# MeCoffee PID kit for Silvia - first thoughts



## ImthatGuy

This the the PID from https://mecoffee.nl - it's an outfit in Groningen, Netherlands.

Key features - no display, but an app instead; control of water and steam temp, some control of pressure, pre infusion options and a timer (not shot timer - on-off timer). €119 for the kit + €10 for delivery. I ordered from their site, delivered in less than a week (would have been quicker, but they were waiting for delivery of PCBs. Good communications, a plus point in itself.

All settings are controlled by an app (meBarista) over Bluetooth - Android or Chrome - no IOS version yet (IOS Bluetooth limitations, I understand), but they intend to produce for IOS around Feb/March next year. I'm an IOS guy, but I have Chrome on a laptop, and you only use the app for initial setup or tweaking, so no harm to me.

Installation was straightforward; the installation manual (online) is very good, and there's a Youtube video to get the sense of it. The kit is well organised. Took me about 45 minutes or so, and I'm not an electrician. Because there's no display, there's no external indicator that the PID kit is installed. There's a base installation for temp control, and all the other elements are optional.

Configuration via the app is simple and straightforward - you can set temperature for water and steam, tweak the pressure (only shown as percentage of full pressure, not actual bar/psi figure), set pre-infusion parameters (pre-infusion time and pause period) and set a timer to switch the machine on (I didn't install this, since I have a Wemo switch for that). You can also tweak the PID parameters themselves, if you're inclined.

Everything worked first time. You don't use the app in normal operation - only to change parameters

Having only installed today, I can't yet confirm how well it all works, but it seems fine so far.

I went for this (a) because it's a lot cheaper than the equivalent Auber (the version with all the bells and whistles) and (b) delivery was quicker, it originating in Europe and me being in the UK (which is or is not part of Europe depending own your position in a political debate I don't intend to start here).

Hope this is useful for people - ask away

Good points: price, flexibility and ease of installation; feature set; controllability via the app

Less good: needs Android or Chrome; no display may mean no visible indicator of any issues.


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## Norberto

So if app/chrome is not used in normal operation, how does the pre infusion work?


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## ImthatGuy

Norberto said:


> So if app/chrome is not used in normal operation, how does the pre infusion work?


The app programs the PID controller - set parameters in the app and they're remembered. Unless you're tweaking, you only need the app to check settings.

I probably should have noted - I'm an IOS user, so I use the Chrome app on a laptop


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## oursus

ImthatGuy said:


> The app programs the PID controller - set parameters in the app and they're remembered. Unless you're tweaking, you only need the app to check settings.
> 
> I probably should have noted - I'm an IOS user, so I use the Chrome app on a laptop


Any idea if the promised iOS support is a software update?


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## Andy__C

Thanks for this, I'm very interested in this edition of a PID, if you have any further reports or thoughts after a while of using it I;d be very interested (and appreciative) of the feedback.

I have an android tablet so I'm more than fine with the control (even though IOS on the phone would be easier). Its a shame there is no shot timer however, that would have been so useful!

Is there a live monitor of temps etc in the ap, or is the ap simply to set the parameters and thats it?

For £95 inc delivery it seems a good option so far vs alternatives (and I like that there is no bolt on display, I never like how the Auber PID units look glued to the side of the Silvia)


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## ImthatGuy

oursus said:


> Any idea if the promised iOS support is a software update?


I believe it requires a hardware change - the current version doesn't support the Bluetooth standard that IOS uses. Since I'm OK using a laptop on the occasions I need to, it hasn't been an issue for me so far - bearing in mind that "so far" is only a few days right now


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## ImthatGuy

Andy__C said:


> Thanks for this, I'm very interested in this edition of a PID, if you have any further reports or thoughts after a while of using it I;d be very interested (and appreciative) of the feedback.
> 
> I have an android tablet so I'm more than fine with the control (even though IOS on the phone would be easier). Its a shame there is no shot timer however, that would have been so useful!


They're working on a shot timer feature in the software - no date yet



Andy__C said:


> Is there a live monitor of temps etc in the ap, or is the ap simply to set the parameters and thats it?


There's a live brew temp monitor in the software. The PID controller also dims the thermostat light on the Silvia to let you know when you're at the set temp



Andy__C said:


> For £95 inc delivery it seems a good option so far vs alternatives (and I like that there is no bolt on display, I never like how the Auber PID units look glued to the side of the Silvia)


There's a review here, if you're interested: http://www.rojtberg.net/1109/mecoffee-pid-controller-for-the-rancilio-silvia/


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## simon333

Thankyou,this is helpful info....It sounds great and I think I want to buy one , but would like to know how you are getting on with it, have you had any issues / problems in the two weeks since you posted or is it all good ?

Many thanks


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## ImthatGuy

simon333 said:


> Thankyou,this is helpful info....It sounds great and I think I want to buy one , but would like to know how you are getting on with it, have you had any issues / problems in the two weeks since you posted or is it all good ?
> 
> Many thanks


I've had no issues so far - it seems to be completely reliable. I'm very pleased with it.


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## Old Nick

I've had one for a couple of weeks. It really is an excellent piece of kit that makes the Silvia the machine it should be.

I've treated it as fit-and-forget and use the stock settings, even though it's easy to change the target temperatures in the software. I haven't bothered with some of the variables, such as shot timer, pre-infusion or pressure. Instead I use the PID control for shot temperature and the steam setting, which brings the thermostat cut-off temperature down when steaming.

I did this only because it seemed sensible to limit the upper temperature the machine reaches for the sake of longevity of the electronics.

After the first couple of uses, I haven't even looked at the temperature graph in the app, I simply use the dimmed light to indicate when the machine is ready. As a guide, the machine comes back up to temperature in the time it takes to grind and tamp. This makes making multiple cups a breeze, with none of the hassle of temp surfing - which was slowly driving me mad.

So if I'm making, say, three flat whites, I'd run water through to warm the group and three cups, then after it comes up to temp - might take a few seconds after the first grind as a lot of water will have been used - I pull the shots one after another (grinding and tamping in between, naturally) then steam the milk. Job done.

When left on, it ticks along with the light at its dimmest, trickling power to maintain the temperature at the standard 101C in the boiler (less at the grouphead, obviously), which means it's ready to go straight away, with no cycling and temp surfing needed.

And the coffee is great. It's as good as your best shots, every time.


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## simon333

@ ImthatGuy and Old Nick

Oh wow, that sounds great, I love my Rancilio, but since I've owned it, I always thought there was something missing.......THIS is it ! I'm going to order one tonight, thank you so much for both of your info / reviews, they were really helpful


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## Stanic

I've installed it last week, very easy installation and fool-proof online manual even for a non tech person like me

works like a charm, finally I was able to make something white and rather flat


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## millsii

I had been holding off ordering an Auber PID for a while now due to not wanting to alter the external appearance of the Silvia. It took a while of Googling the past week looking for something internal and finally came across a review of the mecoffee.

I ordered a mecoffee a couple of days ago (Sunday). Apart from the instant confirmation email I haven't heard anything else. I know it is only a couple of days, so not too worried, but was just wondering when others got an update email? Or did it just turn up in the mail? My impatience to install this thing that appears to be exactly what I was looking for is killing me


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## Stanic

I´ve ordered it on 31. 12., with instant automatic confirmation and Jan confirmed testing and shipping on 5. 1. and I have received it on the 11th


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## millsii

Thanks for the info. Maybe I will hear from them later on in the week then. Based on their estimated postage time to Australia, hopefully I will receive it during the first week of February.


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## Stanic

fingers crossed for a quick delivery


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## oursus

Hi,

Jan seems to answer emails pretty rapidly, they are only a small team, from what I can make out & busy with development, but seem to display typical Dutch efficiency, I wouldn't think it will be long before your unit is shipped


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## ImthatGuy

I got a confirmation email the day after (I ordered in the evening); delivery took a little longer than usual - they had run out of a key part - but they kept me very well informed

If you're concerned, contact them - there's a link on the website -


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## millsii

All good, I should have waited one more day before asking for others' experience. Woke up this morning and had an email on my phone from Jan advising that my unit was tested and shipped today


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## cavem01

PID the Silvia yourself. It's very easy to do and you don't need a Auber Kit! Lots of googling looking at the classic kits sold by Mr Shades and lots of more googling! Mine works a treat!


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## cavem01




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## cavem01

I have a PT100 and a type K thermocouple so ice experimented a fair bit!

Message me if you need any more info or you want me to put a full kit together for you!


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## Jumbo Ratty

I think the point of this thread is about the MeCoffee PID and those that have bought it have found it to function and how people like it because it fits inside the machine is controlled by a phone.

They do fit them themselves.

If I had a silvia and wanted to PID it it would be with a MeCoffee pid and not have that carbuncle on the side, just my personal preference and no disrespect meant to anyone who likes that look.


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## ImthatGuy

Jumbo Ratty said:


> I think the point of this thread is about the MeCoffee PID and those that have bought it have found it to function and how people like it because it fits inside the machine is controlled by a phone.
> 
> They do fit them themselves.
> 
> If I had a silvia and wanted to PID it it would be with a MeCoffee pid and not have that carbuncle on the side, just my personal preference and no disrespect meant to anyone who likes that look.


You're spot on. I started this thread to provide some info on the MeCoffee PID, it being a new product without much experience available.


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## oursus

Jumbo Ratty said:


> I think the point of this thread is about the MeCoffee PID and those that have bought it have found it to function and how people like it because it fits inside the machine is controlled by a phone.
> 
> They do fit them themselves.
> 
> If I had a silvia and wanted to PID it it would be with a MeCoffee pid and not have that carbuncle on the side, just my personal preference and no disrespect meant to anyone who likes that look.


iOS support scheduled for March (they solved the wireless firmware

Update over Christmas) pre-infusion, brew, steam, pressure control, shot timing, & power timer on & off. Like you say, from the outside the machine is stock. Just waiting on mine now


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## AussieEx

I find it ironic that people are praising how this PID can be used to lower the steaming temperature, when 5-10 years ago everyone was using their PID kits to do exactly the opposite!

It does look a neat solution, though I don't find the Auber kit an eyesore, and I find having a display useful for monitoring temp (especially for when to start steaming) and for minor adjustments (though admittedly I don't tend to adjust the setpoint temp. often). Having hacked the Auber kit to provide a shot timer following some useful instructions posted on here, I think it's ideal.

As with almost all things where preference is involved, YMMV.


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## oursus

AussieExpat said:


> I find it ironic that people are praising how this PID can be used to lower the steaming temperature, when 5-10 years ago everyone was using their PID kits to do exactly the opposite!
> 
> It does look a neat solution, though I don't find the Auber kit an eyesore, and I find having a display useful for monitoring temp (especially for when to start steaming) and for minor adjustments (though admittedly I don't tend to adjust the setpoint temp. often). Having hacked the Auber kit to provide a shot timer following some useful instructions posted on here, I think it's ideal.
> 
> As with almost all things where preference is involved, YMMV.


Point isn't so much the temp as the constancy, so if the boiler is dimming, instead of switching in & out, no need for the higher off temp. Not so much a change in direction as a refinement...


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## AussieEx

I'm not sure I quite understand your point. There is no need for PID control on the steam anyway, as the machine will inevitably lose temp while steaming even with the boiler element fully energised - it just doesn't have the power to need to be 'tamed'. The Auber unit uses the alarm circuit in their PID to kick the element back on much sooner than the stock thermostat's deadband would and allow you to control the temp at which it the element switches off.

I'm not sure how the myPID controls the steam circuit, but I read somewhere that the reason for the lower steam cut-off temp was actually because the sensor being used by myPID was only rated to 155degC. I have no idea if this is true or not, though.

The Silvia has an overheat protection thermostat anyway which is triggered at 165degC from memory.


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## oursus

AussieExpat said:


> I'm not sure I quite understand your point. There is no need for PID control on the steam anyway, as the machine will inevitably lose temp while steaming even with the boiler element fully energised - it just doesn't have the power to need to be 'tamed'. The Auber unit uses the alarm circuit in their PID to kick the element back on much sooner than the stock thermostat's deadband would and allow you to control the temp at which it the element switches off.
> 
> I'm not sure how the myPID controls the steam circuit, but I read somewhere that the reason for the lower steam cut-off temp was actually because the sensor being used by myPID was only rated to 155degC. I have no idea if this is true or not, though.
> 
> The Silvia has an overheat protection thermostat anyway which is triggered at 165degC from memory.


I'll see if I can explain a little more clearly:

There is no need to "tame" the power, or increase upper parameter, these things are irrelevant, there is a sweet spot for both brew and steaming - the silvia is more than capable of blowing milk all over your counter if you are cack-handed & at the other end the supply of steam will ebb before the standard stat kicks the element back in.

The key for temp stability in brew or steam is an earlier and proportional response to a set point, thermal mass of boiler wall notwithstanding. Of course as the pressure reduces, so does the temp, this is after all a SBDU machine.

Other points to consider, price... How much is the Auber with the same functionality? And looks - hacked doesn't have to mean hacksawed!!!

The only other solution I thought looked good was to put an Auber type under Perspex cup warmer, the amount of work and expense involved made the Bluetooth a no-brainer.


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## ImthatGuy

AussieExpat said:


> I'm not sure I quite understand your point. There is no need for PID control on the steam anyway, as the machine will inevitably lose temp while steaming even with the boiler element fully energised - it just doesn't have the power to need to be 'tamed'. The Auber unit uses the alarm circuit in their PID to kick the element back on much sooner than the stock thermostat's deadband would and allow you to control the temp at which it the element switches off.
> 
> I'm not sure how the myPID controls the steam circuit, but I read somewhere that the reason for the lower steam cut-off temp was actually because the sensor being used by myPID was only rated to 155degC. I have no idea if this is true or not, though.
> 
> The Silvia has an overheat protection thermostat anyway which is triggered at 165degC from memory.


The basic differences is that the standard Silvia steam thermostat has the same character as the brew thermostat - it's on or it's off, and there are wide temperature variations because of that. It also takes time to affect steam temperature. So it overheats the steam somewhat to allow for the temperature drop before it switches back on and reheats.

The MeCoffee PID provides finer temperature control by adjusting power (the 'dimming' referred to) and so doesn't need the 'safety net' of the higher steam temp. I assume other PIDs with steam control operate the same way


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## oursus

ImthatGuy said:


> I assume other PIDs with steam control operate the same way


Not that I am aware of.. AFAIK the Auber etc just change the set point, generally raising the steam to about 155C, the sensitivity is MUCH higher though, controlled to a degree, rather than the pendulum effect with the standard stat.

http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=6&products_id=104

I'm sure the Auber kit gives excellent control, but they are expensive, & I don't like the look of them strapped to the outside of the machine - I would have had to find a way to cut one into the front of the machine - this was a lot simpler & cheaper https://mecoffee.nl/mecoffee/


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## AussieEx

I'm not arguing with the innovation of the mePID, and if I were looking for a PID now I'd definitely consider it. But I don't think the Auber looks as bad as is being made out here. The PID posted upthread is not an Auber; one of the selling points of Auber were the way they designed their PID to fit between group and steam wand.

My point re. steaming with the Silvia you just want the element on max power the whole time you're steaming. If that feels too powerful it's user technique that needs improving, not steaming temp that needs adjusting. Hence the reason people historically used their Auber/other PID to increase the steaming temperature. It wasn't a general comment on the mePID.


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## oursus

AussieExpat said:


> I'm not arguing with the innovation of the mePID, and if I were looking for a PID now I'd definitely consider it. But I don't think the Auber looks as bad as is being made out here. The PID posted upthread is not an Auber; one of the selling points of Auber were the way they designed their PID to fit between group and steam wand.
> 
> My point re. steaming with the Silvia you just want the element on max power the whole time you're steaming. If that feels too powerful it's user technique that needs improving, not steaming temp that needs adjusting. Hence the reason people historically used their Auber/other PID to increase the steaming temperature. It wasn't a general comment on the mePID.


Okay - first impressions

Arrived today, fitted in about half an hr (once I'd fetched the laptop from where it had been lent, to get bluetooth working)

The instructions are a little awkward, clear enough, but since there are 3 different installation possibilities, you wind up undoing & redoing 3 of the steps, which is a little irritating.

--After warming up (during which flushes seemed to give 20 + degrees fluctuation, during a double shot, the temp appears to have dropped 8-10deg recovery time is possibly a little faster with the dimming turned off, but it overshoots the set point, with the dimming turned in, the recovery gradient looks a little more shallow, (splitting hairs here a little) but it hits the target (actually about 0.5 deg over) & sits there.

The shot timer seems a little flaky, popping in and out.. I'll need to have a play with that, as with the timeswitch... Tomorrow is Sunday, so I'll see if I can get it running then & update.

In the meantime, if you fancy watching paint dry, here's the app in action, the first drop is with dimming disabled, you can see it overshoots, then with it enabled, just hovers half a degree over.

Flushes were 3-4oz approx, so a good deal more than a double...


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## ImthatGuy

oursus said:


> Okay - first impressions
> 
> Arrived today, fitted in about half an hr (once I'd fetched the laptop from where it had been lent, to get bluetooth working)
> 
> The instructions are a little awkward, clear enough, but since there are 3 different installation possibilities, you wind up undoing & redoing 3 of the steps, which is a little irritating.


Interesting - I didn't experience it this way - the instructions seemed logical and clear to me - perhaps a good illustration of YMMV











oursus said:


> --After warming up (during which flushes seemed to give 20 + degrees fluctuation, during a double shot, the temp appears to have dropped 8-10deg recovery time is possibly a little faster with the dimming turned off, but it overshoots the set point, with the dimming turned in, the recovery gradient looks a little more shallow, (splitting hairs here a little) but it hits the target (actually about 0.5 deg over) & sits there.


How long do you warm up for?



oursus said:


> The shot timer seems a little flaky, popping in and out.. I'll need to have a play with that, as with the timeswitch... Tomorrow is Sunday, so I'll see if I can get it running then & update.


Is the shot timer active yet? The version of the Chrome app I'm looking at doesn't seem to have it (I may have been looking in the wrong place)



oursus said:


> In the meantime, if you fancy watching paint dry, here's the app in action, the first drop is with dimming disabled, you can see it overshoots, then with it enabled, just hovers half a degree over.
> 
> Flushes were 3-4oz approx, so a good deal more than a double...


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## oursus

ImthatGuy said:


> Interesting - I didn't experience it this way - the instructions seemed logical and clear to me


I mentioned they seem clear, just there were a couple of U-turns, depending on how complete an installation required (rather than having a 3 installation guide, so that you aren't undoing things that you have just done)



ImthatGuy said:


> Is the shot timer active yet? The version of the Chrome app I'm looking at doesn't seem to have it (I may have been looking in the wrong place)


Have you installed completely (to step 10, including Pre-infusion, steam, pump control & timeswitch) or did you do the quick installation (to step 5)?

You can see the shot timer pop up in the Chrome app video at 00:02, disappear at 00:07 then reappear at 00:11...



ImthatGuy said:


> How long do you warm up for?


I normally have the machine on a timeswitch... this was a rapid warmup after installation, with flushes to heat the head/handle & monitor the results being displayed in the Chrome app, during the warmup phase, fluctuations were high, reducing when up to operating temp, further when "Continuous mode" selected & the Proactivity slider set at 50%


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## oursus

Update:

The Time-switch & shot-timer not working may have been symptomatic of something more serious...

After 3 days of use the system appears to have given up the ghost, (bit of a pain, I was enjoying it!) The pre-infusion burst was working well at 3 seconds (check water is through to group head before locking PF in, 5s pause) - shots had been consistently even, to my eye. No more temp surfing, spot on when walking up to machine. I was looking forward to the ios release, but monitoring on a netbook while playing over the first week.

This morning pulled a double for my breakfast, then when I went to the machine mid morning, got wild fluctuations then flatline... :









With Rancilio not having a crash-cart on hand, I've emailed Jan... will wait to hear back.


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## Andy__C

Hey Oursus, how are you getting on with fixing your issue?


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## millsii

Ours arrived yesterday, so installed it last night. We installed all functions except for timer. As mentioned by others it is very easy to install, and the initial settings it comes with seem to work pretty well for controlling the temperature. As the Silvia warms up, the temperature control tightens.

We played around a bit with the pressure/dimming of the pump, but only pulled a few double shots, so not too sure how this effects the end result. Preinfusion works well, and while the meBarista app isn't required for pulling a shot, it is interesting to watch the temperature recovery and re-stabilisation. Initial thoughts though from both myself and my wife is that there is noticeably less bitterness. I guess this is from the preinfusion?

Attached is a picture of the unit installed and tucked away inside the Silvia. So far so good, but will keep playing around to see how the setting can effect results.


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## AussieEx

millsii said:


> Initial thoughts though from both myself and my wife is that there is noticeably less bitterness. I guess this is from the preinfusion?


I very strongly suspect this is a result of reducing the shot temperature, rather than the preinfusion.

The mePID defaults to ~100degC at the sensor I think, which is exactly what I reprogrammed my Silvia v3 to with the Auber PID. That translates to a grouphead temperature of ~90-93degC The stock thermostat is set too high (and even worse on V1/V2), hence the need for temperature surfing.


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## millsii

AussieExpat said:


> I very strongly suspect this is a result of reducing the shot temperature, rather than the preinfusion.
> 
> The mePID defaults to ~100degC at the sensor I think, which is exactly what I reprogrammed my Silvia v3 to with the Auber PID. That translates to a grouphead temperature of ~90-93degC The stock thermostat is set too high (and even worse on V1/V2), hence the need for temperature surfing.


Ahhh righto, that makes sense. You are spot on with the temperature setting, set at 101 degrees by default.


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## oursus

Does anyone have the timer function working on mecoffee as yet? (The wake//sleep timer)


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## oursus

Andy__C said:


> Hey Oursus, how are you getting on with fixing your issue?


