# Rocket Appartamento Boiler Pressure drops on idle



## Crystalreef (Aug 9, 2013)

Hi All,
I received a lovely present from Santa this year, a new Rocket Appartamento. However I am completely unable to get any decent coffee from it, as yet!
I upgraded from a Gaggia Classic and I was quite happy with the shots produced but I was getting tired of boiler surfing as my two sons now want Cap's every morning.
With the Rocket I was expecting this to be a thing of the past.
I leave the machine on for 30mins to warm up and have noticed that the boiler pressure is constantly dropping to 0.8bar, at which point the heater kicks in and pressure rises to 1.1bar. Heater then switches off and immediately pressure starts to fall. Within 25 secs it's back down to 1bar, 1min 12 sec to 0.9bar, 1:43 back at 0.8bar and heater kicks in and so the cycle repeats. Pressure is never ever remotely stable. It is always falling when the heater is off. I have videoed it to check over a 45min period to be sure. Now I know it will fall as it heat is lost but should it fall this quick?
The videos I have seen on youtube of this machine show no evidence of this occurring whilst they are stood talking about the machine. I can see the pressure gauge sitting at about 1 bar, but obviously this is in the background and the video could have been edited so I can't be 100% certain that it is stable.
So - should my machine be behaving as it is.

On to steaming.
Purging the wand before steaming - the pressure drops instantly to around 0.7bar (waiting to start when the heater has just turned offI) then I proceed to steam using a 600ml jug with around 300ml of milk in and the machine seems to run out of puff before it's done. I'm sure this isn't right!
I've left the steam running (without jug) as a test and whilst steam is still produced I would say it was not great when it settles at around 0.5bar after about 1min 20 secs. After about 2 mins the pressure is below 0.5bar, pump kicks in and pressure drops to 0 bar and steam is none-existent.
Now I know I'm not likely to steam milk for that long but when the reviews of this machine say things like, 'steam monster' I was expecting it to be a little better.
So for how long should I expect to get good steam pressure for?
I'll be contacting BB where I bought it from on Monday but just thought I would see if my woes are unfounded before I do so. At present not impressed by this machine at all (


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

Thats how a boiler works! it cycles between an upper and lower limit that you can vary by adjusting.....dont worry about it. The steam causes the boiler pressure to drop faster so pull your shot then steam......all sounds perfectly normal to me


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## Crystalreef (Aug 9, 2013)

Thanks for reply.

I understand that it will cycle between an upper and lower limit but the drop seems to be a bit fast to me and like I said, it seems to run out of steam power before I have propley finished steaming.

I also cant get any consistancy with the shots. No changes made to grinder and using same technique between shots, sometimes the extraction will come way to fast and the next can almost choke the machine!

I've checked the grinder and that all seems OK (Eureka Mignon Silenzio). Even ground 2 lots continuosly, mixed it up and split it out and extractions are so different it's alarming. I never had anything like this happen on the Gaggia. I've taken the grinder to a friends ,who has a sage, and all the shots I pulled (after dailing in) were all pretty damn close to each other.


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## mikas (Dec 19, 2017)

Check/replace de anti vacuum valve. It's a simple diy job.


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

Sounds perfectly normal for that machine (and any small HX) to me. You could ,always raise the boiler pressure a little by adjusting the pressurestat, you will have to do larger HX cooling flushes though.

I doubt it's the vacuum breaker valve as you would have mentioned a constant hissing....wouldn't you?


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## Alan Kilroy (Dec 22, 2017)

My Appartamento is a few months old.

After 45 minutes.....or so......it will enter sleep mode. Pressure will go to zero. Temp will drop right back. It's an EU reg. on electrical machines of this nature.....safety feature. I sent mine back to dealer when this happened. They contacted Rocket. New machines will sleep after 45 or so.

Recommend you also buy a E61 thermometer,

https://coffee-sensor.com/product/digital-coffee-sensor-thermometer-and-adapter-for-e61-groupheads-pro-version/

Not cheap but a real bonus when cooling flush is required.

Critical imo.


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## kozesluk (Apr 28, 2019)

1) vacuum breaker has nothing to do with this.

2) most mechanical pressostats have deadband around 0.2 bar, anything over 0.4 bar is bit excessive, yours is fine. live with it, it won't affect the coffee taste/temperature as the system is not directly heated but the heat is exchanged and the final temperature is achieved by the circulation rate of the thermosyphon loop and radiation/convection cooling from the grouphead.

if you want to easily get to the correct temperature:

turn the machine on
- as soon as you see the pressure rise above half bar purge a lot of steam out of the boiler to be sure that there is no more residual air (sometimes the anti-vacuums close too early)
- after 20 mins the grouphead should be scalding hot, draw 150 ml from it and walk away.
- 5 minutes later come back, do a short flush (40 ml max), prep your shot (should take around 1 minute) and just pull it straight away.

the Appartamento and all other Rocket HX machines have quite well tuned HX system (properly sized restrictors and injection pipe length) so that it tends to idle at the correct temperature and only cooling flush might be needed after long idle (30 mins and more). stop trying temperature surfing and just pull the coffee.


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## Crystalreef (Aug 9, 2013)

Thanks for the feedback.

I was aware of sleep mode and it's not that.

The vacuum breaker does hiss, allow steam out and spit water out on warm up but then does seem to close. I can't notice any hiss after this but can hear a slight plop sound from the steam wand but think thats OK.

If I decide to pimp the machine (when I am satisfied with it) that may make it onto the machine.

So how stable is your boiler pressure when the machine is idle? Is there a significant drop in presure (mine is 0.2 bar almost instantly and continues to fall) when brewing?

The most important thing really is I've not had a decent shot of coffee out of this machine to date!!!


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## HowardSmith (Jan 21, 2018)

Mine cycles between just over 1 bar and up to 1.1 bar.... The cycling is almost constant

Sent from my H3113 using Tapatalk


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## Crystalreef (Aug 9, 2013)

Thanks for the info Howard.

Just to clarifiy the heater is kicking in at 1 bar then off at 1.1 bar? How quick does it fall from 1.1 to 1?

Also do you have any significant drop in boiler pressure when brewing?


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## NikonGuy (Jul 31, 2014)

My heater kicks in at 0.9 bar and turns off at 1.1 bar. I'm sure it doesn't drop much during steaming, from memory I steam for about 30sec and it never drops below 0.8 bar, I will test tomorrow morning and report back.

I know Bella tested and calibrated my Appartamento before dispatch and set it this way... Make sure they tested your unit before dispatch, it could be they didn't due to the busy Christmas period...


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## Foz (Jan 19, 2013)

When first switched on my Appartamento cycles very quickly just as you describe, however as the machine warms up the rate of heat loss decreases, stability is much better after an hour or more (my machine does not enter sleep mode). Remember the boiler is not insulated and the whole machine has to heat up. I have never found that this influences coffee taste after the group head is hot (about 20 minutes). I would suggest that you look to other areas with regards to extraction variability (tamping or grind). As for steaming I have no trouble steaming 300ml and the pressure does not fall below 0.7 bar (when steaming, not sure about just opening to the atmosphere).


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