Francis X1 mis-behaving

[espresso.dude]

I have a Francis X1 that I've owned for approx 6 months. It has developed a fault that causes the coffee to discharge over the top of the basket. I have checked the rubber seal on the bottom of the head and appears to be in good condition. Has anyone else experianced a simular problem and if so how did you fix it?

Any advice appreciated, Cheers E.D

 

[aabreetech]

Check the grind and see if its too fine. Your tamp pressure could be to hard. Back off on the tamp pressure or use a little courser grind. How does it work with the pod portafilter?

 

[espresso.dude]

I've had a play around with the grind before. The trouble is if it's too course the water just flows through to quickly = terrible coffee. Good point about the pod portafilter. To be honest I've never used it, I'll get some pods during the week and let you know how I got on.

 

[aabreetech]

Another thing you might want to check and that is your gasket. Check to see if it is getting hard. Gaskets should be solid but rubbery, not hard. If its hard you need to replace it. If it starts to get a ridge in it you should change it. If you have a ridge in it, but it is still soft, you can sometimes pry it out carefully and turn it over until you get a new one. Always keep a spare gasket on hand.

 

[Gary]

I own an X1 and have had water/coffee spill through the top of the portafilter once. I cleaned all the gunk that built up on the gasket. I used a flat head screwdriver to scrap it off. I supposed as another post said, replace the gasket if it dried out, but I can't imagine why it would dry out. Keep the portafilter inserted on the group, even when you don't use it.

Always wipe off the edge of the portafilter basket before insert into the group head. This will help keep the gasket clean.

Pop out the portafilter basket and look through it towards light. Most, if not all of the little holes should allow light through them. If not, you can use coffee cleaner to clean the filter basket. Personally I just use hot soapy water and a scrub pad.

One final hint to keep from having to replace the element in the boiler. Always return the temperature back to coffee brew temp (~100 degrees C) after steaming milk. Run about 4 ounces of water through it to get the temperature down. It has nothing to do with water leaking but I learned the hard way after replacing the machine. :grin:

 

[Charles]

Francis x1 - new vs. old

Just purchased what turned out to be "old" version of FF! X1. Haven't received it yet. Great price on store demo. Feeling a bit of buyer remorse.

Seems to be a lot of negative reviews on older version. Have they made several releases/improvements? Or do they have just old/new models. The big diff's I think are larger portafilter and upgraded boiler material.

Can anyone reassure me?

Thanks!

 

[Gary]

I believe the only difference is the newer releases now have brass boilders and the brewhead/portafilter is a different size. Also, I think they use a different steam wand. My current X1 machine is one of 3 I've had in my house and the first one had a longer steam wand, which I prefer.

You can call FrancisFrancis USA yourself at 877-854-4141 to see if there are any other gotchas with the older release of the X1 model. You should also get their manual. I've talked with them and they seem to have very good customer service.

Gary