So the issue was solved very quickly by bending the sensor connector gently toward the sensor, apparently this is a sensitive point, something that may be reinforced in future - glad it wasn't terminal (see what I did there?)

This has returned the brew, steam, pump control, still haven't got the timed on/off working... Has anyone done this successfully?


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## ImthatGuy

Haven't tried the timer - I use a Belkin Wemo switch at the wall for this purpose.


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## Stanic

honestly, I prefer to have the machine off when it is switched off..I also use a digital timer socket for mornings though


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## ImthatGuy

Stanic said:


> honestly, I prefer to have the machine off when it is switched off..I also use a digital timer socket for mornings though


The great thing about the Wemo is that I can set one schedule for weekdays (on at 0600, off at 0730) and a different one for weekends (0730-0930) and leave it alone. Not to mention being able to switch it on an off from my phone as and when


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## oursus

ImthatGuy said:


> The great thing about the Wemo is that I can set one schedule for weekdays (on at 0600, off at 0730) and a different one for weekends (0730-0930) and leave it alone. Not to mention being able to switch it on an off from my phone as and when


Yeah, I have an old smiths timeguard clockwork timer, so reliable that I have had it as long as I can remember, but I wanted to get the mecoffee fully working if I could... At the moment it just ignores the settings completely.

Has anyone been playing with the pump (pressure) settings yet?


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## Stanic

I have, but haven't measured the pressure profiling yet, actually I've disconnected the "valve" cable for now @ImthatGuy sounds great, might give it a try, would be handy since I always come back home at a different time


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## oursus

The wemo stuff is good, the problem I have found is that I have a habit of walking about talking to people on whatsapp/Skype/ phone while doing stuff, every time I walk past Bluetooth bits, my headset gets ditched & they wind up talking to my pocket until I notice! (Latest plantronics & iPhone, seems to work fine elsewhere)


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## ImthatGuy

oursus said:


> The wemo stuff is good, the problem I have found is that I have a habit of walking about talking to people on whatsapp/Skype/ phone while doing stuff, every time I walk past Bluetooth bits, my headset gets ditched & they wind up talking to my pocket until I notice! (Latest plantronics & iPhone, seems to work fine elsewhere)


I can see that would be a problem - but not as big a problem as if your pocket started talking back


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## oursus

ImthatGuy said:


> I can see that would be a problem - but not as big a problem as if your pocket started talking back


Pretty much everything in my house gives backchat


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## millsii

oursus said:


> Has anyone been playing with the pump (pressure) settings yet?


Good to hear you had a simple solution to your sensor issue! We have had a small play, but nothing too much yet. Tried 80% to 100% over 5secs to try and give a slightly lower pressure during pre-infusion. Seems to run a nice shot, but have no idea if 80% actually drops the pressure below the OPV setting or not. We did change it to 100% for the whole time this morning and seemed to taste the same.

Did find out one thing though. Initially when changing it to 100%, I also set the period to 0secs. When flicking the brew button nothing happens besides some water dripping out of the group head. So need to set it to something other than 0. Will start to play around some more with lower initial pressure over a longer period and pre-infusion time.

Also had some time to play around with the derivative settings in continuous temperature control, but still seems to cycle a degree or two around set point. I tried interval and after setting polling interval to 5000ms as recommended, the temperature profile stays very smooth. Picture attached of warmup yesterday morning with interval mode.


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## millsii

So me and the wife just took some time trying out different settings of pre-infusion and pressure. Found that 50% seemed to be a bit underpowered, so bumped up to 60% and worked from there. After numerous shots, sipping and tipping the rest down the sink, we came to the following:


60% to 100% over 11secs

6secs pre-infusion with 4secs pause

Reduced our grind size down by 1 with same tamping


We were able to replicate the results in terms of flavour, crema and length of shot. It results in a few drops in the cups at the end of pre-infusion. Just changing the pressure time period by 1sec either way results in no drops in the cups, to a small stream into the cups at end of pre-infusion. Can definitely get lost in a sea of variables, so we tried to lock in a variable each time we thought it made an improvement, so had less variables to play with as we progressed.


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## oursus

Nice one @millsii, have you compared with back to stock settings, for a before & after comparison? Is this a lighter or darker roast you are using & finally, have you tried a ramp-up to 100% whilst turning pre-infusion off?

Incidentally I also found anything under half way to be a bit too low, anything over 3-4s pause seemed to completely spanner the puck - I have a maximum of 5s on the pump time for preinfusion though, how are you setting to 6?


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## millsii

Turning off preinfusion is probably the one thing we haven't tried. We did try the standard settings that came with the meCoffee, and did provide decent results, but wasn't quite consistent between myself or my wife doing the grinding/tamping. We are using a darker roast at the moment.

Are you saying that meBarista doesn't let you select up to 6secs on preinfusion, or that 6secs is too much? meBarista lets us set it up to 10secs. See attached screen shots of our current pressure and preinfusion settings.


----------



## oursus

millsii said:


> Are you saying that meBarista doesn't let you select up to 6secs on preinfusion, or that 6secs is too much? meBarista lets us set it up to 10secs. See attached screen shots of our current pressure and preinfusion settings.


Ah, that must be the chrome app I'm using then... Looks very different 5s max selectable.



















I tried ramping down to 50% over about 50s too, tbh there are differences, not sure I would characterise them as improvements just yet! For instance with pre-infusion I'm grinding tighter, but the shot is thinner, the flavours from the pressure ramp down were not what I would expect from profiling either, doesn't look like I'll expect an immediate result here.


----------



## millsii

Changing the selectable variable range should be a fairly simple change for them to make. If you wanted to try higher values, it could be worth emailing meCoffee and ask if they could update the plugin?


----------



## shere

I have just ordered my mecoffee PID for my Rancillio. I've received the auto generated email. Waiting for the confirmation for dispatch.

Quick question, will this device be compatible with IOS? or will they bring out another revision in hardware? Just thinking if I want the IOS version then I should wait until it released.

Thanks


----------



## mem

Hi all,

I received my meCoffee PID yesterday and just wanted to tell my initial thoughts story.

FYI, I have the Rancilio Silvia E 2016 model. I am an IT professional and have built computers before, but no real knowledge in electronics.

When the PID arrived, I got manual and video up online. Between the two resources, i didn't have any issues inistalling the PID, but I certainly had a few 'scracth of the head' moments when reading the instructions. They are certainly not as clear as I would have thought. I used to video as guidence, but I found lots of contridictions in what actions the person was performing on the video compared to the online instructions. I think the video is dated, so don't follow it!!!! use the step by step online manual. Also the video could have been shot at a better angle.

I think some initial steps where over simplified in the manual and I could certainly point out parts where it simply was not clear e.g.

"Open your meCoffee and place the enclosed sensor at a safe position".

yes we have the video which sort of helps, but a short description would not hurt. Another:

Connect the green wire ( terminal #1 ) to the lower left terminal.

Connect the red wire ( terminal #3 ) to the lower right terminal.

Lower left and lower right from what perspective? looking from the front or back? Why cant it say colors?

These where just some cases that I think could be improved. But all in all it was okay and like i said I didn't have any major issues.

My first impressions is that its AMAZING. The stability in temperature is great and the fact it changes 'on the fly' via my phone is great. The pre-infusion works great, the temperature control works great. The app is also really good and easy to use. My first couple of shots where the best I ever pulled, gloopy and perfect taste.

I got stuck on step 8 of the guide which is 'Pressure Control' as it says the following:

"Use the long white wire from the set to connect this terminal to the NEUTRAL(left) side of the power-button."

The power button is different on the Silvia E so I think these instructions need updating. I have emailed meCoffee about this last night, but still waiting for a response. I also asked for clarity as to wehter step 9 (Timer) will work with the Silvia E as this machine is on a timer (30min inactive shutdown) and the power button is not the same as the V3 model.

Thanks and any questions let me know. I think I am going to do a video walk through for the PID on the Silvia E once I get it all sorted.

Thanks


----------



## Andy__C

Thanks for the write up Mem. My mind is made up and I am more or less going to be picking up a unit myself in the coming weeks, it sounds a great bit of kit from the results people are getting.


----------



## mem

Hi Andy, that's no problem and as I said I will hopefully do a more in-depth write up and video at some point.


----------



## oursus

@mem

Yeah, the installation instructions could definitely do with a re-write, I found them similarly ambiguous. As far as the timer is concerned, we don't seem to have heard from anyone who has it working as yet...

I think where I landed on it after a couple of weeks is :

removal of surfing & ability to set the brew temp is the main improvement, it removes a step in the faff for the first shot & if pulling another after steaming, as any PID would.

As far as improvement in the cup is concerned, surfing was a pain, but once you have it down & just work the flush into your cup warming & prep process (as you would with an HX machine) the time saving is actually minimal, but if that part of the process bugs you, work that into your calculation, the shots are pretty similar to me...

For pre-infusion, tbh that's something you can do with one additional movement of your digit...but the mecoffee does give consistency & convenience.

The app is pretty... I don't think it gives any more functionality than standard controls, but the one thing it does is keep all mods internal to the Silvia, which will appeal to some (me included)

All in all, if you have an older Silvia & are in the market for a PID, you could do worse. If you are thinking of buying new, as others have stated, I wouldn't, £500 will buy a lot more machine second hand!


----------



## Stanic

mem said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I received my meCoffee PID yesterday and just wanted to tell my initial thoughts story.
> 
> FYI, I have the Rancilio Silvia E 2016 model. I am an IT professional and have built computers before, but no real knowledge in electronics.
> 
> When the PID arrived, I got manual and video up online. Between the two resources, i didn't have any issues inistalling the PID, but I certainly had a few 'scracth of the head' moments when reading the instructions. They are certainly not as clear as I would have thought. I used to video as guidence, but I found lots of contridictions in what actions the person was performing on the video compared to the online instructions. I think the video is dated, so don't follow it!!!! use the step by step online manual. Also the video could have been shot at a better angle.


In the e-mail I received, confirming shipping, there was a warning in bold: "*The installation video is only a general overview: use the written manual and proceed one step at a time and verify the result of each step before proceeding to the next."*

*
*Agree that the video should be redone with current product.



mem said:


> I think some initial steps where over simplified in the manual and I could certainly point out parts where it simply was not clear e.g.
> 
> "Open your meCoffee and place the enclosed sensor at a safe position".


not that hard to understand in my opinion



mem said:


> yes we have the video which sort of helps, but a short description would not hurt. Another:
> 
> Connect the green wire ( terminal #1 ) to the lower left terminal.
> 
> Connect the red wire ( terminal #3 ) to the lower right terminal.
> 
> Lower left and lower right from what perspective? looking from the front or back? Why cant it say colors?
> 
> These where just some cases that I think could be improved. But all in all it was okay and like i said I didn't have any major issues.


you need to refer to the step 2 of the original manual for pre-V5 versions:

Connect the female+male side of the green wire to the existing (black)neutral-wire of the power button and insert it at the original terminal of the neutral wire. Connect the female side of this green wire to terminal #1 (neutral) of the meCoffee.

Connect the female+male side of the red wire to the existing (red)live-wire and insert it at the original terminal of the red wire. Connect the female side of this red wire to terminal #3 (live) of the meCoffee.



mem said:


> My first impressions is that its AMAZING. The stability in temperature is great and the fact it changes 'on the fly' via my phone is great. The pre-infusion works great, the temperature control works great. The app is also really good and easy to use. My first couple of shots where the best I ever pulled, gloopy and perfect taste.


agreed











mem said:


> I got stuck on step 8 of the guide which is 'Pressure Control' as it says the following:
> 
> "Use the long white wire from the set to connect this terminal to the NEUTRAL(left) side of the power-button."
> 
> The power button is different on the Silvia E so I think these instructions need updating. I have emailed meCoffee about this last night, but still waiting for a response. I also asked for clarity as to wehter step 9 (Timer) will work with the Silvia E as this machine is on a timer (30min inactive shutdown) and the power button is not the same as the V3 model.


I am also unclear on this, they never replied to my email which is weird



mem said:


> Thanks and any questions let me know. I think I am going to do a video walk through for the PID on the Silvia E once I get it all sorted.
> 
> Thanks


thanks for the effort!


----------



## oursus

Stanic said:


> In the e-mail I received, confirming shipping, there was a warning in bold: "*The installation video is only a general overview: use the written manual and proceed one step at a time and verify the result of each step before proceeding to the next."*
> 
> *
> *Agree that the video should be redone with current product.
> 
> not that hard to understand in my opinion
> 
> you need to refer to the step 2 of the original manual for pre-V5 versions:
> 
> Connect the female+male side of the green wire to the existing (black)neutral-wire of the power button and insert it at the original terminal of the neutral wire. Connect the female side of this green wire to terminal #1 (neutral) of the meCoffee.
> 
> Connect the female+male side of the red wire to the existing (red)live-wire and insert it at the original terminal of the red wire. Connect the female side of this red wire to terminal #3 (live) of the meCoffee.
> 
> agreed
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I am also unclear on this, they never replied to my email which is weird
> 
> thanks for the effort!


I think the point is that the installation manual refers to "left" & "right", rather than an objective reference, leading to unnecessary confusion...

It could do with a rewrite. -

The video was not useful, the camera was too far away & a lot of the time blocked by the installer, this was obviously intended as a "look how quick & easy this is" promo, rather than a serious instructional video, as the only reference, the manual needs to get it right.

I think we should probably bear in mind that people will be comparing other PIDs , which will give similar function (not form) for possibly less than half the price...(or in the case of Auber more), it should really go without saying that the net result of time & money is temp stability, it would be a poor deal if it didn't really! The question is how does the mecoffee compare to those in price, form & function?

Perhaps with that in mind we could invite the input of more experienced "Pidders" @MrShades et?


----------



## mem

Yes i agree Oursus.

I am only being critical as some areas can and no doubt will lead to confusion for some customers. IMO when it comes to instructions and guiding someone through a sequence of activities, its best to assume that the customer hasn't a clue and explain it like you would to a child (within reason). Pictures, examples, videos. Not "Open your meCoffee and place the enclosed sensor at a safe position"

The fact that the video carry's out the installation A) differently and B) in a different order to the online manual does not make it helpful to the user. I was like "oh wait hes doing that, but the manual says do this".

Again, I'm only pointing these out and mentioning them so that they can be sorted out which will make this accessible to more people and ultimately give the company less hassle (People calling an emailing for help) so they can work on enhancements for us who have already purchased it









@oursus

Yes I agree. Before getting the meCoffee I was temperature surfing and I was producing great espressos. However, I was not consistent with it. 3 times out of 5 it would be great. Aside from a new bit of tech which I love, it delivers a stable temperature and ABOVE ALL, it eliminates one variable for me. Now I can focus on beans, grind and tamp and not worry about surfing.

Thanks


----------



## oursus

mem said:


> Aside from a new bit of tech which I love, it delivers a stable temperature and ABOVE ALL, it eliminates one variable for me. Now I can focus on beans, grind and tamp and not worry about surfing.
> 
> Thanks


I agree @mem, the iOS support should be released in the next few Weeks - it will be good to have a working shot-timer & temp control from my phone. In the meantime I have a brew temp which seems to be stable most of the time within a few degrees, certainly giving me more consistency than before.

I haven't had an answer from Jan about the sleep timer, or support for the second sensor, which I was hoping to monitor brew head temp with...

(Apparently the extra sensor won't work as supplied, it needs to have a master/slave setup as per a hard drive cable, which is a little disappointing)

All in all a mixed bag...


----------



## mem

@oursus oh that's cool, so your looking for a sensor for the brew head. Would this just to be to monitor?

On another note. My pressure control from meCoffee doesn't seem to work properly. I got a response from Jan saying that:



> Me: I have a question regarding step 8 (pressure control) :
> 
> It says to connect the long white wire to the NEUTRAL (left) side of the powerbutton.
> 
> Obviously with my model (silvia E) the power button is not layed out like that. Is simply has a two wires- black on top and red on bottom. So my question is. What do I do? I.
> 
> Jan: Good question, which we should have addressed in the manual. I think earlier 4e customers connected this to the left upper terminal of the brew button ( currently not connected if you did step 6 ? ).


I did the above and it sort of didn't feel right. It hard to explain but once I made this above connection that Jan mentioned, the pressure adjustments defiantly worked as I was changing it on my phone but the brew head did not cleanly close and open the valve between pre-infusion and the actual extraction. Water just sort of kept coming out slightly and after i switched the brew button off, the pump didnt stop for about 3-4 seconds.

Prior to making this change above for "pressure" control. The pump would come on for pre-infusion, turn off nicely and open back up again.

I did explain this to Jan, but no response yet.

Really hard to explain that, but has anyone has a similar effect? is it supposed to be like that?


----------



## oursus

mem said:


> , the pressure adjustments defiantly worked as I was changing it on my phone but the brew head did not cleanly close and open the valve between pre-infusion and the actual extraction. Water just sort of kept coming out slightly and after i switched the brew button off, the pump didnt stop for about 3-4 seconds.
> 
> Prior to making this change above for "pressure" control. The pump would come on for pre-infusion, turn off nicely and open back up again.
> 
> I did explain this to Jan, but no response yet.


I bought the additional sensor & cable with my mecoffee, with the idea of being able to tell when the machine was up to temp. This appears to be incompatible...I'd need to make up a new 3 way cable for them & make use of the sensors provided.

With the pre-infusion controlled by the chrome app, the pump is just switched off so keeps flowing as the valve is open, I thought with the android app, it looked as if there was an option to have the valve close or stay open?

The pump keeping going after turning the brew switch off doesn't sound right at all...


----------



## millsii

oursus said:


> With the pre-infusion controlled by the chrome app, the pump is just switched off so keeps flowing as the valve is open, I thought with the android app, it looked as if there was an option to have the valve close or stay open?
> 
> The pump keeping going after turning the brew switch off doesn't sound right at all...


 @mem

As @oursus said it seems as though the default is to leave the valve open during the pause. On the android app it does give the option to have the valve open or closed. I'll try to remember to try setting the valve to closed this afternoon and let you know what happened. The pump still running after the brew button is switched off does not sound right at all.

Looking at a wiring diagram of "earlier" Silvias (attached), connecting the 3 way valve directly to the brew button should provide a normal neutral connection. If this part of the wiring is still the same as the new E version, then it shouldn't share any electrical connection with the pump other than "live" when the brew switch is on/closed?


----------



## millsii

Just got home and set the valve to shut during pause and it does shut the valve. You then hear the click noise of it opening again when the pump restarts.


----------



## mem

millsii said:


> Just got home and set the valve to shut during pause and it does shut the valve. You then hear the click noise of it opening again when the pump restarts.


 @millsii thanks for this explanation and doing that check.

I am at work at the moment so will need to test this out tonight. On the android app I have 'Close valve while paused' set to OFF. However, I am pretty sure that I can hear the clicking noise (as you mentioned) but I could be getting confused with the valve and pump noise (I am not entirely sure how it works as you can tell- learning though).

I will definitely play around with this connection again tonight and in the mean-time try and make sense of the diagram you posted.

Can I ask how significant having this pressure control is? Are any of you making use of it and have your results been better?

Thanks


----------



## oursus

mem said:


> @millsii
> 
> Can I ask how significant having this pressure control is? Are any of you making use of it and have your results been better?
> 
> Thanks


The "pump dimming" does work as a rough proxy, from playing with it a little, anything below 50% doesn't seem to want to push through an 18g dose.

Right now, I'm finding that neither pre-infusion or a ramp down on the pump are moving me further forward than proper prep & temp stability (if anyone has any experience on that, any input is most welcome!) I'll be glad to hear of your findings with that


----------



## mem

Really weird. As the machine stands (without connecting the pressure cable) there is no change in pre-infusion when changing the 'close valve while paused' button in mebarrista on or off. ??


----------



## oursus

mem said:


> Really weird. As the machine stands (without connecting the pressure cable) there is no change in pre-infusion when changing the 'close valve while paused' button in mebarrista on or off. ??


When you say the pressure cable, do you mean the neutral, (white) wire? If so, it will need to be connected.


----------



## mem

Hi

Sorry when I said 'pressure cable' I meant the long white wire that it wanted me to connect at step 8 (pressure control)

Is this the one you mean?


----------



## oursus

mem said:


> Hi
> 
> Sorry when I said 'pressure cable' I meant the long white wire that it wanted me to connect at step 8 (pressure control)
> 
> Is this the one you mean?


That's the one


----------



## mem

This step

https://mecoffee.nl/mecoffee/installation/step-8-pressure-control/


----------



## mem

oursus said:


> That's the one


Oh really. So that one has to be connected in order for the 'Close valve while paused' button in the 'pre-infusion' menu on meBarrista to work...!?

Cool. I will do that now and once connected I will see if water continues to run after I switch the brew button off. As it did last time.

Thanks again @oursus and wil post results


----------



## salmotrutta

oursus said:


> iOS support scheduled for March (they solved the wireless firmware
> 
> Update over Christmas) pre-infusion, brew, steam, pressure control, shot timing, & power timer on & off. Like you say, from the outside the machine is stock. Just waiting on mine now


so this will be a software, NOT a hardware update after all? I was waiting for the new version to come out.


----------



## oursus

salmotrutta said:


> so this will be a software, NOT a hardware update after all? I was waiting for the new version to come out.


Nope, it's a different unit... They didn't have firmware update working on it, they do now, but still not shipped.


----------



## mem

mem said:


> Oh really. So that one has to be connected in order for the 'Close valve while paused' button in the 'pre-infusion' menu on meBarrista to work...!?
> 
> Cool. I will do that now and once connected I will see if water continues to run after I switch the brew button off. As it did last time.
> 
> Thanks again @oursus and wil post results


Okay so after connecting up the 'Pressure Control' white wire, the 'Close valve while paused' does work (eventually did anyway), but the pump still continues to run for a second or two after i switch the brew button off. I have attached some videos:


----------



## oursus

The first vid, I see what you mean. The second seems fine, did you change anything in between? @mem


----------



## mem

Changed nothing between. Which is annoying, however the second vid it still doesnt switch off straight away


----------



## oursus

mem said:


> Changed nothing between. Which is annoying, however the second vid it still doesnt switch off straight away


Yeah, mine doesn't do that, I'd check with mecoffee...


