# Newbie Rancilio Silver E owner with a couple of questions



## enoon (Sep 30, 2016)

After spending a few months with the Rancilio Rocky and a cheap Gaggia unit (sub 100€) I recently decided to upgrade to a "serious" espresso machine and bought the new Rancilio Silvia v5 E.

Unfortunately I have a couple of issues with it. The main one is that in order to get a 25s shot I need to grind excessively fine, at 1 or 2 on the Rocky (I zeroed it, so that's really fine) and put 15gr of coffee in the double basket. In that way I get 37gr of coffee (so a 1:2.4 ratio). If I wanted to make a ristretto I'd have no clue on how to proceed. The coffee is fresh (roasted less than one month ago) and even though I'm using the crappy default tamper (a good one will arrive shortly) I'm really careful about it.

My impression is that there's too much pressure.

I took a video of how the water exits when no coffee is present:






Maybe this is normal and I just need to get used to the machine, but I wanted to ask other owners their opinion.

Around the web I've read about adjusting the OVP, but I'd rather wait before playing with it.

The other thing is that the left cup always receives less coffee than the right one (I know in the video this does not happen but note that a lot of water was thrown out of the right cup), I know this could be due to tamping error but it's weird it's always the one on the left.

I'm welcoming any kind of feedback!


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

How have the beans been stored ? Somewhere cool and in an airtight container ?

Are the burrs in the grinder sharp ? did you thoroughly clean it out ?

Running water through the group without coffee in the basket tells you nothing.

If the water is filling faster on one side is the machine level ? On a previous Gaggia Classic that would sometimes flow more on one side.

If you are going to change the OPV pressure you will need a gauge to fit the portafilter.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Is your machine level ?


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## enoon (Sep 30, 2016)

Mrboots2u said:


> Is your machine level ?





El carajillo said:


> How have the beans been stored ? Somewhere cool and in an airtight container ?
> 
> Are the burrs in the grinder sharp ? did you thoroughly clean it out ?
> 
> ...


I checked with a level and actually it seems it's slightly out of level, something like 1 or 2mm - so that might be reason for the uneven distribution.

Beans were kept in a sealed bag with valve, grinder was cleaned 10 days ago and the burs seemed sharp to me (I bought the grinder 4 months ago so they should).

Isn't there a way to measure pressure by using a blind filter and measuring the return of water in the tank?

Thanks for the feedback!


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

The out of level machine is the most likely cause for uneven discharge.

With how you have stored the beans and the additional information on the grinder there should be no problem. Are you tamping firmly enough over the

the entire area ? (crappy tamper)

O.P.V adjustment does need a pressure gauge to accurately adjust the pressure.


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## Nikko (Aug 20, 2014)

enoon said:


> Isn't there a way to measure pressure by using a blind filter and measuring the return of water in the tank?
> 
> Thanks for the feedback!


not with a blind filter but you can sort of do it with coffee in the portafilter. Check the total flow (prtafilter and return) against the pump curve to get idea of pressure. Or just losen the opv a 1/4 turn or so to see if it improves. Mark the original position so you can go back if needed.


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## enoon (Sep 30, 2016)

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll try a few things and then let you know.


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