# Bottomless PF Spitting



## steve206 (Apr 24, 2012)

Hi, i bought my Gaggia Classic with a Bottomless PF, but whenever ive used it, it spits coffee everywhere. Its like theres too much pressure and the basket is not letting the shot out quick enough. My pressure is set spot on ( used the Gauge ) and with my normal PF its ok. Ive looked at the VST Baskets, the holes look a lot bigger. My current ones are the standard Gaggia ones, non pressurised.

Also my Bottomless PF has a different profile fitting to the standard PF. The two notches that lock into the Gaggia are thicker, the standard are slanted so it locks in. These are just thicker so its a tight fit before its fully locked. These can cause the coffee to leak from the top. Do theyneed cutting back a bit? I will post pics, and a video if i can load one.

Pics Added:





































Thanks Steve


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## JohnnieWalker (Aug 24, 2011)

Hmm, I know there are two different thickness PF Seals.

I replaced mine and it was thinner, causing the PF handle to be further to the right when tightened.

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## chimpsinties (Jun 13, 2011)

As long as the handle is tight it shouldn't matter if it's twisted all the way around or not. That bottomless PF should just tighten up sooner that's all. You might find that your regular PF is doing the squirting thing you just can't see it because it it caught before the spouts and comes out like normal.

Do you say you've got a VST basket or not? They do say bottomless PF's are great for spotting flaws in your technique, maybe you've spotted one here? Possibly clumping of grinds before tamping? Tamping too hard which means the puck is cracking and channeling? You will get the odd spritz from a bottomless PF every now and again but it shouldn't be spraying all over the place.


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## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

Which grinder are you using? And have you tried doing and sort of Weiss Distribution Technique? What size tamper do you have? Good grind profile and distribution, along with an even and 'correct' tamp from a correctly sized tamper will all help resolve spritzing.


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## pendragoncs (Feb 14, 2011)

chimpsinties said:


> As long as the handle is tight it shouldn't matter if it's twisted all the way around or not. That bottomless PF should just tighten up sooner that's all. You might find that your regular PF is doing the squirting thing you just can't see it because it it caught before the spouts and comes out like normal.
> 
> Do you say you've got a VST basket or not? They do say bottomless PF's are great for spotting flaws in your technique, maybe you've spotted one here? Possibly clumping of grinds before tamping? Tamping too hard which means the puck is cracking and channeling? You will get the odd spritz from a bottomless PF every now and again but it shouldn't be spraying all over the place.


Yep, i managed to get some really messy pours when i first got my bottomless PF.....back to basics was the answer for me. Basically took my time and did pretty much what mike said. I'd grind into a espresso cup and fluff the grinds up with a paperclip then put them into the basket and WDT, tamp and go.

Just to double check but have you got down and watched the pour......is this spraying coffee coming from the basket or around the portafilter? (If its that bad then maybe safy goggles are required here :0) )


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## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

Sorry Steve, your sig didn't show when I was looking at this thread on Tapatalk. So it's a Cunnil CT-1, which looks like it should deliver an acceptable grind so the problem may stem from those other factors. It may also be a case of grinding too fine though, making it tough for the water to find a path through. What dose weight are you using? If it is 14-15g, perhaps try grinding coarser and increasing dose a little.


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## chimpsinties (Jun 13, 2011)

I wouldn't be surprised if someone hadn't tried to clear some stuck grinds out of that basket with a pin. Some of those holes look massive. This probably won't help with your spritzing as there will obviously be less resistance in that area. That's one of the good things about a VST is that it's very uniform hole size.


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## steve206 (Apr 24, 2012)

I dont have any vst baskets, just looked at them. The hole size and distribution do look better than my baskets, i thought the holes looked to small! I do grind to a very fine grind, maybe it should be slightly courser? Is there any link to this WSD, i have never heard about it before, i will google it now. Thanks for the replys so far!


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