----------



## mem

I have emailed Jan (for the second time now), so lets see if i get a response.

Thanks


----------



## oursus

mem said:


> I have emailed Jan (for the second time now), so lets see if i get a response.
> 
> Thanks


Let us know how you get on...


----------



## millsii

Has anyone else had the odd hiccup with the unit becoming unresponsive? We use the Silvia daily and have had it occur twice now spaced 2 weeks apart. Both times occurred after steaming. We then run water through the stream wand to recharge the boiler, but then when pressing the brew switch to run some water through the group head nothing happens. The boiler light also does not light up. We had already brewed our coffee, so was just finishing up before turning off the machine.

The first time it occurred we thought the unit was dead. We turned the machine off and had our breakfast. After breakfast, about 15mins later we turned the machine back on and it was all working fine again and then no issues for 2 weeks. It happened again for the second time yesterday morning, so turned the machine off for no more than 5 seconds and turned it back on and it was all working again. I presume it isn't temperature related as the temperature wouldn't change much in the 5 seconds it was off for?

Has anyone else had something similar occur?


----------



## oursus

millsii said:


> Has anyone else had something similar occur?


Mine hasn't engaged the element on a couple of occasions - machine sitting there cold in the morning - no coffee before work . It did this a couple of times, responded to being switched off & on, then died & wouldn't respond. I took the top off, nudged the sensor connection at boiler end, which showed life & so after the advice from mecoffee previously, bent the ribbon cable connector toward the sensor by just less than 10deg ( I think the engineering term is "a smidgen" ). It hasn't reoccurred


----------



## millsii

Thanks for the advice @oursus. I bent the connector up a smidgen. Will see if it reoccurs. Other than the 2 occurrences of needing to be switched off and on, I have been very happy with how the unit performs.

Installing the meCoffee did get me in the tinkering mood though, so I plumbed in the water tank to make it auto refill. Very basic with a float switch in the tank and solenoid valve next to the pump and using the internal power of the machine. All you see is the water pipe coming out from under the machine


----------



## oursus

millsii said:


> Thanks for the advice @oursus. I bent the connector up a smidgen. Will see if it reoccurs. Other than the 2 occurrences of needing to be switched off and on, I have been very happy with how the unit performs.
> 
> Installing the meCoffee did get me in the tinkering mood though, so I plumbed in the water tank to make it auto refill. Very basic with a float switch in the tank and solenoid valve next to the pump and using the internal power of the machine. All you see is the water pipe coming out from under the machine


Pictures... (And I'd just put my toolbox away). Lol


----------



## millsii

@oursus pictures of water refill mod attached. I did also take a picture of the live and neutral power connections, but with the meCoffee connections it is very busy and hard to see the float switch live and solenoid neutral connections. Pretty much just using the same piggy back connectors as the meCoffee.


----------



## oursus

I think you need to start a new thread, with a blow by blow of the parts & installation @millsii

Impressed!


----------



## oursus

Anyone have any info on the iOS release?


----------



## Stanic

nice mod there

I am very happy with the coffee coming out from Silvia with meCoffee

Peru G-1 SHG


----------



## Mad Wally

oursus said:


> Anyone have any info on the iOS release?


I asked two weeks ago and was told then that it would still take two months.


----------



## millsii

Mad Wally said:


> I asked two weeks ago and was told then that it would still take two months.


They are probably busy with providing amazing customer service! The issue of the machine becoming unresponsive after steaming that I previously posted about, I have been emailing back and forth with Jan for the past few weeks. Given that the issue was intermittent (max once per week), we were slowly working through potential causes. We ended up being able to replicate the issue and connect to the meCoffee when the machine was "unresponsive".

Turns out that when the solenoid valve I previously installed shuts (de-energises), there is a blip on the boiler light. The meCoffee was seeing this "power interference" as the power switch being turned off, so would stop functionality to the machine. Connecting the final #8 cable to the power switch means the meCoffee now should know the state of the power switch.

I told Jan from the very start that I had installed the solenoid with float switch and they were still very willing to help us resolve the issue. I reckon plenty of other businesses would have told me they couldn't help, and probably would be well within their rights to do so.

We did this change today, so since we had the machine open we did the power cables as per step #9 so that we can use the timer functionality. We have tested this and the machine does come on at a set time. Hopefully the machine will come on at 5:30am tomorrow morning ready for our breakfast


----------



## oursus

millsii said:


> They are probably busy with providing amazing customer service!
> 
> so since we had the machine open we did the power cables as per step #9 so that we can use the timer functionality. We have tested this and the machine does come on at a set time.


Shame it isn't a little more consistent - Jan seems to be cherry picking the ones he wants to engage with, no doubt reviews visible for the Australian market are important for sales!

If you've got the timer working, I'd appreciate a hand getting that working millsii - not managed to get an answer on it myself


----------



## millsii

oursus said:


> If you've got the timer working, I'd appreciate a hand getting that working millsii - not managed to get an answer on it myself


 @oursus The timer seems to work correctly. I set it to come on at 5:30am this morning. When I got up at 5:40am I went out to the kitchen and the machine was running. We then did our normal process of turning on the power switch. After we finished we turned the power switch off, which turned off the machine. This is using the Android app, which I haven't come across any issues with. Are you still using the Chrome application?


----------



## millsii

I installed the Chrome app to test out the timer. I could change the times I had set with the Android app. I then turned off the Chrome app and connected with the Android app. The updated time for startup was there, but the shutdown time was still the time I set previously with the Android app.

I set the start time a few minutes from time I was connected and the machine did turn on at the requested time. Not sure how the non-setting off time would affect the timer though?


----------



## oursus

millsii said:


> I set the start time a few minutes from time I was connected and the machine did turn on at the requested time. Not sure how the non-setting off time would affect the timer though?


Interesting... I haven't managed to get it to either switch on or off from the chrome app


----------



## millsii

Hmmm buggar. At the time it is supposed to come on, does the boiler gauge in the app show any activity?


----------



## oursus

millsii said:


> Hmmm buggar. At the time it is supposed to come on, does the boiler gauge in the app show any activity?


Not a sausage mate - Just ignores it completely.


----------



## Coffeepls

I got my silvia eco version few weeks ago and about a week ago mecoffee pid kit. Installation instructions were not too easy to follow. what i came up with was that this v5 silvia with automatic 30 min shutdown function would not be actually compatible timer function of mecoffee pid. Following the instructions i ended up having 3 cables connected to the "lower left corner" of the brewing button (end of step 8, aka enabling pressure control function). I could not figure out how to do step 9 (giving mecoffee permanent power regardless of the state of the power button). Anybody succeeded in this?

regarding the overall quality of the pid i am seeing fluctuation of plus/minus 1,5 celsius around the set point. There was a huge effect on the brewed coffee taste and i can not understand why anybody with the money and skills to connect this kind of device would live without one. You just do not get the quality you should be looking for with a standard machine.


----------



## Stanic

Coffeepls said:


> i am seeing fluctuation of plus/minus 1,5 celsius around the set point


Try these settings: [P,I,D] = [25, 3, 128]

interval = 1000ms

Wind Down = 3000ms

Source: discussion for http://www.rojtberg.net/1109/mecoffee-pid-controller-for-the-rancilio-silvia/


----------



## Coffeepls

Stanic said:


> Try these settings: [P,I,D] = [25, 3, 128]
> 
> interval = 1000ms
> 
> Wind Down = 3000ms
> 
> Source: discussion for http://www.rojtberg.net/1109/mecoffee-pid-controller-for-the-rancilio-silvia/


P,I,D values i had the same as default, but latter values are a bit confusing. I presume they mean integral (I) wind-down limit and polling interval values available in same PID setup folder in mebarista application (i have android). I had no default values in these!? I set them as above and after the change set point temperature was no longer reachable. However the temperature flactuation got minimal at the same time temperature settling quite accurately to ~0,7 degrees below the set point.

The Silvia in above link seems to be the without the boiler insulation, so it is not identical to my "eco" version. I wonder would the optimal parameters vary slighlty in different versions of silvia? (Between insulated vs non-insulated versions of silvia). Would be interesting if those who have the eco version would share their best found parameters.


----------



## Stanic

right, I forgot about the insulated boiler..mine without insulation keeps the temp with 0,05°C accuracy with the above settings (fluctuating between 103,95 and 104°C)


----------



## icon_boy

Hi,

Ive purchased the mecoffee but seem to be stuck on step 8 - pressure control, the instruction relates to previous versions of Silvia (I have the E model) as I understand it - the long white cable goes from the valve (behind the metal Plate) to the upper left side of the brew switch. I have done this and seem to have issue when I switch the Silvia on, it seems to make a loud clicking noise and the power switch become unresponsive. I understand that the white connector to the valve is no longer connected - is this right?

thanks in advance


----------



## icon_boy

ok... from sheer determination I've managed to sort it out, the instructions do seem vague at times....


----------



## oursus

icon_boy said:


> ok... from sheer determination I've managed to sort it out, the instructions do seem vague at times....


Glad to hear you won out! If there's a solution for this, any chance you could document it for other users?


----------



## oursus

@millsii & al the app is the key to the timed on/off function, it plain doesn't work with the chrome app.

Android tablet:









As mentioned previously, I still have the shot timer & it seems to be serviceable now.









Long flush on the last pic, pay no attention to the temp


----------



## josh18t

I fitted my mecoffee last night and Im really pleased with the results, you can defiantly taste the difference and not wasting as much water is a bonus. I don't seem to be getting the same amount of crema at the moment, but the taste is much sweeter (i'm using pre-infusion stock settings).

Just one thing I was curious about, has anyone noticed a big difference in steaming? It took me a while to make good microfoam on the Silvia and it was always a pretty fast process. Now Im finding that I need to keep introducing air for twice as long to get any volume, it takes longer in general, and the end result is pretty watery and not as good as before.

Can anyone recommend any settings to play around with to try and improve this?


----------



## oursus

josh18t said:


> I fitted my mecoffee last night and Im really pleased with the results, you can defiantly taste the difference and not wasting as much water is a bonus. I don't seem to be getting the same amount of crema at the moment, but the taste is much sweeter (i'm using pre-infusion stock settings).
> 
> Just one thing I was curious about, has anyone noticed a big difference in steaming? It took me a while to make good microfoam on the Silvia and it was always a pretty fast process. Now Im finding that I need to keep introducing air for twice as long to get any volume, it takes longer in general, and the end result is pretty watery and not as good as before.
> 
> Can anyone recommend any settings to play around with to try and improve this?


Shouldn't have any issues Josh, if there were any differences for me, I certainly didn't notice, except that the boiler is more responsive, follow the same process, & practice mate . Beans will produce less crema as they age, by the way.


----------



## millsii

oursus said:


> @millsii & al the app is the key to the timed on/off function, it plain doesn't work with the chrome app.


Buggar about the Chrome app still not working. So you are now using an Android tablet as a work around to get the timer working?



josh18t said:


> Just one thing I was curious about, has anyone noticed a big difference in steaming? It took me a while to make good microfoam on the Silvia and it was always a pretty fast process. Now Im finding that I need to keep introducing air for twice as long to get any volume, it takes longer in general, and the end result is pretty watery and not as good as before.


What is your temperature set at for steaming? I forget if we bumped ours up or not, but is currently set at 130 degrees. We initially found the steaming result not as good, but some Googling to re-familiarise ourselves with steaming for the Silvia got us back on track. The temp is definitely lower than Silvia thermostat, but makes it a lot more controllable for 2 cups without worrying about initially blowing the milk out of the jug.


----------



## Stanic

the meBarista I have was set to 125°C for steaming, I have raised that to 135 degrees and it works fine for me


----------



## oursus

millsii said:


> Buggar about the Chrome app still not working. So you are now using an Android tablet as a work around to get the timer working?.


I'm not sure the Chrome app supports it full stop - does anyone else have this working? But yes, with the android app it all worked first time.


----------



## Stanic

I can connect without issues using the chrome app on macbook


----------



## oursus

Stanic said:


> I can connect without issues using the chrome app on macbook


Do you have the timed off and on function working?


----------



## Stanic

Ah,no, too many connection duplications for me as well as I don't feel much safe with the thing live while the Silvia is turned off :-/


----------



## icon_boy

oursus said:


> Glad to hear you won out! If there's a solution for this, any chance you could document it for other users?


Sure Ill get a write up done over the weekend, however on another note - mecoffee no longer working









Yesterday woke up and can no longer connect with the bluetooth - Silvia powers up - brew switch obviously no longer working, steam/boil switch are ok - anybody have a contact email for mecoffee, they don't seem to respond to [email protected]

Also snapped one of the bloody legs off from the temp sensor whilst checking to see if there was a loose connection - I take it just simple replacement - model number LM35DT


----------



## ImthatGuy

Had the same problem - they responded to me at the [email protected] address.

The cause was a blown fuse, which they seem to have in a few cases - component quality issue, I think. They sent a replacement within a few days, and all is OK now


----------



## icon_boy

ImthatGuy said:


> Had the same problem - they responded to me at the [email protected] address.
> 
> The cause was a blown fuse, which they seem to have in a few cases - component quality issue, I think. They sent a replacement within a few days, and all is OK now


thanks for the response - did you have to wait long for a response - its been a couple of days, I know I sound eager - cant be bothered to revert the Silvia wiring, and would just like a quick turnaround.


----------



## Jumbo Ratty

If its just a blown fuse can you not just source that fuse without going through the company that sold the PID ?


----------



## icon_boy

Jumbo Ratty said:


> If its just a blown fuse can you not just source that fuse without going through the company that sold the PID ?


nope not really, everything is soldered onto the PCB


----------



## Jumbo Ratty

do you have to solder in the new fuse ?


----------



## icon_boy

I wouldn't even know which is the fuse


----------



## ImthatGuy

icon_boy said:


> thanks for the response - did you have to wait long for a response - its been a couple of days, I know I sound eager - cant be bothered to revert the Silvia wiring, and would just like a quick turnaround.


Sorry for the slow response.

They replied within a day or so and I had the replacement in just over a week


----------



## Str1ngs

Interesting reading. General feedback seems to be positive once you get the kit working. Think I might order next pay day


----------



## oursus

Sensor issue, temp has been too high on a couple of occasions recently (boiling through the PF) then returning to normal, I Was waiting for shipment of the iOS version, instead of getting a replacement sensor, I've asked for the replacement now instead.


----------



## Mad Wally

oursus said:


> I Was waiting for shipment of the iOS version


Any news on this?


----------



## icon_boy

ImthatGuy said:


> Sorry for the slow response.
> 
> They replied within a day or so and I had the replacement in just over a week


Ive still yet to hear from mecoffee - not looking good


----------



## oursus

Mad Wally said:


> Any news on this?


I emailed Jan at half 9 this morning, asking if iOS support was imminent, or needed to fix the android compatible version: Response at half 8 this evening with a new sensor to be shipped this week.


----------



## oursus

icon_boy said:


> Sure Ill get a write up done over the weekend, however on another note - mecoffee no longer working
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yesterday woke up and can no longer connect with the bluetooth - Silvia powers up - brew switch obviously no longer working, steam/boil switch are ok - anybody have a contact email for mecoffee, they don't seem to respond to [email protected]
> 
> Also snapped one of the bloody legs off from the temp sensor whilst checking to see if there was a loose connection - I take it just simple replacement - model number LM35DT


Damage to the sensor will stop the machine functioning, of course...

I did notice that the mecoffee & my plantronics headset like to knock each other off connection, what are you using to connect?


----------



## icon_boy

oursus said:


> Damage to the sensor will stop the machine functioning, of course...
> 
> I did notice that the mecoffee & my plantronics headset like to knock each other off connection, what are you using to connect?


Ive managed to order a new sensor - i did get a message from Jan late last night and has been confirmed that its a fuse issue - replacement will be sent out next week


----------



## Mad Wally

icon_boy said:


> Ive managed to order a new sensor - i did get a message from Jan late last night and has been confirmed that its a fuse issue - replacement will be sent out next week


But still no information on IOS version?


----------



## oursus

Sod's law, PID now behaving same as @icon_boy 's


----------



## ImthatGuy

oursus said:


> Sod's law, PID now behaving same as @icon_boy 's


Mine went for the second time - replacement on the way, but I hope this is the last time


----------



## oursus

ImthatGuy said:


> Mine went for the second time - replacement on the way, but I hope this is the last time


----------



## pbc

Hey guys, just ordered one of these somewhat spontaneously for my V2 Silvia. Hoping I didn't make a mistake hearing about several failures!

With respect to installation, is the V2 installation essentially what is depicted on the site?


----------



## ImthatGuy

pbc said:


> Hey guys, just ordered one of these somewhat spontaneously for my V2 Silvia. Hoping I didn't make a mistake hearing about several failures!
> 
> With respect to installation, is the V2 installation essentially what is depicted on the site?


There's are detailed installation instructions on the website - use them rather than the video, which is a useful intro, but not specific enough


----------



## oursus

pbc said:


> Hey guys, just ordered one of these somewhat spontaneously for my V2 Silvia. Hoping I didn't make a mistake hearing about several failures!


Apparently the offending fuse has been replaced with one that resets automatically, to prevent the issue that some of us have had. Jan is sending me one today, (mine failed after 6 months, on all day.)


----------



## drewzh

For the sake of transparency, mine also blew and was replaced. I never actually fitted again and went with the auber instead as I didn't want the hassle of being without coffee again.

That said, I do have the kit for sale (not used) if anybody would like to stick with it for a minimal fee.


----------



## oursus

drewzh said:


> For the sake of transparency, mine also blew and was replaced. I never actually fitted again and went with the auber instead as I didn't want the hassle of being without coffee again.
> 
> That said, I do have the kit for sale (not used) if anybody would like to stick with it for a minimal fee.


How long ago was that & what sort of use had it seen?


----------



## nutsey

drewzh said:


> For the sake of transparency, mine also blew and was replaced. I never actually fitted again and went with the auber instead as I didn't want the hassle of being without coffee again.
> 
> That said, I do have the kit for sale (not used) if anybody would like to stick with it for a minimal fee.


Messaged you for the PID


----------



## nutsey

drewzh said:


> For the sake of transparency, mine also blew and was replaced. I never actually fitted again and went with the auber instead as I didn't want the hassle of being without coffee again.
> 
> That said, I do have the kit for sale (not used) if anybody would like to stick with it for a minimal fee.


Not sure if you have enough posts to use the PM function!


----------



## drewzh

Yeah, it seems the PM function is disabled for me.

The mecoffee board hasn't been taken out of the wrapper. I literally placed it into a draw when I received my replacement. The replacement was received at the end of May, so it's 1.5 months 'old'.

Whilst the mecoffee is a great device and works perfectly in normal use, I was very much on the fence on whether to go with the auber or the mecoffee to begin with, so when the first board blew a fuse I just bit the bullet and purchased the auber as well. That's the reason for giving up so quickly.

I'm sure Jan has worked out, or is working out the kinks and whilst I'm not 100% certain, I'm fairly sure he'd replace the board again if the same issue occurred (as after all, this does seem like a bit of a design fault). I'd be happy to work with you to get this returned if it occurs again also.

I don't want to really hijack this post so I'll move to PM ASAP, but if you're interested, I'd be looking at knocking off roughly 35% to bring it to £70 with priority postage (also bare in mind http://mecoffee.nl usually have a week turn around).


----------



## Jacko112

I've watched & read this subject with interest as I have a Silvia V4 and have toyed with the idea of a PID however with the problems that seem to be constantly occurring I'm glad it's a route I haven't ventured down.

Think I'll stick to temp surfing for the sake of a 10 seconds'ish - would rather have a machine that's reliable that use it with trepidation.


----------



## drewzh

Just FYI, mecoffee was sold to Nutsey.


----------



## pbc

Hey guys, got my MeCoffee kit. Struggling with the install, on the "passive PID" step where we have to reconnect the grey wire that was disconnected from the old thermostat to the grey lead and into the MeCoffee PID. Then turn the unit on, and the boiler light should come on and the unit should start to heat up.

Pretty simple. Except in my case, the light doesn't come on and the unit doesn't heat up (MeBarrista app just continues to read room temp). Not sure what I've done wrong?? Pics below if anyone can assist? Sent an email to MeCoffee as well.

Thanks!


----------



## ImthatGuy

Check that Bluetooth is still working - that at least would tell you whether the unit is functioning at all.


----------



## nicholasj

I was actually warming to the idea of a mecoffee PID but some of these recent posts are kind of putting me off.

ive watched the Mecoffee web videos and it looks a great product....especially when they compare two Silvia's side by side, one with and one without the PID. Maybe looking at the graphs give surfers an idea of the wait time after the boiler light goes off!!LoL


----------



## naserbaser

I can't seem to figure out how to do Step 9-Timer on the Silvia V5/V4e. (Skipped Step8 as I don't want to mess with pressure control)

I've seen some people get it to work, would you mind sharing how you did it?

MeCoffee hasn't responded to my email, might try to send another.


----------



## Colourise

Hi

I am having a couple of problems on which I should be grateful for some help and advice.

I have just installed the N=MeCoffe PID and went through all the check proceedures sucessfully.

However, after completing installtion up to and including Stage 5 I (Active PID) I find that the boiler temperature is being maintained at around 110C (MeBarista App) even though it is set at the default 101C.

Is someone able to suggest what the problem might be,please?

