Silvia shots

[SpeckledCrema]

So I recently purchased a rancilio silvia (with the accompanying rancilio rocky). I love it, but a lot of times, the espresso coming out of the portafilter does not come evenly dispersed between the two spouts. So I end up with one shot larger than the other. I was wondering if this is common, or if I am doing something wrong.

by the way, its not always the same side that has less coming out: sometimes its the right, sometimes the left

 

[CCafe]

Most likely the machine is not quite level.

If you remove the spout you will see the espresso simply falls out a hole in the bottom of the portafilter then proceeds down both sides of the spout. If the machine leans more to one side then that side will overfill.

 

[Alun_evans]

...or you need to work on your tamping. Generally a 2-3% difference in the gradient of the famp will be enough to cause a double portafilter to disperse less/more through either side of the P.F> resulting in difference in the shot volume. I am not sure about the Silvia but most machine work on a flowmeter than measures the volume of water into the group, not into the cup

 

[CCafe]

The Silvia is a manual push button minus a flowmeter and a touch pad.

I've been wanting to add those 2 features to it but haven't gotten around. We should mod one sometime Alun so you can have another toy to play with.

 

[Alun_evans]

sounds like fun. new toys in the toy box are always welcome and appreciated. Did I tell you I have a 3 group lever machine on its way here?

 

[shadow745]

...or you need to work on your tamping. Generally a 2-3% difference in the gradient of the famp will be enough to cause a double portafilter to disperse less/more through either side of the P.F> resulting in difference in the shot volume. I am not sure about the Silvia but most machine work on a flowmeter than measures the volume of water into the group, not into the cup

Definitely sounds like a tamping/distribution issue to me. This can cause channeling or decreased flow, which will cause the flow to be slower than normal and it can only run out of one side, or cause the difference in each spout.

IMO flowmeters should never be used an any decent machine. I owned a machine that had a programmable setup and I hated it. To get the best results I had to override it manually. Shots should be based on much more than just flow rate or timing. Later!

 

[SpeckledCrema]

Thanks for the info. That makes sense though, because I'm still using the silvia stock plastic tamp, which is awful. Sometimes I get an even distribution, sometimes not. Hopefully my good tamper will arrive soon...

 

[Alun_evans]

Those plastic tampers are a curse. Our machine company used to supply them standard...for like a $5k machine! Including a proper tamper would probably only cost them an extra $5 or so on bulk. Pretty sure indeed it is tamping. Good luck, let us know what comes out of it all when your new tamper arrives

 

[shadow745]

Yeah most companies supply them and it's a joke. Not only are they too light and too flimsy, they never fit the basket properly. Along with proper tamping, really work on getting the grounds level and try to tamp as level as you can for even puck thickness. Later!