# Questions of a beginner



## thecardella (Mar 22, 2020)

Hi guys,

I have just recently discovered the (maybe obvious) world of home coffee making by buying a coffee machine myself. I have a Gaggia Paros and in the past few days I have been experimenting (and drinking a lot of coffee!) based on all the advices that I gathered here on the forum.

As a beginner I still have a few questions or doubts:

- Together with machine I received also a portafilter with a pressure gauge attached. I understood this is useful to test the machine pressure and tweak it to be around 10bar. When I plug it in the machine it is much harder to turn than the other portafilter that I use to make the coffee, is it good or bad? When I turn the pump on, the water leaks out of the portafilter and the gauge does not give any read. I guess there is something wrong, isn't it?

- The Paros has an integrated grinder that I understood is decent (correct me if I am wrong) but even at its finest grind setting, the coffee seems quite coarse, I would expect it to be much finer (I am comparing it with ground coffee). Is there a mod or a way to tune the grinder beside the "normal" setting gear?

- Even if I put a lot of coffee in the filter, the coffee flow coming down seems to be quite a lot. At the beginning it start slow (as I would expect) and then suddenly it increases. What can I try to reduce this? I understand there are plenty of factors that could affect this, I have tried different amount of coffee (even with just ground coffee), different tampering pressures etc. So far I could not change this behaviour. Could it be the grinder size to big as mentioned in the previous question?

- At the moment I am using the Illy coffee beans, for next I wanted to try the Lavazza Super Crema. Do you have any other suggestion I can try?

Thanks for any help or feedback!


----------



## Dalerst (Jan 22, 2020)

Welcome, look to buy fresh roasted beans and not off the shelf stuff, Find one local to you or order online. Are you spreading and tamping the coffee befor pulling the shot?

I cant comment on the grinder as I dont know the machine, but any built in grind will only be ok.


----------



## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

Fresh rested beans (4 - 10 days after roast) time depends on bean's / roast. Use a tooth pick to distribute the grounds and remove any clumps before tamping.

Do not overfill the basket, read instructions on amount of coffee for basket size, eg 16 gms.

The portafilter with the pressuregauge should be used without a basket. or it will leak.


----------



## thecardella (Mar 22, 2020)

Hi, thanks for the help! I am looking into buying the beans from some local shop, I read this advice everywhere here in the forum so I'll do it 

I am tamping the coffee, but it's possible my technique is not good enough. I tried with different strength too. I'll try to use spread better the coffee before pressing it, I didn't think about it.

The portafilter with the gauge must have some issues then, because I am using it without the basket. The water still leaks. When screwing the portafilter, what resistance should I expect? Should it be very hard?


----------



## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

Quite firm


----------



## thecardella (Mar 22, 2020)

Hi, I am now waiting to receive some freshly roasted beans from a local supplier. In the meantime, I have replaced the group gasket with a new one giving everything a clean up (it was not very dirty). Unfortunately I did not see any changes in the coffee, but at least it will prevent future issues.

I tried again the portafilter with the pressure gauge and this time I waited a bit more and the gauge indicator started to move. It got above 10bar when I had to stop the pump because of all the water that was coming out. No idea why this happen yet.

The next problem I want to address is that the coffee extraction is to fast, probably 10-15 seconds. Giving that I am pressing the coffee strongly, It must be the ground coffee not fine enough, despite being already at the finest setting of the grinder. Any other suggestion on this side?


----------



## allikat (Jan 27, 2020)

(editted because I'm an idiot)

Sounds like it probably needs new burrs.


----------



## thecardella (Mar 22, 2020)

allikat said:


> (editted because I'm an idiot)
> 
> Sounds like it probably needs new burrs.


 Searching online I found that I can calibrate the grinder (in theory) so tomorrow I might open it up and see if it's just a calibration issue otherwise I might buy new burrs. Just to confirm, from what I read online ,y Gaggia Paros is equipped with a Gaggia MDF grinder, correct?


----------



## allikat (Jan 27, 2020)

Quite likely. Gaggia are well known for using the same parts as often as they can.


----------



## thecardella (Mar 22, 2020)

Great news! I have opened the Paros and I found out that I could turn the grinder hopper "out of scale" to have a finer ground coffee, it worked!

The metal cover limits the scale of the grinder settings and I was already at the minimum (finer) level. Without the cover apparently you can turn the hopper more than 360deg and now I managed to get a shot with good crema and extraction time. Thank you for the help.

This is a picture of my Paros:









I wanted to do the OPV mod but I am not sure where the OPV valve is located. My guess is that it's under that black cover at the water pump output.

Also does the sticker at the top right means that this machine is from 1997?


----------



## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

thecardella said:


> Hi, thanks for the help! I am looking into buying the beans from some local shop, I read this advice everywhere here in the forum so I'll do it
> 
> I am tamping the coffee, but it's possible my technique is not good enough. I tried with different strength too. I'll try to use spread better the coffee before pressing it, I didn't think about it.
> 
> The portafilter with the gauge must have some issues then, because I am using it without the basket. The water still leaks. When screwing the portafilter, what resistance should I expect? Should it be very hard?


 Some portafilter holders have grooves cut into the rim and won't seal properly



thecardella said:


> Great news! I have opened the Paros and I found out that I could turn the grinder hopper "out of scale" to have a finer ground coffee, it worked!
> 
> The metal cover limits the scale of the grinder settings and I was already at the minimum (finer) level. Without the cover apparently you can turn the hopper more than 360deg and now I managed to get a shot with good crema and extraction time. Thank you for the help.
> 
> ...


 You didn't mention the machine was used or it's age...that's a revelation  Yeah it's probably 22 years old. There's a clue in itself that you might need a new group gasket, even if it's NOS. It might be why the pressure measuring poratfilter don't seal well. It might also be the reason that you will notice drops of water leaking past the gasket once you get the grind fine enough for a 25s espresso shot and why you are having to lock the portafilter round so hard at all times.

Fortunately it look as if it's has not too hard a life.


----------



## thecardella (Mar 22, 2020)

I agree, I am impressed of how clean it is. Do you know where the OPV would be?


----------



## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

thecardella said:


> I agree, I am impressed of how clean it is. Do you know where the OPV would be?


 Yes, I do.


----------



## thecardella (Mar 22, 2020)

DavecUK said:


> Yes, I do.


 Could you elaborate?


----------



## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

thecardella said:


> Could you elaborate?


 Yes, under the black cap....you need to have a look at the fitting under there, there about 4 different types.


----------



## thecardella (Mar 22, 2020)

DavecUK said:


> Yes, under the black cap....you need to have a look at the fitting under there, there about 4 different types.


 Thanks a lot. Will check it out


----------



## thecardella (Mar 22, 2020)

Hi, I have got another question: I am testing with different grind settings and different strength when I tamper the coffee, I saw that if the grind is to fine, no water comes out the spouts and instead I see the water going back to the tank through the OPV. Today I instead got a good extraction > 20 sec and during the whole process there was still some water going back to tank even if eventually I got a discrete shot. Is that normal?


----------