Also, could someone confirm that the double red wire that was attached to the Brew thermostat is now no longer connected to anything after the PID installation?

thanks


----------



## bandolero57

Hi folks I bought mecoffee yesterday I connected to step 6 everything was working and today I turned on machine(Rancilio Silvia V5) and it didn't heat up and when turned on brew button no water was leaking so I disconnected it just to check whether it has not ****ed up machine and everything is working.So I connected again mecoffee just green and red wires to brew button and grey to grey from termostat with no luck water was still cold.Any help?  I sent email to mecoffee but no answer


----------



## GaryM

bandolero57 said:


> Hi folks I bought mecoffee yesterday I connected to step 6 everything was working and today I turned on machine(Rancilio Silvia V5) and it didn't heat up and when turned on brew button no water was leaking so I disconnected it just to check whether it has not ****ed up machine and everything is working.So I connected again mecoffee just green and red wires to brew button and grey to grey from termostat with no luck water was still cold.Any help?  I sent email to mecoffee but no answer


I'm a potential buyer of one of these... earlier they had problems with onboard fuses blowing with these symptoms, I thought they might have fixed that, or maybe they are still selling old stock. They would need to have these made in a reasonable batch size to get the costings right so I would guess they will sell out what they have before re-manufacturing with updated hardware. Also early on they were praised for being very communicative and proactive... please keep us informed of your progress on this.


----------



## Zagato

I bought one about 6 weeks ago, had an issue with installation and they replied well within 24hrs with some pointers to resolve my problem.


----------



## bandolero57

They replied me yesterday after 10 minutes as well because I have instalation issue too but when I sent them email that in the morning it did not heat up they did not response hopfully they will


----------



## GaryM

I made an email enquiry yesterday as a prospective buyer. I had some questions and got a very prompt and relevant answer.


----------



## nicholasj

Hmm! I'm being put off fitting a PID! This is a shame as a PID is considered an excellent improvement to the Silvia. Is it you get what you pay for? how do Auber's fare?


----------



## bandolero57

So I sent them yesterday another email about that blowing fuses mentioned above and they responded today that I am completely right about their poor response so far. Your unit already has new fuses.But I still dont know what to do with that.I gave it my electrician friend to checks those fuses and will see


----------



## GaryM

bandolero57 said:


> So I sent them yesterday another email about that blowing fuses mentioned above and they responded today that I am completely right about their poor response so far. Your unit already has new fuses.But I still dont know what to do with that.I gave it my electrician friend to checks those fuses and will see


They have fixed the fuse problem by changing to auto reset types, so that issue is now in the past. They told me that was the only hardware problem they had experienced.


----------



## AussieEx

nicholasj said:


> how do Auber's fare?


I've had an one (w/ Steam Control) on my Silvia for 18 months with precisely zero issues. Goodbye temperature surfing; hello consistency!


----------



## davidk21770

Mine works great for temperature control, but the pressure control appears faulty and I can't get a response from meCoffee. I've emailed 2x... I'm about to try a 3rd.

Edit:

I still haven't received a reply from meCoffee and have to believe that he is no longer supporting his product.


----------



## fierce5

I sent an email asking couple of questions regarding the fuse. Will see if they respond


----------



## GaryM

fierce5 said:


> I sent an email asking couple of questions regarding the fuse. Will see if they respond


It's an on board autoresettable fuse now, so there should be no problems with it.


----------



## fierce5

[FOOTNOTE][/FOOTNOTE]



GaryM said:


> It's an on board autoresettable fuse now, so there should be no problems with it.


I hope so but the lack of support described by other buyers is frustrating. I want to make sure that if I buy it that they will reply to emails


----------



## fierce5

What's Nutsey? I tried googling it but got nothing


----------



## fierce5

Just an update on this, mecoffee never responded to my questions I sent using their Contact Us form on their website. Also, they never responded to the email I sent to them directly couple of days ago. I now have to assume that they no longer in business or that they have stopped supporting the product. Unfortunately now Auber PID is my only option.


----------



## Jumbo Ratty

fierce5 said:


> mecoffee never responded to my questions I sent using their Contact Us form on their website. Also, they never responded to the email I sent to them directly couple of days ago. I now have to assume that they no longer in business or that they have stopped supporting the product.


You probably shouldnt look at the nice tampers \ hand grinders etc madebyknock produce then


----------



## davidk21770

Jumbo Ratty said:


> You probably shouldnt look at the nice tampers \ hand grinders etc madebyknock produce then


Maybe I'm misinterpreting your comment... but I believe that I have a bad board -- how do I get it replaced (or identify the problem on my side if it's not bad) -- if they ignore emails?

(I've been using the "Contact Us" link on the site to generate the messages -- so they should be getting to them)?


----------



## fierce5

davidk21770 said:


> Maybe I'm misinterpreting your comment... but I believe that I have a bad board -- how do I get it replaced (or identify the problem on my side if it's not bad) -- if they ignore emails?
> 
> (I've been using the "Contact Us" link on the site to generate the messages -- so they should be getting to them)?


They are not responding to the Contact Us messages from their site and I tried emailing directly that didn't work either. Even if they are still selling the product I cannot buy it with this kind of support. Imagine if I have an installation issue or a bad unit, then I'm screwed.


----------



## fierce5

Jumbo Ratty said:


> You probably shouldnt look at the nice tampers \ hand grinders etc madebyknock produce then


I don't know or understand what you're talking about!


----------



## oursus

naserbaser said:


> I can't seem to figure out how to do Step 9-Timer on the Silvia V5/V4e. (Skipped Step8 as I don't want to mess with pressure control)
> 
> I've seen some people get it to work, would you mind sharing how you did it?
> 
> MeCoffee hasn't responded to my email, might try to send another.


I'd suggest not skipping steps, just install it fully, use the android app...


----------



## oursus

davidk21770 said:


> Mine works great for temperature control, but the pressure control appears faulty and I can't get a response from meCoffee. I've emailed 2x... I'm about to try a 3rd.
> 
> Edit:
> 
> I still haven't received a reply from meCoffee and have to believe that he is no longer supporting his product.


There's no pressure control on the mecoffee, (no measurement of the pressure) you can ramp the pump down... Does the pre-infusion work (the pause function)?


----------



## oursus

fierce5 said:


> I don't know or understand what you're talking about!


Ratty means that smaller artisan companies don't have the option of spending 40 Man hours a week making stuff and a further 90 answering repetitive emails, 75% of which actually answer themselves (present company excepted, of course!)


----------



## oursus

fierce5 said:


> [FOOTNOTE][/FOOTNOTE]
> 
> I hope so but the lack of support described by other buyers is frustrating. I want to make sure that if I buy it that they will reply to emails


It's not "they" it's Jan... if that gives a clearer picture.


----------



## davidk21770

fierce5 said:


> They are not responding to the Contact Us messages from their site and I tried emailing directly that didn't work either. Even if they are still selling the product I cannot buy it with this kind of support. Imagine if I have an installation issue or a bad unit, then I'm screwed.


That's what I was trying to say to Jumbo Ratty... except that I'm in the screwed category. At least the temperature control's working.

I'm pretty disappointed. It's an interesting design that I could see myself doing in my younger, more adventurous days! I may yet throw a scope on it and see if it's repairable.


----------



## fierce5

oursus said:


> Ratty means that smaller artisan companies don't have the option of spending 40 Man hours a week making stuff and a further 90 answering repetitive emails, 75% of which actually answer themselves (present company excepted, of course!)


So maybe an FAQ section on the website or some updates section with news and stuff will be helpful


----------



## davidk21770

oursus said:


> There's no pressure control on the mecoffee, (no measurement of the pressure) you can ramp the pump down... Does the pre-infusion work (the pause function)?


I understand that. Preinfusion only works if I have it use the solenoid. It doesn't work if I use the pump off option. Also, if I change the pressure ramp, there is no change in pump sound or extraction time. Even if I set it to 0..0.

I'm trying to make up for the temporary use of a backup grinder with no ability to dial-in while I wait for a replacement. I've a also seen allusions to the Silvias having a slightly high pressure and I wanted to play with it! And... I wanted to see how a reverse ramp compared with preinfusion. (Low pressure..high pressure).


----------



## oursus

fierce5 said:


> So maybe an FAQ section on the website or some updates section with news and stuff will be helpful


Yeah, he did update some of it a while back, not t be crass, but have you tried uninstalling and reinstalling it step by step?


----------



## oursus

davidk21770 said:


> I understand that. Preinfusion only works if I have it use the solenoid. It doesn't work if I use the pump off option. Also, if I change the pressure ramp, there is no change in pump sound or extraction time. Even if I set it to 0..0.
> 
> I'm trying to make up for the temporary use of a backup grinder with no ability to dial-in while I wait for a replacement. I've a also seen allusions to the Silvias having a slightly high pressure and I wanted to play with it! And... I wanted to see how a reverse ramp compared with preinfusion. (Low pressure..high pressure).


From my recollection (haven't used it for a while) there isn't much of a change in noise, but when I set it to 0, it just crapped out.


----------



## davidk21770

oursus said:


> Yeah, he did update some of it a while back, not t be crass, but have you tried uninstalling and reinstalling it step by step?


Yes.

(Doesn't mean that I'm not misinterpreting his instructions for that step, just seems unlikely. I'm an electrical engineer, a tinkerer, and have built using arduinos in the past. Given time, I could come up with a similar design. He just saved me the work and the debugging!).


----------



## davidk21770

oursus said:


> From my recollection (haven't used it for a while) there isn't much of a change in noise, but when I set it to 0, it just crapped out.


I expected either that or for it to at least take more time to brew my shot of espresso! But there's no change in time at all.


----------



## fierce5

oursus said:


> Yeah, he did update some of it a while back, not t be crass, but have you tried uninstalling and reinstalling it step by step?


I haven't even bought it yet thank God! With this kind of support I would have been screwed by now. I emailed him asking if he still supports the product but I think I have my answer by his lack of support and response


----------



## davidk21770

oursus said:


> Ratty means that smaller artisan companies don't have the option of spending 40 Man hours a week making stuff and a further 90 answering repetitive emails, 75% of which actually answer themselves (present company excepted, of course!)


I believe that I have a bad board. His lack of response means that his products are delivered as-is without warranty. That is not on his sales page.


----------



## ImthatGuy

davidk21770 said:


> I believe that I have a bad board. His lack of response means that his products are delivered as-is without warranty. That is not on his sales page.


I have had two bad boards- first one failed in May (installed December), second on failed in July) In each case, Jan has replaced them FoC and in a reasonable time; that doesn't sound like "without warranty" to me. I'm not excusing his slow responses, although I do believe that this is essentially a spare-time activity.


----------



## davidk21770

ImthatGuy said:


> I have had two bad boards- first one failed in May (installed December), second on failed in July) In each case, Jan has replaced them FoC and in a reasonable time; that doesn't sound like "without warranty" to me. I'm not excusing his slow responses, although I do believe that this is essentially a spare-time activity.


My 1st email to him was 10 Sep. I've sent 3 so far. For me, this is past slow to respond and into lack of warranty.


----------



## fierce5

davidk21770 said:


> My 1st email to him was 10 Sep. I've sent 3 so far. For me, this is past slow to respond and into lack of warranty.


It sounds like he stopped replying to emails starting the end of august. I really wanted this PID to work, I really did. Now the amber is my only option


----------



## oursus

I also have had rapid support, with wisecracks, and a replacement board in good time. His emails tend to be *very* late at night (for work matters) and yes, I'd say he's supporting a very full workload.


----------



## oursus

fierce5 said:


> I haven't even bought it yet thank God! With this kind of support I would have been screwed by now. I emailed him asking if he still supports the product but I think I have my answer by his lack of support and response


Let's not get dramatic, I wouldn't call not being able to make an espresso until you can be bothered to uninstall the PID "screwed" I do appreciate there would be some mardiness involved, but c'mon, this is what the Moka pot/cafetière is for, this is hacking guys, not shopping at John Lewis! (There are some sage machines there which may have the support you need, if that is relevant)


----------



## davidk21770

I see a few things.

1. He is still selling the product.

2. He does not appear to be supporting it.

3. He appears to be a hobbiest who intended to turn his hobby into a business -- ie., potentially inexperienced, naive, and without backup.

4. This appears to be the 2nd time that he dropped off the map -- the last time, it was suggested that he was feeling burned-out.

There may be many reasons that he has not responded that do not include that he is abandoning service.

However, he has not put anything on his web site that would explain his absence.

There is no auto-response to his emails/contact forms that indicate that he will not get back to senders promptly (such as that he's sick, taking a vacation/respite until xxx, just had a child / grandchild, etc.) -- a month without response is definitely unresponsive.

SO given that he is still selling it, the only conclusion that I can come to is that he burned-out again (or really didn't come back from the 1st time) and may or may not ever get back to those of us who feel that we have bad boards. The fact that he is still selling them seems a bit dishonest to me? What do you call it?


----------



## mirceat

Jan assisted me very closely on the meCoffee first install on a Gaggia Classic. A second meCoffee is on its way, trying to install it on another Gaggia Classic.

We have a good communication, except some interruptions now and then, like reported by other customers. Jan is simply overwhelmed by the demands of his small business, he is not willing to upsize it, he avoids the forums, he should take some good decisions before the troubles escalate.

I am happy to have the meCoffee box and the meBarista software as they are. There are still software bugs, like the preinfusion or pressure profiling issues. But the main functions are working and my shots taste incredibly better and are more consistent than before having meCoffee.

In the worst case scenario, there will be a solution to repair a defective meCoffee or to continue the software development.

For instance, I bricked meCoffee while updating the firmware through Bluetooth. Jan very kindly sent me a backup meCoffee, but meantime I learned how to flash meCoffee using an AVR programmer.

I am posting here the resources I used to flash meCoffee, might help somebody:

https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9825

https://www.sparkfun.com/products/12807

https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/pocket-avr-programmer-hookup-guide#using-avrdude

On a last thought, the community could make more to relieve the pressure on Jan. We could share more from our meCoffee user experience.


----------



## fierce5

oursus said:


> Let's not get dramatic, I wouldn't call not being able to make an espresso until you can be bothered to uninstall the PID "screwed" I do appreciate there would be some mardiness involved, but c'mon, this is what the Moka pot/cafetière is for, this is hacking guys, not shopping at John Lewis! (There are some sage machines there which may have the support you need, if that is relevant)


You obviously have very low expectations here and I'm not really sure why you defend him. I don't know the guy and never tried the product but what I know is if you want to start a business and offer a product/service in exchange for money then you should have the infrastructure to support that and yes I would have been "screwed" if I would have bought a pid from him. After spending $700 on the machine and more money on the pid, I really don't think that I should be "bothered" to open the machine and uninstall a pid that takes an hour to put back and I'm not a moka pot fan, there is a reason I spent the money on the Silvia! I really wanted this to work more than anyone. I hate the look of the pid outside the machine and so this really looked like a great idea but the lack of support is a deal breaker.


----------



## davidk21770

mirceat said:


> Jan assisted me very closely on the meCoffee first install on a Gaggia Classic. A second meCoffee is on its way, trying to install it on another Gaggia Classic.
> 
> We have a good communication, except some interruptions now and then, like reported by other customers. Jan is simply overwhelmed by the demands of his small business, he is not willing to upsize it, he avoids the forums, he should take some good decisions before the troubles escalate.
> 
> I am happy to have the meCoffee box and the meBarista software as they are. There are still software bugs, like the preinfusion or pressure profiling issues. But the main functions are working and my shots taste incredibly better and are more consistent than before having meCoffee.
> 
> In the worst case scenario, there will be a solution to repair a defective meCoffee or to continue the software development.
> 
> For instance, I bricked meCoffee while updating the firmware through Bluetooth. Jan very kindly sent me a backup meCoffee, but meantime I learned how to flash meCoffee using an AVR programmer.
> 
> I am posting here the resources I used to flash meCoffee, might help somebody:
> 
> https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9825
> 
> https://www.sparkfun.com/products/12807
> 
> https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/pocket-avr-programmer-hookup-guide#using-avrdude
> 
> On a last thought, the community could make more to relieve the pressure on Jan. We could share more from our meCoffee user experience.


I'm happy that you were lucky enough to connect with him and get your issues resolved. I can see why you would have a positive view.

However, I have not been graced with the luck of his response and you might might guess correctly that causes me to not hold him in the same esteem... especially since he took a not inconsequential sum of money from me. I am an engineer. I am responsible for both hardware and software. Those who buy from the company that I work for expect the hardware to work and there to be no bugs of consequence in the software. This may be a work in progress, but I am not complaining about any features that were not firm at the time of purchase.

And, I emailed him 3x before posting a warning here. I did not expect him to get info on my problem from here. I expected him to read his email.

If he wants to release it into an open source project as you're suggesting, that sounds wonderful. But that's not the product that I purchased. I did/do expect a fully working board (well, it's becoming more of a waning hope).


----------



## Simon_S

naserbaser said:


> I can't seem to figure out how to do Step 9-Timer on the Silvia V5/V4e. (Skipped Step8 as I don't want to mess with pressure control)
> 
> I've seen some people get it to work, would you mind sharing how you did it?


Any help on this would be greatly appreciated, I'm in the same boat, but didn't skip any steps.....


----------



## nicholasj

I wonder why meCoffee pid's are still purchased after what is read here!

Because they are a good price? It seems evident why they are!

Surely paying more for a Auber or similar is worth the extra........at least they work!


----------



## oursus

Simon_S said:


> Any help on this would be greatly appreciated, I'm in the same boat, but didn't skip any steps.....


Are you using the app to connect to the mecoffee?


----------



## oursus

nicholasj said:


> I wonder why meCoffee pid's are still purchased after what is read here!
> 
> Because they are a good price? It seems evident why they are!
> 
> Surely paying more for a Auber or similar is worth the extra........at least they work!


Cos they are fugly & don't do half of what the mecoffee does?


----------



## Simon_S

oursus said:


> Are you using the app to connect to the mecoffee?


Yes I am on android....

I installed as far as pressure and timer a couple of months ago and so far I'm very happy with the unit, works a treat......

It would be great to get silvia turning herself on, so to speak and a timed socket isn't feasible as I have the latest eco v4e model, with auto shut down but more to the point, momentary switch for power which requires physically pressing.........


----------



## oursus

Simon_S said:


> Yes I am on android....
> 
> I installed as far as pressure and timer a couple of months ago and so far I'm very happy with the unit, works a treat......
> 
> It would be great to get silvia turning herself on, so to speak and a timed socket isn't feasible as I have the latest eco v4e model, with auto shut down but more to the point, momentary switch for power which requires physically pressing.........


Got to be honest, not played with an E version yet, I know the installation was slightly different in at least 2 places - when using the chrome app, my machine ignored it, with android, just worked straight away.


----------



## ImthatGuy

nicholasj said:


> I wonder why meCoffee pid's are still purchased after what is read here!
> 
> Because they are a good price? It seems evident why they are!
> 
> Surely paying more for a Auber or similar is worth the extra........at least they work!


I have had my meCoffee PID for almost a year. I had some of the problems with the hardware (noted in a separate thread), but it now works perfectly and reliably. I have had overall very good support from Jan - some gaps, noted here and in the other thread - and I am delighted that I don't have to drill holes or otherwise make permanent changes to the machine.

Each person makes their own choice. Mine was based on the fact that the meCoffee was half the price of any of the alternatives, involved no hardware/drilling and took very little time to install. If I had to remove it, I'd expect that to take less than 45 minutes.

I'm not defending Jan - I'm simply responding to the question why anyone would buy.


----------



## Farravi

I too have taken the plunge and ordered the meCoffee PID on the 21-12-16 and awaiting delivery (London). Having spoken to Jan in early 2015 when he just started to develop this project and commercialise it.

From experience, his communication skills have a lot to be desired for but i have yet to find a complete kit which is uncomplexed installation that appeals to the masses being the primary reason, secondary was because I wanted to wait for the bugs/teething issues to be sorted out before I decided on getting one which I believe has been sorted (auto reset fuse) I am hoping.

I will keep you all updated on my thoughts when the kit arrives and I begin the installation. By the sounds of it, it should be fairly easy and quick installation.


----------



## Farravi

The instructions are abysmal, can't make head or tails of it (literally), anyone else had the v3 conversion here that was also lost?

Also they sent me two sets of wires with cable ties so tight that you'd think it's black Muslim just spotted inside by the Trump security guards during one of his rally's.

They sent me an email stating that I should follow the instructions and not to follow the video as the new kit installs differently to the one on the video?!?!


----------



## GaryM

So have they updated the design with V3? Do you know when V3 was released? Their website has no information on revision history.


----------



## Farravi

Gary, meCoffee have updated their PID kit apparently.

Silvia V3 came out in early 2013 if I recall correctly.

I am finding it a nightmare to install the kit, unlike some of the other members who found it a breeze. Problem with the instructions are there are no diagrams or photographs of before and after for each step nor is there annotation to what wire / terminals we are looking at on the Silvia. I have emailed them and haven't had a response as yet.

I am stuck on step 8 on the online manual.

I certainly wouldn't recommend this kit, unless you have some electrical exerience or can get someone who does and help you with the installation.


----------



## lloydlim996

I'm on Silvia V3, with meCoffee (Dec 2016), and so far so good.

*Knock on wood*

So far no hardware problems, though I still can't get the timer to work, but it's not an issue. Pulls way better coffee with the correct settings. The best part is pre-infusion and pressure control.


----------



## lloydlim996

I had another guy help me out in a different forum.

Here's a link to his video:

https://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=pxJ7H5iMnHQ


----------



## stuarthonda1

Hi guys newbie here, also new to installing PID's so i'm hoping for a little heads up. I've been successful in fitting the PID all the way to step 7(steam control) Am i right in thinking that the grey cable i used in step 4 is to be unplugged from the grey cable from brew therm and now plugged into the yellow cable from steam therm, then connect the grey brew therm cable to terminal 7 and thats it !!

many many thanks for any help.


----------



## phillamb168

Hi there, I joined this forum specifically so I could post on this topic. I received my meCoffee a few weeks ago and installed it the weekend before last.

I also have the same problem reported here, that once hooked up (correctly, verified several times) the boiler does not light.

