Grinder: Preciso

Posted Mon Oct 1, 2012, 10:41pm Subject: Re: Rancilio Silvia - no crema / pours slow

Measure the flow of a brew at your chosen setting. Assuming a double basket, not pressurized, filled to about 17 - 17.5 grams of coffee you should get about 45 - 60 ml of liquid in 25 seconds. You may not have weights, so grind and fill a tamped basket so that you do not get any mark in the grinds when you lock the dry grinds in place. Lock in the PF and basket, then remove dry and make sure that you are not over filling. Some would say that you could place a nickle on top of the dry grounds and it would then touch the screen/center screw. After you brew you should see a slight indent in the center of the wet puck. You need to find that amount of coffee each time. Move the micro, or macro, if needed to adjust to proper flow above. If you can do that then the machine is probably working. If you get a fairly consistent flow, then you need freshly roasted beans with a known roast date. After all that worry about crema. If you are not sure about quality beans, search CG or ask.

rpaulo
Senior Member

Joined: 28 Sep 2012
Posts: 22
Location: USA
Expertise: Just starting

Espresso: Rancilio Silvia
Grinder: Baratza Preciso

Posted Mon Oct 1, 2012, 11:20pm Subject: Re: Rancilio Silvia - no crema / pours slow

OK, I have been experimenting between 14g and 18g with several grind settings since we bought the machine, so I find it weird that I can no longer find any setting that works. The beans are fairly fresh since they were roasted last week.

diggi
Senior Member

Joined: 28 Nov 2011
Posts: 382
Location: Halifax, NS
Expertise: I love coffee

Espresso: Spaz vivaldi S1 V2
Grinder: B Vario, OE LIDO
Drip: Chemex, Espro Press,...
Roaster: Poppery I

Posted Tue Oct 2, 2012, 1:35am Subject: Re: Rancilio Silvia - no crema / pours slow

I know this has been addressed by 2 posters before, but your reply didn't leave me confident that your boiler is full. After you steam, the boiler is no longer full. You then turn off the steam switch and need to fill the boiler by opening the steam valve and turning on the hot water switch until you get water out the steam wand. Then turn off both the steam wand switch and the valve. Now the boiler is full. Now you can make another shot. Is this what you are doing?

rpaulo
Senior Member

Joined: 28 Sep 2012
Posts: 22
Location: USA
Expertise: Just starting

Espresso: Rancilio Silvia
Grinder: Baratza Preciso

Posted Tue Oct 2, 2012, 8:48am
Subject: Re: Rancilio Silvia - no crema / pours slow

diggi Said:

I know this has been addressed by 2 posters before, but your reply didn't leave me confident that your boiler is full. After you steam, the boiler is no longer full. You then turn off the steam switch and need to fill the boiler by opening the steam valve and turning on the hot water switch until you get water out the steam wand. Then turn off both the steam wand switch and the valve. Now the boiler is full. Now you can make another shot. Is this what you are doing?

Posted October 2, 2012 link

Yes, but we weren't even steaming milk yesterday.

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