I emailed the meCoffee guy on 30 January, received a response asking for photos on 31 January. I since have heard nothing, despite emailing again several times. If I don't hear back by tomorrow I'll be requesting that my bank reverse the charge.

I'm disappointed to see this result, but I'll be happy to get my money back. If you're going to sell a product, you should be prepared to support it.


----------



## phillamb168

Maybe I spoke too soon. They got back to me a day ago. They're now working with me to figure everything out. Maybe a Dutch holiday the last two weeks?


----------



## greymda

hi guys, anyone using

- preinfusion

- pressure profiling

please share your experience on these.


----------



## Stanic

the pre-infusion in my experience depends on basket size and dosing, I would use 3 second flow and 10 second pause with IMS h28,5 basket and 20g dose, while for the 15g VST and 16g dose I apply 2 seconds flow and 8 seconds pause, of course these were set by experiment

I do not use pressure profiling


----------



## greymda

do you have a pressure gauge (mounted on a portafilter, for example) to test out IF the pressure profiling even works?


----------



## mirceat

meCoffee has no idea what the pressure is, therefore I'd rather call this feature pump control.

Easiest method to test the pump control is to flush water through the group for a specific time and weight it.

On my tests with Gaggia Classic, working with 30%-70%/10sec pump settings, I get like 41gr of water in 10sec, while working with 100%-100%/10sec, I get like 88gr of water in 10sec. Sounds pretty good, in case you target a slow preinfusion.

The flowrate is the most important parameter in the preinfusion stage anyway, until the puck gets fully soaked, IMO.


----------



## greymda

maybe someone has some pictures taken of their installation on the Silvia, it would greatly help me with mine


----------



## Simon_S

greymda said:


> maybe someone has some pictures taken of their installation on the Silvia, it would greatly help me with mine


Which model do you have? I have a few images from my installation into a 2016 V4E, although once you get amongst it the instructions on the website are quite straightforward.....


----------



## greymda

yes, thanks!

installed it today, got the kit from @Stanic (except the cables). had a problem on step 6 but after reading the instructions twice - managed thru.

temp 101C, steam 135C.

no preinfusion.

pressure ramp from 60% to 100% for the first 7 seconds.

will see next morning shot, hopefully it will be a great one.


----------



## greymda

had my morning shot today (okay. 2 of them. one straight espresso and afterwards a flat-white).

i am pretty sure it's the well-known placebo effect, but boy that beverages tasted good.

will report back after a week, want to try a "lever machine" pressure profiling.


----------



## greymda

more questions coming from me.

do you use the "pro active" option? if so, what %?

i've always respected Miss Silvia for its intrashot temperature stability and i wonder if by helping it we dont do more harm to the shot.


----------



## Stanic

greymda said:


> more questions coming from me.
> 
> do you use the "pro active" option? if so, what %?
> 
> i've always respected Miss Silvia for its intrashot temperature stability and i wonder if by helping it we dont do more harm to the shot.


I have it at 33%, but am considering raising that to 50%, which I think might help faster heat-up when steaming after the shot


----------



## greymda

yes, but how are those corelated?


----------



## Stanic

greymda said:


> yes, but how are those corelated?


At 33% the boiler temp at the end of a shot (say 30 seconds) is f.ex. 93 degrees, with 50% it is 98-99, so when I flick the steam switch, it takes shorter time to arrive at steam temperature (I have it set at 128 degrees)


----------



## greymda

oh, i see.

by the way, whats your set value for brew temp?


----------



## Stanic

greymda said:


> oh, i see.
> 
> by the way, whats your set value for brew temp?


I've had it at 103, changed today to 104 to see any effect.. I've also got slightly lighter beans now


----------



## greymda

104 would be ~96 from the group, right?


----------



## Stanic

I'll have to do some measurements with my measuring portafilter ;-)


----------



## greymda

that would be informative, thanks!


----------



## greymda

ok, so this is trying to replicate a "lever machine" profile, with pump slowly dimming from 100% to 45% for a 30 seconds shot.

temperature set at 100C, giving ~92C for the brew water.

17.5g in, 27g out in 27 seconds.

beans are Brazil Yellow Bourbon, full city roast.


----------



## Stanic

Very nice shot

I've been playing with the measuring portafilter, left miss silvia on for two hours with boiler temperature set to 103 degrees Celsius, then I made three measurements within 15 minutes, getting reading of 89-90 degrees Celsius, then I've set the boiler to 105 deg., after two hours the readings were around 92-93 degrees, so I've left it there for now, the coffee coming out is very nice indeed


----------



## Stanic

and I'm also very happy with the 18g VST basket


----------



## greymda

Stanic said:


> Very nice shot
> 
> I've been playing with the measuring portafilter, left miss silvia on for two hours with boiler temperature set to 103 degrees Celsius, then I made three measurements within 15 minutes, getting reading of 89-90 degrees Celsius, then I've set the boiler to 105 deg., after two hours the readings were around 92-93 degrees, so I've left it there for now, the coffee coming out is very nice indeed


that's odd. i remeber the offset would be ~9C. i will do some testings too.


----------



## Stanic

greymda said:


> that's odd. i remeber the offset would be ~9C. i will do some testings too.


Surely the measurements are not very precise.. I'll do some more on my day off on Monday


----------



## greymda

okay, i've played a little and i got quite strange results.

from 102 to 106 i have 96c for water.

only at 100c i have 93c.


----------



## Stanic

greymda said:


> okay, i've played a little and i got quite strange results.
> 
> from 102 to 106 i have 96c for water.
> 
> only at 100c i have 93c.


How do you measure? That is strange indeed


----------



## greymda

i have a digital thermometer. it was reading normal data with the chinese pid installed, so it's strange.


----------



## greymda

okay, so my findings are:

meCoffee temperature --- water temperature

98C ------------------------ 91C

101C ---------------------- 93C

103C ---------------------- 95C


----------



## Stanic

Do you pour water into a cup and measure that or take a measurement in a stream of water coming out from the grouphead?


----------



## greymda

this is how i measured the temperature (sorry for bad quality and the mess)


----------



## Stanic

I've tried to measure straight output into a 100 ml double-walled cup, which was preheated, and ended up with 89 degrees at 105 set at boiler.. Dang :-D

Here is a video how I measured


----------



## Stanic

I'll say, small boiler, big issues :-D


----------



## greymda

i dont believe that's a good way to test water temperature. try getting yourself a digital thermometer like mine (it was ~5$ delivered from china) and you're good to go


----------



## Stanic

I think I'll leave it at 105 for some time, the coffee is good


----------



## greymda

Stanic said:


> I think I'll leave it at 105 for some time, the coffee is good


this is the only thing that matters


----------



## KVL

I just got my meCoffee, which is also not working. I can read temperatur on the phone, but boiler is never heating. I have uninstalled it again till I get an answer from vendor. I slowly see a pattern here - immature product I believe







Great disappointment when I finally have received it.


----------



## bandolero57

KVL said:


> I just got my meCoffee, which is also not working. I can read temperatur on the phone, but boiler is never heating. I have uninstalled it again till I get an answer from vendor. I slowly see a pattern here - immature product I believe
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Great disappointment when I finally have received it.


I had same problem because i had enabled timer dont know whether it is enabled by default or i did it so check if is enabled and if yes disable it


----------



## KVL

@bandolero57, i have checked the timer, and that was not the case. It was disabled by default.


----------



## KVL

Me coffee is up running now, thanks to Jan from meCoffee. I did the power wiring wrong due to my other modification where I disabled the timer. See different thread. Jan said, there has been implemented a new function for the v5/E which hooks directly into the relay and bypasses the stupid timer. Nice feature.

But one question to all you who has been using it for a long time.. When the boiler is cold, the light runs with solid orange as normal. When it reached 96 it dims. When it reaches set point on 101 degrees, it still dims.. How do I see if boiler is 96 or 101 degrees? I don't see any difference, which confuses me a bit..


----------



## Stanic

KVL said:


> Me coffee is up running now, thanks to Jan from meCoffee. I did the power wiring wrong due to my other modification where I disabled the timer. See different thread. Jan said, there has been implemented a new function for the v5/E which hooks directly into the relay and bypasses the stupid timer. Nice feature.
> 
> But one question to all you who has been using it for a long time.. When the boiler is cold, the light runs with solid orange as normal. When it reached 96 it dims. When it reaches set point on 101 degrees, it still dims.. How do I see if boiler is 96 or 101 degrees? I don't see any difference, which confuses me a bit..


you need to run the app for precise temperature readout


----------



## KVL

Thanks. Yes, I am aware of that, but I still think a 6 degrees span is rather big; I would have expected to be able to see when I reached my set point with a phone or computer. As the description says - you dont need to connect in every time.


----------



## Stanic

KVL said:


> Thanks. Yes, I am aware of that, but I still think a 6 degrees span is rather big; I would have expected to be able to see when I reached my set point with a phone or computer. As the description says - you dont need to connect in every time.


I think it is a normal function of the PID in the sense of a feedback loop, in your case it dims at 96 deg. in order not to overshoot the set temperature and then reaches it with reduced power with dimmed indicator light.

I don't run the app all the time, usually just leave miss silvia to get to stable temp (around 30 minutes) and then pull shots, the boiler recovers between the shots without issues. I have the pro-active percentage set at 36%.


----------



## davidk21770

KVL said:


> Thanks. Yes, I am aware of that, but I still think a 6 degrees span is rather big; I would have expected to be able to see when I reached my set point with a phone or computer. As the description says - you dont need to connect in every time.


I have the same disappointment, but it has not caused me any problem and I don't connect the app any more.

When it starts to dim, I run 2 double shots of water to heat the works (just a few minutes after turn-on 3? 5?). Then I grind and tamp -- when I get back to Miss Silvia, the light's dim and it's up to temp (checked when I was running the app). I can then pull a double, and continue for as many double shots as I want with Miss Silvia getting back up to temp at each time. No issues with brew temperature.

My issues were with the claim to be able to control the brew pressure -- change the brew pressure/add an infusion delay using pressure as a function of time. Doesn't work at all. Never got any response to emails for help from MeCoffee -- I went directly to the site and asked there. It will control the valve, but not the pump.

A recent development is that the temperature seems to be noisy at times which causes the PID to get confused. I believe that at least one connector has become slightly corroded. I've been pulling the unit and shifting the connectors (pull them off a little, push them back on -- or wiggle them up/down) until the issue goes away. I don't know which connector is the culprit yet <sigh>. I'd consider soldering it if I knew which one.</sigh>


----------



## mirceat

davidk21770 said:


> My issues were with the claim to be able to control the brew pressure -- change the brew pressure/add an infusion delay using pressure as a function of time. Doesn't work at all. Never got any response to emails for help from MeCoffee -- I went directly to the site and asked there. It will control the valve, but not the pump.
> 
> <sigh></sigh>


The last app version allowing pressure control is meBarista v4.beta22 and the corresponding meCoffee firmware stored into it. The pressure control settings are ineffective on all next versions, including the current v4.beta32. Not sure what happens when flashing the firmware from v4.beta32, haven't tried it, kinda risky operation.

I am still using v4.beta22 with the Play auto-update disabled, the pressure control is working.


----------



## greymda

by the way, is it possible to downgrade?


----------



## KVL

Yes, I have upgraded and downgraded several times without trouble.


----------



## greymda

KVL said:


> Yes, I have upgraded and downgraded several times without trouble.


how?


----------



## KVL

You can do it in the Android app. I think it is the only place where you can maintain the firmwares, but not sure.


----------



## mirceat

greymda said:


> by the way, is it possible to downgrade?


you would like to downgrade the meBarista app or the meCoffee firmware?

I made backups of different meBarista apk versions and I sideload any of them, when needed.

Each meBarista version contains a specific firmware version you can flash on the meCoffee board. Be warned, firmware flashing is a risky operation.


----------



## greymda

meBarista android app.

i never flashed my meCoffee with firmware (at least on purpose).


----------



## mirceat

KVL said:


> Yes, I have upgraded and downgraded several times without trouble.


Hi, have you upgraded to firmware V9 coming with meBarista v4.beta32?

I am really curious if it is worth it to risk a firmware flash. For instance, are pump control and preinfusion pause working on the new software?


----------



## Simon_S

I have the latest firmware and app. I have pre infusion working fine but haven't tried pressure profiling.

I have noticed a couple of bugs in the app....

When in steam mode if the brew switch is pressed the pump runs but no water, I presume the solenoid valve remains closed. Also the shot timer pops up on screen as soon as you press the brew switch but it doesn't record any time until you stop brewing.....

I tried "rolling back" the firmware with no success, I'm also curious to know how to "roll back" mebarista app updates.....


----------



## mirceat

Thanks Simon, based on your experience, the software upgrade is not worth yet.

You would need to roll back meBarista to v4.beta22, then start a firmware flash from its settings menu to get back to firmware V4.

Do you know how to sideload an apk? I could send you the meBarista_v4.beta22.apk file. Then disable the auto-updates from Play Store!


----------



## Simon_S

mirceat said:


> I could send you the meBarista_v4.beta22.apk file.


That would be very useful, thank you.


----------



## mirceat

The meBarista_v4.beta22.apk file has been uploaded to this address:

https://mega.nz/#!0plAlajA!Lv7hl33ujhRK2iNVEGW5asZAiStSHLNUXUV390k7goU

The apk file has been freshly exported from my tablet, using the the Apk Share app.

Please let me know in case of any issues.


----------



## mirceat

I would like to add below the firmware flash instructions, a bit reworked version of the original from https://mecoffee.nl/mebarista/help/support/firmware-flashing/ (currently unavailable).

It refers meBarista v4.beta22 and the firmware V4 stored into it. Please note there are differences when working with other meBarista versions.

- Close all running App's or reboot your phone / tablet

- Get in front of your machine, as close as possible

- Turn on your machine, wait until it warms up and settles down (like 5mins)

- Make sure the Bluetooth connection is stable, an unstable connection might hard brick your meCoffee board

- Open meBarista, do NOT scan/connect

- Navigate to Settings / Support

- Enable the firmware update option

- Set flash timing to 1000ms

- Push the flash firmware option

meBarista switches back to the home screen. At the left upper corner 'Firmware intent' appears. After a couple of seconds your boiler light should go off.

A couple of seconds later, a text should appear above the 'Firmware intent'. It should be scrolling and end with a value of about 23000 bytes.

Do not move!

If the operation succeeds, your espresso machine might restart (or not, like on my Gaggia) and the boiler light will come on again.

On Android v7.0 Nougat I got a success message on the notifications area.

Press 'Scan' on meBarista home screen to connect to your meCoffee.

Screen picture at the end of my firmware flash operation here.

LE - there is a new page on meCoffee firmware flash here https://mecoffee.nl/mebarista/help/hardware/firmware/

It refers the flash operation for "meCoffee pcb V9" firmware run from meBarista v4.beta32.

Please note again the above detailed procedure refers the "meCoffee pcb V4" and meBarista v4.beta22 combo.

In case the web page changes its address, google on mecoffee firmware.


----------



## Simon_S

Thank you @mirceat the firmware and app roll back worked a treat....

I hope the ME team iron out some of the bugs because the unit works well for me and the direction they're heading is interesting........


----------



## mirceat

Great, enjoy your shots delivered under meCoffee control!


----------



## mirceat

Good news for the iPhone users: Jan has uploaded a demo video showing a beta version of meBarista on iPhone5


----------



## The-E

Hi, I have fitted this little beauty to my V5 Silvia.. and i am very happy... But one thing I am unable to get my head around is the 'Step9 timer' bit... I see Jan has updated the instructions to suit the V5,.. As in the bypass of the 30-minute timer... can anyone tell me if they have the timer working?? the boiler seems to be permanently on as soon as I plug in and turn on.. I have both the hardware switches on.. (the flip V5 power switch and the timer in case of power outage) I cannot turn off boiler via power switch... and when the time has ran out (auto turn off after no activity) I cannot turn the boiler back on via power switch..... I have attached the black cable to mecoffee#8, and the other end I have attached to the lower terminal of the power switch, where the red cable was (the rocker switch with orange and green LEDs).. can anyone tell me if I am supposed to have the red wire riding piggy back on the black cable into the lower terminal?? or does the red wire now remain disconnected?.. I have asked Jan this question and I am waiting for a reply.. just thought I would ask here in case anyone has the same problem... I hope someone understands all that shit..!!


----------



## Farravi

Wow this thread is still going...


----------



## The-E

Just to say I now have the timer and all functions working now... The red cable that is on the lower terminal remains disconnected,

this enables the switch to function as an on/off switch...

But the green light doesn't work... don't know if this is correct, but it enables the timer to work and the power switch to turn the machine on and off, so I will live with this, as the boiler light works to tell me it's on.


----------



## oursus

mirceat said:


> Good news for the iPhone users: Jan has uploaded a demo video showing a beta version of meBarista on iPhone5


Different hardware required tho, yes?


----------



## mirceat

Yes, the new meCoffee BLE /iOS is required.

Please see:

https://mecoffee.nl/blog/a-birthday-present-for-the-iphone-mecoffee-for-ios-immediately-available/

https://mecoffee.nl/order/


----------



## cogli0ne

I'm stuck at step 8 where i want to control the pressure. And i follow the instructions on the website:

"Remove the sheet of metal behind the brewhead exposing the valve. Remove the white wire from the valve. This wire remains not connected.

Use the long white wire from the set to connect this terminal to the NEUTRAL(left) side of the power-button. For the Silvia E model, you connect the wire to the lower left terminal of the brew button."

I have a *Rancilio Silvia V3.*

Now since the neutral (left) side of the power button is the green + black wires from step 2, if i disconnect the black wire and connect the white wire instead, the boiler won't work when i switch the machine on.

Can i connect the white wire from here (see picture) to the left of the brew button or am i completely wrong?


----------



## cogli0ne

Solved it by connecting the female+male side of the white wire to the left side of the power button and then connecting the black female to the male side of the white wire.

I have encountered another problem three times now. This has happened when i have left the machine on for about an hour.

The machine feels hot but the the temperature in the app is colder, around 67 degrees celcius. When i switch the brew button it makes this sound (see attached video).

The only way to get rid of this behavior is to turn off the machine and then turn it back on.

Does anybody know what this problem is, and why? 









Edit:

Removed the white wire from step 8 and restored that step to normal.

Encountered the issue again now after the machine had been on for 1-1½ hours. The temp was reading 87 degrees celcius this time and did not seem to rise further. I paid attention to the tubes in the water reservoir and i noticed that the machine seemed to struggle with pulling water.

Both the pump and the boiler seemed to work fine when i switched the machine on, so there's something that happens later on...


----------



## KVL

@cogli0ne

I have similar issue. Mine is that if I pull a shot, the heater doesnt go on again (boiler light goes out) where after it is inactive. The app shows the temperature fine, so the device is alive, but doesnt registrate the it should heat again. I was in contact with the vendor who sent me a new device in the hope it fixed it. New device got installed, but I still randomly have the issue, but not so often as before. He mentioned, that the app has a setting when the device should shut down (mecoffee device). I tried both settings with never and 2 hours, but no difference. I have to turn off / on the machine, where after it works again.

I have written Jan again, a few weeks ago, but with no reponse.

I think the idea of such a device and app and device, id great, but it is really a shame that it is so buggy. Worst part for me is the time it takes to get a reply, if getting one. I dont really see a pattern in it. I believe it is a hobby project, and should therefor also be stated like one, and not like a normal consumer product where you would expect (at least I) better support or response).

My device is working 95 % of the time - for some it is enough, but not in my case ; then I would prefer to do normal temperatur surfing. Maybe more difficult, but in the end more stable.

Thou, when it is working, I think it does a really great job where I am happy for it. But its really annoying to come to the machine and see it is not heating.

Really mixed feelings about it, and not sure if I feel a wasted my money..

If you find the root cause of your problem, please let us know.


----------



## cogli0ne

@KVL

Turns out that my issue was because of the auto shutoff time option in the app. I never played around with timers and didn't even do step #9 so i could not have guessed that the solution would be found there.

I tried setting it to 7 minutes just to see if i could recreate the issue again and it happened.

I haven't encountered the same problem that you're having. Had Jan ever heard about the issue before?

I noticed that in my app, the shot timer does not move until after i shut off the brew switch. That's kinda odd...


----------



## Simon_S

cogli0ne said:


> @KVL
> 
> I noticed that in my app, the shot timer does not move until after i shut off the brew switch. That's kinda odd...


That's 1 of the bugs in the latest version of the app....


----------



## liquidmonkey2000

My MeCoffee unit stopped working yesterday for seemingly no good reason. The machine powers on but the switch for coffee delivery did not work at all nor light up. I have since taken out the MeCoffee and restored everything back to factory settings and everything works as it should, leaving me to suspect that this is a failure in the MeCoffee Unit. This is the new iOS version which I recently changed from the Android one. Has anyone else had similar issues with the iOS version?


----------



## liquidmonkey2000

So to continue the story... I contacted Jan and he told me that it had probably bricked due to some firmware issue that he had since sorted. He sent me a replacement very quickly. However, this replacement failed within a couple of days just like the first one. I am now waiting to hear from Jan about this one.


----------



## Tazza

I recently ordered a mecoffee pid (BLE for iOS) and installed it in my Siliva. I made it up to step 7. I did not do the steps for pressure control or steaming.

So far temperature regulation works perfect! I just have one problem: every time I press the brew button I get a rattling sound - this sounds lasts for about 5 seconds. Obviously this sound has no effect on the quality of the espresso - but I am not sure if it´s good for a long lifetime of my machine. It´s obviously the same problem described by cogli0ne some post above. However I could not fix this problem so far - I am not even sure what cogli0ne could solve this problem finally.

Can anybody help me?

@cogli0ne

do you still have this problem? Or could you finally solve it?

Thx to all


----------



## cogli0ne

Tazza said:


> I recently ordered a mecoffee pid (BLE for iOS) and installed it in my Siliva. I made it up to step 7. I did not do the steps for pressure control or steaming.
> 
> So far temperature regulation works perfect! I just have one problem: every time I press the brew button I get a rattling sound - this sounds lasts for about 5 seconds. Obviously this sound has no effect on the quality of the espresso - but I am not sure if it´s good for a long lifetime of my machine. It´s obviously the same problem described by cogli0ne some post above. However I could not fix this problem so far - I am not even sure what cogli0ne could solve this problem finally.
> 
> Can anybody help me?
> 
> @cogli0ne
> 
> do you still have this problem? Or could you finally solve it?
> 
> Thx to all


No my problem was because of the auto shut off option in the app. When i switched it off everything worked great.


----------



## FJP84

Stanic said:


> the pre-infusion in my experience depends on basket size and dosing, I would use 3 second flow and 10 second pause with IMS h28,5 basket and 20g dose, while for the 15g VST and 16g dose I apply 2 seconds flow and 8 seconds pause, of course these were set by experiment
> 
> I do not use pressure profiling


I am also playing around with preinfusion. I also have the 15g VST basket so I want to try out 2 sec of flow and 8 sec of pause. In total this is 10 sec.

My question: what is the total time for the shot to use. 25-30 seconds after 10sec of preinfusion. So a total of 35-40 sec.

Or 25-30sec including the preinfusion. So an additional 15-20sec after preinfusion?

Thanks for the info!


----------



## FJP84

greymda said:


> ok, so this is trying to replicate a "lever machine" profile, with pump slowly dimming from 100% to 45% for a 30 seconds shot.
> 
> temperature set at 100C, giving ~92C for the brew water.
> 
> 17.5g in, 27g out in 27 seconds.
> 
> beans are Brazil Yellow Bourbon, full city roast.


Cool one. I will try this one. Never thought of this way of pressure profiling. Do you still use it?


----------



## RobW

Hi,

I'm another person struggling with step 8 of the instructions. I presume that when I disconnect the white wire from the valve that this wire is what is left unconnected and I need to run the white wire from the kit from the valve to the power button? On my v1 Silvia it doesn't seem long enough to do this.

I've not bothered to email him direct yet as I am assuming I am not likely to get a response based on what people have posted on this forum.

Thanks in advance,

Rob


----------



## RobW

RobW said:


> Hi,
> 
> I'm another person struggling with step 8 of the instructions. I presume that when I disconnect the white wire from the valve that this wire is what is left unconnected and I need to run the white wire from the kit from the valve to the power button? On my v1 Silvia it doesn't seem long enough to do this.
> 
> I've not bothered to email him direct yet as I am assuming I am not likely to get a response based on what people have posted on this forum.
> 
> Thanks in advance,
> 
> Rob


Figured out my error - I am an idiot. I confused the pump for the valve. I'd misunderstood the instructions and assumed it meant remove the panel behind the boiler when what it actually said was the panel behind the group head! Now all wired up and working.

I did email them to ask but no response received. So far the PID has worked perfectly so it is a shame that this product is let down by zero customer service.

For preinfusion surely you should have the close valve option set to off. If you close the valve won't that relieve the pressure on the puck? The default has it set to on.


----------



## matust

Does anyone know if I put in an order now for the meCoffee BT2 / Classic now will it come with the new or the old version fuse?


----------



## Stanic

as far as I know he switched to the new fuses only in early 2016


----------



## matust

Stanic said:


> as far as I know he switched to the new fuses only in early 2016


Sorry, can you clarify that? He switched in 2016 and is still using the new fuses or only used the new fuse in early 2016?


----------



## Stanic

Sorry about the confusion









The issue with the failing fuses came up quickly after they hit the market and he replaced the fuses since early 2016, also replaced the faulty units with new ones


----------



## matust

Ah OK, I am looking at buying one but the reliability was my main concern. From what I've read a lot of the issues seem to stem from the fuses so that helps. Thanks


----------



## crypticc

Hi everyone

I have a fabulous Rancilio for around 7 years now and been lurking here and on another coffee forum for a similar time. The Silvia has an easy life serving at weekends only. In that time I think I've gotten to be fair at surfing and can pull a better espresso than my local coffee shop using the same beans, and a decent crack at a peach and occasional facsimile of a fern. Actually closer to an oak leaf. Haha

Anyhow I got impatient with consistency or when I lose count to surf and decided to upgrade to a pid. I found the excellent mecoffee which I successfully installed last weekend.

Hopefully you don't mind a fairly detailed technical post for my first post on this forum, but here goes.

I executed all the steps except the power timer control and managed, just for kicks, to do a short pre-infusion, with pump load increasing from 70% to 100% over 7 seconds, with brew timer set to 30 seconds. which on my grind seems to work as it yields around 34g coffee for the 17g beans in the portafilter. I can hear the load increase so the pump load changes seem to be working.

My question relates to the preinfusion but also steaming.

Does the preinfusion time and delay get included in the total pull timer and what do you think is a fair duration? I have 3.5 seconds to fill the basket and a 5 second delay.

Also I am really struggling with steaming now. As I said I'm not the best at pouring but I am fairly consistent at steaming and getting lovely glossy micro foam 9 times out of 10.

But now, with this pid I just can't seem to get steam right at all. The default steam temperature of 125°c is quite low, the pid too slow to react and by the time the milk is at 40°c the temperature had dropped to 115° and the boiler is struggling to get back the lost ground. The fully submerged wand is also by now screaming as if I had forgotten to turn on the steam at all so I'm betting the pressure is non existent.

You would think I could just up the steam temperature a little but I think there's also an app bug. Generally speaking to make all my setting changes the app has always crashed on saving, but the setting actually does stick and can be seen when reopening the app. That is how I managed to make the config changes that worked.

But for steam temperature change the app tries to save the steam temp over the top of the brew temperature instead. If I set 130° steam temp when the app crashes and then reopens the steam hasn't changed at all, but the brew temperature is now 125° which is the max for brew temp.

If I reduce steam temperature to say 105° that is the temperature set for the brew. In both cases the steam stubbornly remains at 125°.

Setting the brew temperature itself is fine.

Did anyone else experience this and what did you do to set the steam temperature?

I did wonder if there is a firmware vs software mismatch.

When I first opened the app it said my device was v4 but it now says v9. But then I read new devices are shipped with the latest version.

I've not been able to downgrade or reupgrade the firmware...It stops at "firmware intent" and no progress is shown.

The device is a BLE version and the software is android using pixel2 which does support BLE.

Anyhow. Sorry for the lengthy post, I know it's generally frowned upon, but I'm hoping to gain from the experience of someone who might also have experienced one or both of my issues.

Thanks

Chris


----------



## crypticc

FJP84 said:


> I am also playing around with preinfusion. I also have the 15g VST basket so I want to try out 2 sec of flow and 8 sec of pause. In total this is 10 sec.
> 
> My question: what is the total time for the shot to use. 25-30 seconds after 10sec of preinfusion. So a total of 35-40 sec.
> 
> Or 25-30sec including the preinfusion. So an additional 15-20sec after preinfusion?
> 
> Thanks for the info!


Hi FJP. What did you find out?


----------



## FJP84

crypticc said:


> Hi everyone
> 
> I have a fabulous Rancilio for around 7 years now and been lurking here and on another coffee forum for a similar time. The Silvia has an easy life serving at weekends only. In that time I think I've gotten to be fair at surfing and can pull a better espresso than my local coffee shop using the same beans, and a decent crack at a peach and occasional facsimile of a fern. Actually closer to an oak leaf. Haha
> 
> Anyhow I got impatient with consistency or when I lose count to surf and decided to upgrade to a pid. I found the excellent mecoffee which I successfully installed last weekend.
> 
> Hopefully you don't mind a fairly detailed technical post for my first post on this forum, but here goes.
> 
> I executed all the steps except the power timer control and managed, just for kicks, to do a short pre-infusion, with pump load increasing from 70% to 100% over 7 seconds, with brew timer set to 30 seconds. which on my grind seems to work as it yields around 34g coffee for the 17g beans in the portafilter. I can hear the load increase so the pump load changes seem to be working.
> 
> My question relates to the preinfusion but also steaming.
> 
> Does the preinfusion time and delay get included in the total pull timer and what do you think is a fair duration? I have 3.5 seconds to fill the basket and a 5 second delay.
> 
> Also I am really struggling with steaming now. As I said I'm not the best at pouring but I am fairly consistent at steaming and getting lovely glossy micro foam 9 times out of 10.
> 
> But now, with this pid I just can't seem to get steam right at all. The default steam temperature of 125°c is quite low, the pid too slow to react and by the time the milk is at 40°c the temperature had dropped to 115° and the boiler is struggling to get back the lost ground. The fully submerged wand is also by now screaming as if I had forgotten to turn on the steam at all so I'm betting the pressure is non existent.
> 
> You would think I could just up the steam temperature a little but I think there's also an app bug. Generally speaking to make all my setting changes the app has always crashed on saving, but the setting actually does stick and can be seen when reopening the app. That is how I managed to make the config changes that worked.
> 
> But for steam temperature change the app tries to save the steam temp over the top of the brew temperature instead. If I set 130° steam temp when the app crashes and then reopens the steam hasn't changed at all, but the brew temperature is now 125° which is the max for brew temp.
> 
> If I reduce steam temperature to say 105° that is the temperature set for the brew. In both cases the steam stubbornly remains at 125°.
> 
> Setting the brew temperature itself is fine.
> 
> Did anyone else experience this and what did you do to set the steam temperature?
> 
> I did wonder if there is a firmware vs software mismatch.
> 
> When I first opened the app it said my device was v4 but it now says v9. But then I read new devices are shipped with the latest version.
> 
> I've not been able to downgrade or reupgrade the firmware...It stops at "firmware intent" and no progress is shown.
> 
> The device is a BLE version and the software is android using pixel2 which does support BLE.
> 
> Anyhow. Sorry for the lengthy post, I know it's generally frowned upon, but I'm hoping to gain from the experience of someone who might also have experienced one or both of my issues.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Chris


Hi, about the steam temperature. I set it to the max of 140c via Settings/Temperature.

What I did notice is when the steam button is switched on and the machine heats up to the desired temperature, you should NOT try to change steam temperature from the home/brew screen using the + and - buttons. If you do next time you power on the machine, brew temperature will be as high as steam temperature without knowing it.


----------



## FJP84

crypticc said:


> Hi FJP. What did you find out?


I am still finetunen, but most people starts counting from the moment when coffee starts dripping.

I have to get a new scale first to get the to sweet spot.

I stopped with the preinfusion for now. Now I just start with 40% pressure to 100% in 5 seconds


----------



## matust

Can someone help me out with step 8 in the instructions. I am trying to set up thepressure control. The instructions say the following "Remove the sheet of metal behind the brewhead exposing the valve. Remove the white wire from the valve. This wire remains not connected.

Use the long white wire from the set to connect this terminal to the NEUTRAL(left) side of the power-button."

The kit has provided me with the cables but the cable is a male/female cable. From what I can see it should be a female/female cable. Can anyone tell me what connections the white cable that goes from the valve to the power switch is? I don't mind changing the adapter on the cable but I'm reluctant to do it in case I've misunderstood the instructions. Thanks


----------



## RobW

Hi crypticc,

I'm using similar settings to you: 3 second preinfusion followed by 5 second pause with pressure going from 50% to 100% over 10 seconds. I'm using a 32 second shot time - that does include the pause time. In my iOS app you can see the timer start as soon as the preinfusion starts and it continues to go up during the pause.

I also found the default steam temperature way too low, the control unit doesn't seem to take the boiler to 100% and the temperature drops rapidly when you start steaming. On my iOS version the app works fine though, so I have my steam temparture set to 140 or 145 (not in front of it right now). Starting that high allows decent steaming for the time needed for the amount of milk I use.

Rob


----------



## FJP84

matust said:


> Can someone help me out with step 8 in the instructions. I am trying to set up thepressure control. The instructions say the following "Remove the sheet of metal behind the brewhead exposing the valve. Remove the white wire from the valve. This wire remains not connected.
> 
> Use the long white wire from the set to connect this terminal to the NEUTRAL(left) side of the power-button."
> 
> The kit has provided me with the cables but the cable is a male/female cable. From what I can see it should be a female/female cable. Can anyone tell me what connections the white cable that goes from the valve to the power switch is? I don't mind changing the adapter on the cable but I'm reluctant to do it in case I've misunderstood the instructions. Thanks


Here is a picture of my pressure control connection. First Gen Mecoffee though.

Machine is on now, so I can't disconnect it to check if it male/female.


----------



## ashcroc

FJP84 said:


> Here is a picture of my pressure control connection. First Gen Mecoffee though.
> 
> Machine is on now, so I can't disconnect it to check if it male/female.


Looking at the disconnected wire, my guess would be female.


----------



## matust

Thanks you for looking, if your able to could you confirm that the other end of the cable you connected is female(where it connects near the switch)? The only way I can see it working is if both ends of the cable are female but they supplied a male/female cable so I just want to be certain I haven't completely messed it up. I did try and contact them via support but.. well.. :/


----------



## crypticc

FJP84 said:


> Hi, about the steam temperature. I set it to the max of 140c via Settings/Temperature.





 FJP84 said:


> What I did notice is when the steam button is switched on and the machine heats up to the desired temperature, you should NOT try to change steam temperature from the home/brew screen using the + and - buttons. If you do next time you power on the machine, brew temperature will be as high as steam temperature without knowing it.


Hi FJP. .

Mine does that from the setting menu too. will try again without steam switch ever having been pressed on case that is the issue.

Edit:nope.

So the updated bug is that :

Trying to set the steam temperature when not in steam mode and the app freezes (as all setting changes do). When I force close the app and restart the temperature hasn't changed.

Trying to set the steam temperature while stream mode, app crashes and brew temperature instead set to the steam temperature, or 125° whichever is the lowest. I need to use the brew temperature control to reset back to the original temperature.

So I'm stuck with surfing the steam temperature which is worse than when I used to surf brewing before the pid. Very disappointed.

I appreciate is not an active pid during steaming because it cannot monitor the valve. But pity that can programme to either monitor toggling the steam switch to activate the thermostat or at least either fix the steam settings on the app or at a realistic temperature default.

Cheers

Chris


----------



## crypticc

matust said:


> Thanks you for looking, if your able to could you confirm that the other end of the cable you connected is female(where it connects near the switch)? The only way I can see it working is if both ends of the cable are female but they supplied a male/female cable so I just want to be certain I haven't completely messed it up. I did try and contact them via support but.. well.. :/


I seem to recall being confused at this step and found another fly lead that is already connected in a previous step had a female connector free end to take the male film from the white. It wasn't literally into the back of the switch but a lead that also went into the back from a previous step. I maybe remembering incorrectly so let me recheck later today

*Edit:*

Yes. The wire that comes from behind that plate is female to female+male to daisy-chain into the block behind the the power button.

(See it snuggling into the middle on the First photo. I used tape to keep the chained T junctions compact to fit without using the green extension cable)









Make sure you haven't used that female to female+male T junction wire in step 6. There you use female to male ( second photo).

The female end is on the pid pin 3 and the male inserts into the female end of the short white wire you released from behind the brew switch.

I think initially I was tempted to use the female to female connector to go onto the back of the switch directly rather than make use of the little white wire you disconnected only one and from and that previously bridged two connectors on the back of the switch to drive the pump.









Chris


----------



## crypticc

FJP84 said:


> Hi, about the steam temperature. I set it to the max of 140c via Settings/Temperature.
> 
> What I did notice is when the steam button is switched on and the machine heats up to the desired temperature, you should NOT try to change steam temperature from the home/brew screen using the + and - buttons. If you do next time you power on the machine, brew temperature will be as high as steam temperature without knowing it.


Hi. I've sorted what was causing the app crashes and writing to the wrong settings and falling to set steam temperature entirely.

I am using ble version from android. I had enabled ble from within Bluetooth setting but also disabled the regular bt2 classic settings. From that moment on crash central (even if you re-enable the classic bt setting) until you wipe data/uninstall and start again from scratch.

The trick is to leave regular bt2 and just additionally enable ble on the first application start and then don't touch it again.

Trying to change temperature using the+/- buttons when in steam mode seems to save into brew temp as you said, and for me additionally breaks app permanently in the same way until I wipe data and start from scratch.

In detailed temperature pid settings I've enabled a minimum integral of 2% to keep the boiler going a little. The default is documented as being 3 but for some reason mine was on 0. This helps reduce some oscillations of the brew temperature.

Last tip: just as the boiler begins to reach the steam temperature I've noticed the pid gives a little blip of boiler power. I suspect this is an undocumented feature intended to be surfed, if you miss that the steam temp overshoot and then if you start steaming once the boiler has turned back off when it's on it's way back down that's when the pid is slow to respond and turn back on and undershoots presumably because the integral component is affected more by that historic slow decline than taking into account that the valve is now open and temp taking fast. I'd imagine tuning of Integral and derivative could refine that but could affect brew temp stability.

To sum up I've now got control of all the settings so much happier now.

Chris


----------



## crypticc

crypticc said:


> Hi. I've sorted what was causing the app crashes and writing to the wrong settings and falling to set steam temperature entirely.
> 
> I am using ble version from android. I had enabled ble from within Bluetooth setting but also disabled the regular bt2 classic settings. From that moment on crash central (even if you re-enable the classic bt setting) until you wipe data/uninstall and start again from scratch.
> 
> The trick is to leave regular bt2 and just additionally enable ble on the first application start and then don't touch it again.
> 
> Trying to change temperature using the+/- buttons when in steam mode seems to save into brew temp as you said, and for me additionally breaks app permanently in the same way until I wipe data and start from scratch.
> 
> In detailed temperature pid settings I've enabled a minimum integral of 2% to keep the boiler going a little. The default is documented as being 3 but for some reason mine was on 0. This helps reduce some oscillations of the brew temperature.
> 
> Last tip: just as the boiler begins to reach the steam temperature I've noticed the pid gives a little blip of boiler power. I suspect this is an undocumented feature intended to be surfed, if you miss that the steam temp overshoot and then if you start steaming once the boiler has turned back off when it's on it's way back down that's when the pid is slow to respond and turn back on and undershoots presumably because the integral component is affected more by that historic slow decline than taking into account that the valve is now open and temp taking fast. I'd imagine tuning of Integral and derivative could refine that but could affect brew temp stability.
> 
> To sum up I've now got control of all the settings so much happier now.
> 
> Chris


Well that didn't last long. A few truly wonderful brews with my new PID+open basket combo. And now the PID has died. No orange light when I turn on but no heat/pump action and the app doesn't connect now either. Nothing changed except decreased brew temperate from 102 back down to 101.5. one moment it was working, came to use it this afternoon, power on. NADA.

Opening it up the red led is on inside the device but there's no other led alive. Uninstalling by filtering the steps in reverse the pump and boiler are fine, it's just the PID even on the first steps to connect power are no longer a "success".

A ble monitor app on the Android store shows the mecoffee Bluetooth chip is active at least. But that's about it.

Sent email/contact form and time will tell I guess about what happens next.

Chris


----------



## Stanic

f... that's really weird


----------



## crypticc

mirceat said:


> Jan assisted me very closely on the meCoffee first install on a Gaggia Classic. A second meCoffee is on its way, trying to install it on another Gaggia Classic. We have a good communication, except some interruptions now and then, like reported by other customers. Jan is simply overwhelmed by the demands of his small business, he is not willing to upsize it, he avoids the forums, he should take some good decisions before the troubles escalate. I am happy to have the meCoffee box and the meBarista software as they are. There are still software bugs, like the preinfusion or pressure profiling issues. But the main functions are working and my shots taste incredibly better and are more consistent than before having meCoffee.In the worst case scenario, there will be a solution to repair a defective meCoffee or to continue the software development. For instance, I bricked meCoffee while updating the firmware through Bluetooth. Jan very kindly sent me a backup meCoffee, but meantime I learned how to flash meCoffee using an AVR programmer.I am posting here the resources I used to flash meCoffee, might help somebody: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9825https://www.sparkfun.com/products/12807https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/pocket-avr-programmer-hookup-guide#using-avrdudeOn a last thought, the community could make more to relieve the pressure on Jan. We could share more from our meCoffee user experience.


Hi MirceatI'm not hopeful of Jan getting back to me at all on my brick.. since the original purchase emails he hasn't seemed interested in helping me, or indeed acknowledging even where I found the root cause of the steaming temperature issue. Exactly what file did you flash and how please? Terminal points on the device board, Byte locations/firmware files used, etc. You can see the Bluetooth is active but presumably the last tweak of temperature caused some firmware issues.CheersChris


----------



## mirceat

Hi Chris, I am sorry to hear about your faulty meCoffee.

Based on your described scenario, I would rather suspect a hardware fault.

The weak point were the fuses back in the time. The latest meCoffee boards come with auto-resettable fuses, but are they failproof? Not sure.

On firmware flashing - you'd need the firmware file from the meBarista apk file.

How do you get it: use an apk downloader or APK Share to extract the apk file from Android devices.

Unpack the apk file into a folder and look into the "assets" subfolder. I am assuming the current firmware is stored into "meCoffee-V9.hex". On previous versions, the file name used to be "firmware.hex".

You need the already mentioned tools: an AVR Programmer and a 2x3 male PTH header.

If you take a look at a picture of an older meCoffee board here, you'll notice the 6 holes on the lower left corner. This is the place to insert your PTH header. Pay attention to pin 1 marked with a square.

Then follow the instructions from the Sparkfun tutorial.

In case it helps, please see below the log from my firmware flash operation:

*C:\Program Files (x86)\programming\Arduino\hard**ware\tools\avr\bin>avrdude -c usbtiny -p atmega328*

avrdude: AVR device initialized and ready to accept instructions

Reading | ################################################## | 100% 0.02s

avrdude: Device signature = 0x1e9514 (probably m328)

avrdude: safemode: Fuses OK (E:FF, H0, L:E2)

avrdude done. Thank you.

*C:\Program Files (x86)\programming\Arduino\hard**ware\tools\avr\bin>avrdude -c usbtiny -p atmega328 -U flash:w:firmware.hex*

avrdude: AVR device initialized and ready to accept instructions

Reading | ################################################## | 100% 0.02s

avrdude: Device signature = 0x1e9514 (probably m328)

avrdude: NOTE: "flash" memory has been specified, an erase cycle will be performed

To disable this feature, specify the -D option.

avrdude: erasing chip

avrdude: reading input file "firmware.hex"

avrdude: input file firmware.hex auto detected as Intel Hex

avrdude: writing flash (21586 bytes):

Writing | ################################################## | 100% 13.19s

avrdude: 21586 bytes of flash written

avrdude: verifying flash memory against firmware.hex:

avrdude: load data flash data from input file firmware.hex:

avrdude: input file firmware.hex auto detected as Intel Hex

avrdude: input file firmware.hex contains 21586 bytes

avrdude: reading on-chip flash data:

Reading | ################################################## | 100% 11.79s

avrdude: verifying ...

avrdude: 21586 bytes of flash verified

avrdude: safemode: Fuses OK (E:FF, H0, L:E2)

avrdude done. Thank you.


----------



## crypticc

mirceat said:


> Hi Chris, I am sorry to hear about your faulty meCoffee.
> 
> Based on your described scenario, I would rather suspect a hardware fault.
> 
> The weak point were the fuses back in the time. The latest meCoffee boards come with auto-resettable fuses, but are they failproof? Not sure.
> 
> On firmware flashing - you'd need the firmware file from the meBarista apk file.
> 
> How do you get it: use an apk downloader or APK Share to extract the apk file from Android devices.
> 
> Unpack the apk file into a folder and look into the "assets" subfolder. I am assuming the current firmware is stored into "meCoffee-V9.hex". On previous versions, the file name used to be "firmware.hex".
> 
> You need the already mentioned tools: an AVR Programmer and a 2x3 male PTH header.
> 
> If you take a look at a picture of an older meCoffee board here, you'll notice the 6 holes on the lower left corner. This is the place to insert your PTH header. Pay attention to pin 1 marked with a square.
> 
> Then follow the instructions from the Sparkfun tutorial.
> 
> In case it helps, please see below the log from my firmware flash operation:
> 
> *C:\Program Files (x86)\programming\Arduino\hard**ware\tools\avr\bin>avrdude -c usbtiny -p atmega328*
> 
> avrdude: AVR device initialized and ready to accept instructions
> 
> Reading | ################################################## | 100% 0.02s
> 
> avrdude: Device signature = 0x1e9514 (probably m328)
> 
> avrdude: safemode: Fuses OK (E:FF, H0, L:E2)
> 
> avrdude done. Thank you.
> 
> *C:\Program Files (x86)\programming\Arduino\hard**ware\tools\avr\bin>avrdude -c usbtiny -p atmega328 -U flash:w:firmware.hex*
> 
> avrdude: AVR device initialized and ready to accept instructions
> 
> Reading | ################################################## | 100% 0.02s
> 
> avrdude: Device signature = 0x1e9514 (probably m328)
> 
> avrdude: NOTE: "flash" memory has been specified, an erase cycle will be performed
> 
> To disable this feature, specify the -D option.
> 
> avrdude: erasing chip
> 
> avrdude: reading input file "firmware.hex"
> 
> avrdude: input file firmware.hex auto detected as Intel Hex
> 
> avrdude: writing flash (21586 bytes):
> 
> Writing | ################################################## | 100% 13.19s
> 
> avrdude: 21586 bytes of flash written
> 
> avrdude: verifying flash memory against firmware.hex:
> 
> avrdude: load data flash data from input file firmware.hex:
> 
> avrdude: input file firmware.hex auto detected as Intel Hex
> 
> avrdude: input file firmware.hex contains 21586 bytes
> 
> avrdude: reading on-chip flash data:
> 
> Reading | ################################################## | 100% 11.79s
> 
> avrdude: verifying ...
> 
> avrdude: 21586 bytes of flash verified
> 
> avrdude: safemode: Fuses OK (E:FF, H0, L:E2)
> 
> avrdude done. Thank you.


Awesome thanks

Have the new version. Don't know how to reset the fuse but doubt it's that else the mini red light wouldn't be on and it wouldn't respond to the third party ble diagnosis app. Although looking at the white case there is a little distortion at around the area of the orange discs on the circuit which suggests something got a little hot. (It's not the rancilio as the nearest component is the cold water inlet)

Only got it a couple of weeks ago., 3 test coffees and 6 real coffee old. Zoiks

Chris


----------



## mirceat

The 2 orange discs must be the resettable fuses. Are they located on the lower right corner, when looking at my picture?

Please consider my board sports old style fuses, I drew red arrows pointing to them.

I don't think you can reset the fuses, they should be replaced when blown up.

Send a picture of the board to Jan and ask his opinion.


----------



## crypticc

mirceat said:


> The 2 orange discs must be the resettable fuses. Are they located on the lower right corner, when looking at my picture?
> 
> Please consider my board sports old style fuses, I drew red arrows pointing to them.
> 
> I don't think you can reset the fuses, they should be replaced when blown up.
> 
> Send a picture of the board to Jan and ask his opinion.


yes - the orange ones. confused whether these are resettable or not.

anyhow - yes. would love to discuss with Jan but he doesn't answer his emails. Had a request going with mecoffee in one form or another since end-Jan when I got it and couldn't figure out why changing steaming temp didn't work. in fact the only email I got from him personally was when I ordered a device and then emailed to correct delivery address which somehow ended up as London - London.

Anyhow, going to give until the end of the week and then will be raising dispute with credit card company.

Chris


----------



## mirceat

I wont give up in case Jan doesn't answer. meCoffee pushed my home barista life on a higher level, I couldn't have got it by with any manual technique.

Somebody with electronic skills could try to measure the fuses or other meaningful components from the board, even he could replace the faulty components.


----------



## GaryM

mirceat said:


> I wont give up in case Jan doesn't answer. meCoffee pushed my home barista life on a higher level, I couldn't have got it by with any manual technique.
> 
> Somebody with electronic skills could try to measure the fuses or other meaningful components from the board, even he could replace the faulty components.


This product is a lost cause. The silence and poor communication is a sign that the guy knows his product is flaky and he can't handle the burden of development and support that is required. He's ducking his responsibility and hoping the whole thing will go away. No-one should be buying this product.


----------



## mirceat

The poor communication with Jan was a permanent issue.

I had my fears when I ordered meCoffee 2 years ago, I was aware it could be a total waste of time and money.

There were ups and downs, the balance is definitely positive on my case. I can't imagine me working on an espresso machine without a minimal digital control like meCoffee offers.

Sure there are more doubts on the reliability of Jan's latest products, hardware and software-wise.

I still prefer to stay on first meBarista version I installed on April 2016, having bad experience with the next meBarista versions or hearing bad feedback on them.

My advice: buy this product only if you afford to risk wasting your time and money for a possible better home barista experience.


----------



## crypticc

mirceat said:


> I wont give up in case Jan doesn't answer. meCoffee pushed my home barista life on a higher level, I couldn't have got it by with any manual technique.
> 
> Somebody with electronic skills could try to measure the fuses or other meaningful components from the board, even he could replace the faulty components.


Agreed but I'm confused that the little red led is on which suggests there is power to the device. I don't recall ever seeing a blue led on this ble version so I'm not going by that...especially as the ble answers a third party diagnostic tool.

I'm concerned that trying to set the steam temperature bricked the device but I'll measure the resistance across the orange discs when I take it out this weekend and if they're just blown maybe try replacing them. Where's maplins when you need them? Love that place. Such a shame


----------



## crypticc

P.s. I might order another one just to see what happens....


----------



## crypticc

So the orange disks are *RM* 005 6207S. (Yes RM)

Assuming they're both the same but I have no idea what they are..cannot find them on RS website

The outside one is live.

The inside one has no (or immediately to zero) voltage. Anyone know where that feeds, is there mains voltage into that one? Both terminals have no voltage so I'm not thinking it's fixed.

Guessing on the tracks a little I'm wondering now if that 450V 2.2 micro fared capacitor is to blame if that is toast. (Capacitors tend to short I before they go south).


----------



## Me(no)Coffee

Hi, I'm new on here, so please excuse any ignorance on my part. The next two paras are background, so if you're short on time, please skip them.

I've bought a MeCoffee (new Bluetooth model) for use with my Rancilio Silvia. It's not been an enjoyable process so far... My first issue was with the blue-tooth - my phone (and LG G5, which has BLE) couldn't find the MeCoffee, but eventually it did, after several hours, and entirely on its own. Then I moved on to the pre-infusion settings, but couldn't follow the instructions (and after 3 blown fuses) I reversed those steps and was content to live with the basic functionality.

In closing it up, I accidentally disconnected the sensor (attached to the top of the boiler) from the cable that leads to the MeCoffee. There are 3 pins and 6 holes so there were 4 possible combinations. One gave a boiler temp of about 400c so that was wrong, so I tried all combination. Sadly I managed to snap the 3 pins (stupid brute force on my part). So I ordered a new sensor, which took 3 weeks to arrive. In the meantime, I left the machine so all I needed to do was re-attach the new sensor to the boiler, and connect to the MeCoffee.

The new sensor arrived 2 days ago, so today I attached it to the boiler, and connected it to the MeCoffee and turned it on to test.

The solid red-light on the MeCoffee is working fine, but the flashing green light is not working. And again, the MeBarrista app won't "find"/connect to the MeCoffee.

Does anyone have any clues as to what I should do? It was connecting and reading (albeit skewed) temperature readings when I damaged the old sensor, now it's not doing anything.

Help!

PS - If anyone is confident to rectify my snafu and lives in London (SW), I'm happy to drive to you and pay you for your time...

thanks, Garry


----------



## ShadowofBob

I'm having the same issues here with meCoffee BLE I just received. It appears to bricked out of the package. Got to the second step to test power and all I get is the red LED lit up. No blinking green activity LED like there is supposed to be and I can't see the device with my phone or computer. I sent Jan a message and we'll see what he says.

I did a quick visual inspection and all solder joints look okay. I may dig into it more this weekend to see if the Bluetooth module is even getting power.

Anyone have any areas to look at? Is it worth trying to flash the firmware?


----------



## Me(no)Coffee

Bizarrely, once I posted above my PID worked fine. I wasn't getting the green light, but then I (gently) twiddled the two orange capacitors (is that what they are?) and then, hey presto it worked. It's odd. The last time, when I first installed it (and before I broke the sensor) it was broadcasting blutooth but wouldn't show or log on via my phone (LG G5, BLE enabled). I called a mate over with an iPhone to try that, and when showing him my issue it worked fine.

It also refused to work on Monday when I tried to show my (disinterested) mother-in-law.

In short, I think it's trying to gaslight me.

Now its working fine. I would try a VERY GENTLE touch to the orange bit and see if that helps. Don't expect any replies from Jan...


----------



## S-Presso

Me(no)Coffee said:


> Bizarrely, once I posted above my PID worked fine. I wasn't getting the green light, but then I (gently) twiddled the two orange capacitors (is that what they are?) and then, hey presto it worked. It's odd. The last time, when I first installed it (and before I broke the sensor) it was broadcasting blutooth but wouldn't show or log on via my phone (LG G5, BLE enabled). I called a mate over with an iPhone to try that, and when showing him my issue it worked fine.
> 
> It also refused to work on Monday when I tried to show my (disinterested) mother-in-law.
> 
> In short, I think it's trying to gaslight me.
> 
> Now its working fine. I would try a VERY GENTLE touch to the orange bit and see if that helps. Don't expect any replies from Jan...


Sounds like it could be a dry solder joint to me. Tricky to remedy, if you don't have the skills and correct tools etc. If you do have a small soldering iron and know how to use it, then reflow any suspicious looking solder joints. If this won't void any warranty! (Unlikely!)

A new replacement is the best option, though.


----------



## nitaylehrer

Hi everyone,

A couple of weeks ago I had a mishap with my mecoffee Pid, which sadly resulted in the melting of what I believe to be the switching transistor (see pics attached). I've tried contacting mecoffee, to no avail. My only options are either to go for another PID with a better heatsink on the chips, or try a cheaper solution, which would simply mean replacing the melted chip and crossing my fingers that it would pop back to life....

However, since the chip is kinda FUBAR, I don't know which chip to get, and there are hardly any high-res pics of the board online from which I could get the model of the wayward chip.

So...Does anyone have any thoughts on this/ can someone perhaps post a high-res pic of the board or chip involved?

Huge thanks,

Nitay


----------



## GaryM

It looks like a voltage regulator. Unlikely to be fixable without the manufacturer engaging.


----------



## nitaylehrer

GaryM said:


> It looks like a voltage regulator. Unlikely to be fixable without the manufacturer engaging.


Thanks GaryM,

I've pretty much given up on the manufacturer ever engaging, after two unanswered emails sent quite a while ago... Perhaps someone has a better way to get in touch with them, other than the "contact" form on their website.

In the meanwhile, would you happen to have a fresh board from which I could read the fine print on that chip, so I can know for certain if I can fix it?


----------



## GaryM

Hi, no I don't have a MeCoffee. I was interested at one time, but the lack of reliability and support put me off. Good luck.


----------



## mirceat

After Jan has recently disclosed on this blog post his struggle to keep the meCoffee project alive, he uploaded new meBarista versions, stating on v7.beta36:









Jan talked since long time about releasing the meBarista code as open source, the great moment might be close, finally.


----------



## Stanic

the last paragraph of his latest blog is promising - fortunately

"I have been working on meCoffee full time again for some weeks now and will restore operations like shipping, support and warranties on September 11th, 2018."


----------



## Plasse

I bought one of the new batch and we shall see how it goes...


----------



## Ebk71

Just bought a Silvia V1 with the mecoffee ble version installed. It looks like it's working ok but what could be my starting point for reading and/or basic settings?

I chose the default settings and have no experience with espresso, only slow brew coffee so I probably won't want to experiment with pre-infusion in my early steps. Without coffee in the filter when I press the brew button and let it run for 25 seconds I see the temperature drop below 85C. Is this normal? It takes a bit of time to reach 101C again.

And BTW, Jan is answering mails, in my case pretty fast.


----------



## Plasse

After about a week of use I have to say that I am incredibly impressed. The temperature control is of course a game changer (who knew just how annoying temp surfing really was). The unexpected hero though is the dimming function of the pump.


----------



## matust

Stay away if your considering buying one. The concept is great but unfortunately the execution needs work and the support from the creator is non existant. My experience below.

Was tossing up between the Auber and mecoffee. Took punt on the mecoffee because of features and price. Placed order and emailed Jan to make sure it was it was the model with the new fuse... No reply. Received the mecoffee and wiring after a week or two. When I tried to install I was having and issue as some of the connectors didn't seem to go where they should. E-mailed Jan with a question about whether a cable he had sent was incorrect and should of had a different connector on it... No response. After many hours of searching the Internet I found that he had made the cables wrong. Managed to get it working and it seemed to work well. After a short time I found that the me coffee would reset it's configuration occasionally. E-mailed Jan to enquire why... No response. After less than 6 months it has died. I think it might be the temperature sensor but I can't be sure. I have e-mailed Jan about it... You guessed it no response. $200 down the drain. Steer clear.


----------



## dev

Your experience is quite normal for what mecoffee stood for a year ago.

In the meantime it seems Jan had an epiphany of sorts and he's back.


----------



## matust

I actually saw he was back at a few days ago so emailed him again... no response. I know it's a one man show but not even bothering to reply to emails I find pretty pathetic. It's not like this is a small amount of money people are spending on his product.


----------



## Ebk71

matust said:


> Stay away if your considering buying one. The concept is great but unfortunately the execution needs work and the support from the creator is non existant. My experience below.
> 
> Was tossing up between the Auber and mecoffee. Took punt on the mecoffee because of features and price. Placed order and emailed Jan to make sure it was it was the model with the new fuse... No reply. Received the mecoffee and wiring after a week or two. When I tried to install I was having and issue as some of the connectors didn't seem to go where they should. E-mailed Jan with a question about whether a cable he had sent was incorrect and should of had a different connector on it... No response. After many hours of searching the Internet I found that he had made the cables wrong. Managed to get it working and it seemed to work well. After a short time I found that the me coffee would reset it's configuration occasionally. E-mailed Jan to enquire why... No response. After less than 6 months it has died. I think it might be the temperature sensor but I can't be sure. I have e-mailed Jan about it... You guessed it no response. $200 down the drain. Steer clear.


I mailed several times with him in the past few weeks and got almost immediate a response, strange. And btw, does it help you are submitting exactly the same text on more then one forum?


----------



## Plasse

Ebk71 said:


> I mailed several times with him in the past few weeks and got almost immediate a response, strange. And btw, does it help you are submitting exactly the same text on more then one forum?


Credit where credit is due, I also had email correspondence and Jan was helpful and never took more than 36h to reply. The MeCoffee has also transformed the Silvia to something that is able to make great decent espresso and steam milk with very little fuss. Of course I have only had it a month or so, and it might still break. So far though nothing but praise for it.


----------



## matust

Ebk71 said:


> I mailed several times with him in the past few weeks and got almost immediate a response, strange. And btw, does it help you are submitting exactly the same text on more then one forum?


Yes I did leave this comment on one other forum. If you'd had an experience like mine you'd probably feel more inclined to warn people off his product rather than leaving snide comments here.


----------



## matust

Plasse said:


> Credit where credit is due, I also had email correspondence and Jan was helpful and never took more than 36h to reply. The MeCoffee has also transformed the Silvia to something that is able to make great decent espresso and steam milk with very little fuss. Of course I have only had it a month or so, and it might still break. So far though nothing but praise for it.


Well I'm glad it's working for you. I also found that when it worked it worked well. Hopefully should you have any further issues you'll have a better experience than me.


----------



## ShadowofBob

Are you getting successful correspondence using the built in form on his website? I tried to contact him using it again a week ago after getting no response 6 months ago. Still haven't heard anything back and just have a dud board sitting here.


----------



## Ebk71

ShadowofBob said:


> Are you getting successful correspondence using the built in form on his website? I tried to contact him using it again a week ago after getting no response 6 months ago. Still haven't heard anything back and just have a dud board sitting here.


I mailed to [email protected]


----------



## matust

I tried both email and form and he never bothered responding to me


----------



## willvo84

How long do these generally take to install?


----------



## awholelatteproblems

willvo84 said:


> How long do these generally take to install?


Mine took me no longer than 40 minutes. Though I was confident enough to go from start to end with all the cabling, rather than pausing for each of the checks recommended on the installation video - which I completely understand the utility of for people not familiar / confident with wiring. Just to note that I didn't install the timer mod (yet!)


----------



## cpu

Can anyone help me with step 9 - timer? I've got Silvia v5 - went through all steps up to 9 - all working fine. Now can't get this timer to work - disconnected red wire from power button as per manual, connected black wire from mecoffee set to that free terminal on power button and #8 on PID - it should be live all time if Silvia is plugged to power outlet - dead. That's onlyNot problem I have.

## EDIT ##

There's error in manual - it says stop after disconnecting red wire from power switch and connecting black wire to that terminal on power switch and PID #8 - can't stop need to go on and open back, disconnect timer then it works as it should.


----------



## ShadowofBob

Ebk71 said:


> I mailed to [email protected]


Just wanted to follow up and note that I got a response via that email address. Thanks for showing it to me! The online form on his site must not send correctly or he has a backlog of messages via that method. Have a replacement successfully installed meCoffee now that is working as designed. I have all the features working except the timer as I opted to not install that.


----------



## peterpanondrugs

Ahoi!

Can someone tell me which semiconductor is used for measuring the temperature?

I can only recognize a LM35_T (

They have different temp specs.

Thx in advance.


----------



## mirceat

It's an LM35DT, as mentioned in this topic on some posts.


----------



## blazarov

Hi,

I have just installed the MeCoffee PID on my Silvia V5 this weekend. I have upgraded from DIY Chinese XMT7100 PID.

So far my observations are positive. I am very well aware of the issues with hardware failures and poor vendor support in the past, however i decided to give it a try out of curiosity and Jan promises that the hardware issues are fixed. Also i like the decision for going open source.

To be on the safe side i decided to mount it externally, also i have a pressure gauge, so it is impossible to mount it as suggested by the Vendor. I will keep it fixed on the backplate with sticky tape so it is completely out of sight, but still safe and cool.

Custom install meant custom wiring kit, so It took me a full Sunday.

Al features work as expected, no bugs hit yet. App is smooth on iOS.

One thing i dislike is the odd idea for ribbon cable with IDC connectors for the temp sensor. I lost few hours trying to source parts to make a custom cable to no success in the end.


----------



## blazarov

Few pics



















It is sticked on the side for now until i find the parts to make my own longer temp sensor cable to be able to move it on the back side and close everything. Anyways it's a goos idea to have it running on an open machine for few days until it proves safe and stable.

And a question: do you hear tiny buzz from the device when it is powered on? Similar to the buzzing sound you sometimes hear from a laptop supply for instance. I have it and i am wondering if it is normal.


----------



## Gm7dha

Your buzz I would imagine is 'normal' as it's a SMPS... Probably cheap components and not particularly well filtered for EMI/RFI either.


----------



## Salvidor

Hi, I'm stuck at the same point as you where, could you please explain what you did ?

Best regards.



cpu said:


> Can anyone help me with step 9 - timer? I've got Silvia v5 - went through all steps up to 9 - all working fine. Now can't get this timer to work - disconnected red wire from power button as per manual, connected black wire from mecoffee set to that free terminal on power button and #8 on PID - it should be live all time if Silvia is plugged to power outlet - dead. That's onlyNot problem I have.
> 
> ## EDIT ##
> 
> There's error in manual - it says stop after disconnecting red wire from power switch and connecting black wire to that terminal on power switch and PID #8 - can't stop need to go on and open back, disconnect timer then it works as it should.


----------



## chevy

Ignore the bit in the instructions between "Now turn your machine on...." and "... confirmed the power switch to be working", apart from enabling the V5 power switch in the hardware settings.

There a YouTube vid showing how to remove the back cover. Also I didn't need to remove the black inner back plate.

Hope that helps!


----------



## Salvidor

Many thanks !


----------



## blazarov

I tried to create a video showing how my current shots look like, but it turned out quite lame. Anyways i am sharing it.






So far for few weeks of usage the system is 100% reliable. All features work as expected.

The only annoying bug is that the MeBarista app is apparently not querying the MeCoffee for the actual running config, but it is keeping it locally on the tablet, and for some strange reason it is most of the times out-of-sync. Settings remain consistent on the MeCoffee and changing works reliably, but if you need to check what are your current settings from the MeBaristta app you can never be sure if what you are seeing is actually what is on the device. Not a deal breaker, especially if you dont change them regularly (i am still messing around with them almost every shot







), but it is quite lame and i am sure it will cost almost nothing to fix.

In fact pump power control works impressively reliable and consistent relative to actual brew pressure, judging by the gauge. Although it is purely open loop system i can easily achieve whatever pressure i want with trial and error by few attempts and it remains consistent given that coffee, grind and dose remain constant.

I am really wondering if the hardware is capable of connecting a pressure sensor for kinda closed loop pressure control based on its feedback. There is one spare input on the board, so how hard could it be? That would make the feature actually usable in the home-espresso enthusiast real life, unlike its current "experimental" nature.

Also in terms of pressure control you can now set only:

- start power %

- end power %

- shot time

and the device performs linear profile for the shot time and after that a flat line on the end power %

not really flexible for actual pressure "profiling" as you would generally want a more advanced "profile" with at least several points like you can do on "real" machines - vesuvius, etc..

This is also something that seems very easy to implement in software and i am really wondering why is the dutch guy not doing it.

So far based on my tests the best results are with preinfussion feature disabled and using the pressure function for preinfusion with rising pump power from ~20% to 100% in 15 seconds.

Temperature management with default settings is excellent, no comments needed there. it is much better than what I was able to achieve with chinese XMT7100 and REX C100 with PT100 sensor, even though i have invested lots of hours on testing and fine tuning.

Overall i am satisfied and i feel it just needs a little bit more work from the "vendor" to make it really great value product: (sorted from very easy to not-so-easy)

1. fix stupid bug in mobile app where it looses its settings

2. introduce pressure profiling with at least 5 setpoints in terms of power and shot time

3. introduce pressure sensor input initially just for graphing

4. introduce advanced pressure control with closed-loop pump power control based on real-time pressure sensor reading and change profiling setpoints to bars instead of pump power %

Any other actual users that are willing to share experience?


----------



## Salvidor

Thanks for having shared your settings, I've tried them and I get good results too.


----------



## Merkinglue

Hello All,

Newbie here. Joined just to see if anyone has good contact details for mecoffee?

Seems it's a common story, took my money 8th March, email saying PID shipped 13th March, nothing received as yet and emails, contact messages dropping into a black hole.


----------



## blazarov

Same experience here, no surprise.

Although i am happy with the product, the dutch guy is a dick.

I have sent at least 5 mails with questions, suggestions, about the product and my order - zero response.


----------



## ashcroc

Merkinglue said:


> Hello All,
> 
> Newbie here. Joined just to see if anyone has good contact details for mecoffee?
> 
> Seems it's a common story, took my money 8th March, email saying PID shipped 13th March, nothing received as yet and emails, contact messages dropping into a black hole.


Try emailing [email protected].


----------



## Merkinglue

ashcroc said:


> Try emailing [email protected].


Thanks, been doing that daily. Part of the black hole problem. No replies.


----------



## Abul Qahwah

I ordered on 13 March and received it exactly 2 weeks later. Very happy so far.


----------



## Merkinglue

It arrived today.

Still no communication from Netherlands.

Going to fit it next weekend.


----------



## Merkinglue

Oh FFS.

Dead on Arrival.

Failed at the first step. No Bluetooth.

240v being delivered to pins 1 and 3.

No bluetooth detected with 4 different devices.


----------



## blazarov

Sorry to hear that. So you have any lights blinking on the board?


----------



## Merkinglue

Nope blazarov, nothing blinking on the blinking board.

I've sent a snail mail to Jan to try and get a response.


----------



## brianchi73

Now the MeBarista app is no longer available on the US app store for iOS.


----------



## Merkinglue

After repeated attempts to engage with Jan for a replacement for the none functioning PID he sent I'm now forced to go down the chargeback route with the bank.

Hopefully I will at least get my money back.


----------



## ParisStilton

brianchi73 said:


> Now the MeBarista app is no longer available on the US app store for iOS.


Likewise with the UK App Store. I had to wipe my phone the other day and when I went to reinstall MeBarista, it wasn't listed. No luck getting hold of the creator via the web form either.


----------



## mirceat

The source code for meBarista is still available on several repositories hosted at https://git.mecoffee.nl/explore/repos, as announced on this blog post https://mecoffee.nl/blog/opening-up-mebarista.

The iOS meBarista app could be built from the meBarista / meBarista_in_Ionic2 repo.


----------



## Bastos80

Hello everyone, just received & installed the mecoffee.

A feedback with some recommandation (I guess creator must be reading this sometimes).

1) purchased on April 4th, shipped on April 16th, received May 3rd. Considering Netherland to Singapore via normal post, it's acceptable.

2) Installation; the online manual is clearly too basic, simple pictures are really missing.

Recommandation for creator; It needs more pictures step-by-step.

3) Issue one; the green blinking LED. It took me an eternity to see it! It's a tiny one on the right of microcontroller chip, and the intensity of the light is minimal compared to the red power light. Major scare here, followed with App/Bluetooth issues.

Recommandation; Indicate its location, or change the LED for the next batch.

4) iOS App issue (but it's certainly known to the mecoffee creator considering the above posts); iOS app "not available in my country", alternative iOS app "uBarista" could only read the measurement, but wouldn't let me access settings. So nevermind the iPad... for now? I think it's a critical issue. I choose BTLE for item's longer life-lasting (or compatibility with future smartphones/tables).

5) I switched to Android, and could not connect (LG G6+); "the device rejected you pairing request"! I still could install the meBarista app. After tweaking, as in disabling the normal BT and activating the BTLE, it worked like a charm. still not visible in Bluetooth devices though.

Recommandation for creator; make one single setting switch for either "classic" bluetooth or bluetooth LE in the app, indicate it on installation manual.

6) Issue two; there was a cable mismatch ; the 2 white cables were incorrect (the shorter one had a male+female connector, but not the longer one that's required for pre-infusion). I had to sacrifice the last option (timer), which is no big deal for me. But it really doesn't help!

Recommandation for creator; A checklist of all cables as we start to set it. Also, would you leave them attached together with the cable tie, or should you remove it? batch#1 I left it, batch#2 I had to remove it. A bit confusing.

Conclusion, it's now working, and I am playing with the settings happily. It's very ingenious pcb, but end user friendliness was sacrified. Luckily it's my line of work (electronics/piping/PID/etc), but it's a pity that such a great product can make buyers disappointed due to minor things.


----------



## sheitan

Unfortunately Jan is a one man army and I can understand that it's hard to handle all the stuff around the project.


----------



## Merkinglue

Morning All, An update on my mecoffee. I managed to get some free time in the lab at work yesterday and got the circuit board under some decent magnification. Found a few rubbish solder joints so fixed them. Device now powers up and talks to my phone. I'll try fitting it this weekend. If it works I'll cancel the cashback process via the bank.

Would never have found the poor quality soldering without a bloody expensive bit of kit I fortunately have occasional access to.

Hopefully I'll have a working PID this weekend.


----------



## blazarov

I wouldnt cancel the cashback.

This guy is a fraud and should be punished.

He is never responding to any support enquiries - even for your DoA unit, while on the same time he is processing orders and shipping units very quickly.

Also removing his app from the AppStore is probably due to complaints or he is no longer complying to their rules.


----------



## Merkinglue

Got it working. Seems to be OK.

Instructions are shite and contradictory in places.

Bluetooth wont connect to phone but works with tablet so able to configure it.

Now I can start experimenting with preinfusion and the like.

What temps are you guys setting them too? Sticking with default or tweaking?


----------



## blazarov

For the few months since i have it i have settled on 98-99C based on taste.


----------



## ImthatGuy

blazarov said:


> I wouldnt cancel the cashback.
> 
> This guy is a fraud and should be punished.
> 
> He is never responding to any support enquiries - even for your DoA unit, while on the same time he is processing orders and shipping units very quickly.
> 
> Also removing his app from the AppStore is probably due to complaints or he is no longer complying to their rules.


1. He has responded to support enquiries, as I can attest as one of the earliest buyers of the MeCoffee. There are others in this thread who have had support

2. He's slow and unreliable at support because, as someone else said he's essentially a one man band

3. Throwing round baseless accusations that he's a fraud doesn't help anyone who needs help.

My MeCoffee has worked fine for quite some time now - it took 3 goes to get a reliable one (which is how I know he responds to support queries).

I use the Chrome app on a MacBook to control it - I never went for the IOS version


----------



## leolo

ImthatGuy said:


> 1. He has responded to support enquiries, as I can attest as one of the earliest buyers of the MeCoffee. There are others in this thread who have had support
> 
> 2. He's slow and unreliable at support because, as someone else said he's essentially a one man band
> 
> 3. Throwing round baseless accusations that he's a fraud doesn't help anyone who needs help.
> 
> My MeCoffee has worked fine for quite some time now - it took 3 goes to get a reliable one (which is how I know he responds to support queries).
> 
> I use the Chrome app on a MacBook to control it - I never went for the IOS version


 I'm interested in the meCoffee pid. Reading many posts of unsatisfied users makes me wonder if it would be a wise decision though. I don't think Jan is a fraud but when you buy a product you expect it to work properly. It took you 3 goes to get a reliable one ... Yes, that's a sign for some kind of support but sadly also a sign for poor quality management. I'm the last person who wouldn't understand personal problems. Looking at his website and the github files you see that there is no update. Old posts, old files. I wonder if Jan really is developing the mecoffee pid business any further or not.

As i said in the beginning. I would love to get a working pid for my little Silvia but i have some strange gut feeling about mecoffee.

Just my 2 cents.


----------



## ImthatGuy

I think that's fair. Support is spotty and it does seem that Jan lacks time and resources.

Buying the MeCoffee is a risk, unfortunately


----------



## chevy

All I can add is that I decided to take the risk back in January and it arrived pretty quickly and so far so good. My Silvia is in a completely different league now.

I went for the BLE (iOS) version but use my Galaxy S8 android phone to control it which has BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy).


----------



## chevy

Merkinglue said:


> Got it working. Seems to be OK.
> 
> Instructions are shite and contradictory in places.
> 
> Bluetooth wont connect to phone but works with tablet so able to configure it.
> 
> Now I can start experimenting with preinfusion and the like.
> 
> What temps are you guys setting them too? Sticking with default or tweaking?


 These are the settings I'm using on a Silvia E version 5 (with insulated boiler):


----------



## leolo

chevy said:


> These are the settings I'm using on a Silvia E version 5 (with insulated boiler):
> 
> View attachment 313
> 
> 
> View attachment 314
> 
> 
> View attachment 315





chevy said:


> All I can add is that I decided to take the risk back in January and it arrived pretty quickly and so far so good. My Silvia is in a completely different league now.
> 
> I went for the BLE (iOS) version but use my Galaxy S8 android phone to control it which has BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy).


 I'm happy for you and admire you're courage ? . As i stated before, there is still some little spark of "just have some b... and go for it" in me. I just have to convince myself. Wrote Jan a few weeks ago about my interest and my worries. As you can image i got no response. No "Don't worry i'm on track, you'll get a good product for your money." nor a "Yes, i'm still struggeling". Maybe no response is also a response. Not sure.


----------



## blazarov

106,5C brew temperature WOW!
Do you really get good espresso on that temp? Have you tried lowering?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## chevy

Yeah I've tried at quite a few temperatures. I'd recommend experimenting yourself. I tried initially with the default setting (101 degrees) and the shots seemed a bit off compared with the ones before PIDing.

I also measured the temperature at the brew head with a thermocouple type thermometer and a plastic beaker. I. found that with a mecoffee setting of 104.5 degrees C thermostat temperature, water temperature max measured 93.2 and with a thermostat temperature of 106.5, it measured 93.3. (This reading was with 50% proactive). I thought these seemed quite low so redid the test but preheated the thermometer probe but still only got 96.1 degrees at the brew head (proactive 60%).

Of course bear in mind that it might be the mecoffee temperature sensor that's badly calibrated on mine, hence why I'd say experiment at different temperatures keeping everything else as constant as you can. Also I've noticed that the proactive setting versus the rate of flow of your shot has a big impact on the temperature as the shot is poured. I had to up the setting whilst doing the experiment to make it more realistic as I had nothing restricting the flow.


----------



## blazarov

Thanks for sharing.
I have also experimented and settled on 98-100C based on taste depending on beans.
I also fully agree that the proactive feature has very noticeable impact, not necessarily for the good.
Most probably our sensors calibration is off with such large difference.
Since i am doing more or less slow flow shots i keep it in the low 10-30% range. Anything above that and the net effect on espresso is similar to higher brew temp overall.
Although the idea for the proactive feature is good i believe that the implementation is too simplistic to actually mimic the physics model and characteristics of the boiler-heater-grouphead-puck system.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## friuli

leolo said:


> I'm happy for you and admire you're courage ? . As i stated before, there is still some little spark of "just have some b... and go for it" in me. I just have to convince myself. Wrote Jan a few weeks ago about my interest and my worries. As you can image i got no response. No "Don't worry i'm on track, you'll get a good product for your money." nor a "Yes, i'm still struggeling". Maybe no response is also a response. Not sure.


 I ordered one a week ago (on the 19th of May). Got an automatic reply with an order number saying:

Thanks for your order. It's on-hold until we confirm that payment has been received. In the meantime, here's a reminder of what you ordered:

Haven't received a shipping confirmation yet. My question concerning the vanished iOS-Mebarista-App hasn't been answered either. I found a solution meanwhile: you find the sources on his git: https://git.mecoffee.nl/meBarista/meBarista_in_Ionic2 including an instruction how to build the app by yourself.

I will post here when it arrives (Germany) so you will know if at least the shop is still working. Let's keep the fingers crossed it is. It seems to be the best - or better only - solution around if you want to have full and easy PID control and not ruin the great design of a Rancilio Silvia.


----------



## leolo

friuli said:


> I ordered one a week ago (on the 19th of May). Got an automatic reply with an order number saying:
> 
> Thanks for your order. It's on-hold until we confirm that payment has been received. In the meantime, here's a reminder of what you ordered:
> 
> Haven't received a shipping confirmation yet. My question concerning the vanished iOS-Mebarista-App hasn't been answered either. I found a solution meanwhile: you find the sources on his git: https://git.mecoffee.nl/meBarista/meBarista_in_Ionic2 including an instruction how to build the app by yourself.
> 
> I will post here when it arrives (Germany) so you will know if at least the shop is still working. Let's keep the fingers crossed it is. It seems to be the best - or better only - solution around if you want to have full and easy PID control and not ruin the great design of a Rancilio Silvia.


 Hi Friuli, i keep my fingers crossed for you too. It's some kind of gambling. Maybe it is a good sign that the shipping takes a little time, so he doesn't just resend some returned faulty PIDs. You never know. I'm also from Germany and here is a new "player" on the PID sector - as you surely know - http://rancilio-pid.de/. An open DIY project. I talked to one of the developer and he was very confident that a pure PID without any other functionality could be accomplished very easily. Knowing my skill set i still prefer mecoffee or even Auber, which is functional but so ugly, that a can't do that to my Silvia ?

I'm looking forward to hearing about your experience with the mecoffee pid.

Cheers


----------



## Merkinglue

For another DIY approach there is always itoCOFFEE.

https://www.softwareandcircuits.com/division/circuits/onlineshop/articles/ito/schedule.html

This will be my backup if meCoffee dies.


----------



## blazarov

This is the best available option, in theory will make your Silvia almost similar to a Vesuvius ;-)

But keep in mind it requires even more technical skills.

In fact my plan is the same. If (or when) mecoffee dies i will install this one. On the other hand such expensive upgrades make no financial sense as it will make the total machine cost comparable to much better machines.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## leolo

blazarov said:


> This is the best available option, in theory will make your Silvia almost similar to a Vesuvius ?
> 
> But keep in mind it requires even more technical skills.
> 
> In fact my plan is the same. If (or when) mecoffee dies i will install this one. On the other hand such expensive upgrades make no financial sense as it will make the total machine cost comparable to much better machines.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


 I totally agree. This solution is very elaborate. Costs and time make only sense if you are very in love with the Rancilio. You already get a Lelit with PID for a quite reasonable price.?


----------



## crypticc

Put me in the non working brick from 2018 ( it stopped accepting Bluetooth connections after changing temperature, but I had messaged to do that several times before)

If Jan is back online I've sent him a last plea for help.


----------



## leolo

crypticc said:


> Put me in the non working brick from 2018 ( it stopped accepting Bluetooth connections after changing temperature, but I had messaged to do that several times before)
> 
> If Jan is back online I've sent him a last plea for help.


 Did Jan help you already or still no response?


----------



## tvanarnhem

Hello there. I just received my MeCoffee and I'm installing it ona Silvia V4. Everything went great up until step 6, where I'm trying to install the preinfusion. I connected the wires according to the manual. But when I press the power switch, I immediately hear an ongoing pump noise. When I flip the brew switch, I hear a flickering sound and shortly afterwards water comes out of the grouphead, so that one seems to work correctly. The thing is that the pump should immediately kick in when I press the power switch. Does anybody have a recommendation for this problem? Thanks in advance.


----------



## jonathanheron

tvanarnhem said:


> Hello there. I just received my MeCoffee and I'm installing it ona Silvia V4. Everything went great up until step 6, where I'm trying to install the preinfusion. I connected the wires according to the manual. But when I press the power switch, I immediately hear an ongoing pump noise. When I flip the brew switch, I hear a flickering sound and shortly afterwards water comes out of the grouphead, so that one seems to work correctly. The thing is that the pump should immediately kick in when I press the power switch. Does anybody have a recommendation for this problem? Thanks in advance.


 Hi. I'm afraid I can't help with that. I'm trying to decide though if it's safe to order a MeCoffee (my current one just died) as Jan has been hard to get hold of. Do you mind if I ask how long ago you ordered yours?


----------



## tvanarnhem

jonathanheron said:


> Hi. I'm afraid I can't help with that. I'm trying to decide though if it's safe to order a MeCoffee (my current one just died) as Jan has been hard to get hold of. Do you mind if I ask how long ago you ordered yours?


 I orderd it about a month ago. It's working absolutely fine and I'm quite happy with it. I've also heard that Jan is hard to reach, but my experience with placing the order was quite good. I also sent him a message with the preinfusion question above, really hope I'll get a response from him.


----------



## davidk21770

tvanarnhem said:


> Hello there. I just received my MeCoffee and I'm installing it ona Silvia V4. Everything went great up until step 6, where I'm trying to install the preinfusion. I connected the wires according to the manual. But when I press the power switch, I immediately hear an ongoing pump noise. When I flip the brew switch, I hear a flickering sound and shortly afterwards water comes out of the grouphead, so that one seems to work correctly. The thing is that the pump should immediately kick in when I press the power switch. Does anybody have a recommendation for this problem? Thanks in advance.


 I have an original Silvia and an original MeCoffee. When mine did this, it was that the brew switch was failing. One repaced, it stopped doing that. But I seem to remember that there were special instructions for the V4 because of wiring changes. Did you make sure that you followed the V4 instructions?

And for others. I was one of the original complainers when Jan went silent. He has been back and answered my email to him when my MeCoffee started doing exactly this -- when turned-on, it acted as if the pump switch had also been thrown. He appologised for his absence and was ready to send me a replacement unit, but I had him wait to see if replacing the switch fixed the problem -- which it did.


----------



## tvanarnhem

davidk21770 said:


> I have an original Silvia and an original MeCoffee. When mine did this, it was that the brew switch was failing. One repaced, it stopped doing that. But I seem to remember that there were special instructions for the V4 because of wiring changes. Did you make sure that you followed the V4 instructions?
> 
> ﻿ And for others. I was one of the original complainers when Jan went silent. He has been back and answered my email to him when my MeCoffee started doing exactly this -- when turned-on, it acted as if the pump switch had also been thrown. He appologised for his absence and was ready to send me a replacement unit, but I had him wait to see if replacing the switch fixed the problem -- which it did.


 Thanks you for responding to my question. Can you elaborate a bit on the faulty brew switch? Because I've never had any problems with it. Also I do not know anything about alternative wiring for the V4 version, on MeCoffee's website the installation is the same for version V1 until V4...?


----------



## jonathanheron

tvanarnhem said:


> I orderd it about a month ago. It's working absolutely fine and I'm quite happy with it. I've also heard that Jan is hard to reach, but my experience with placing the order was quite good. I also sent him a message with the preinfusion question above, really hope I'll get a response from him.


 Thank you ?


----------



## rossoman

Hi.

I can use my Silvia V4 only when meCoffee is connected to a phone and app is running. When the connection breaks, orange light turns off and brew switch isn't runging the pump. Then I have to turn the machine off/on wait for a connection and I can start making coffee.

It's a little bit annoying to always first run the mebarista app wait for the connection and only then use the machine. It should work without the phone too.

Does anyone had this issues?

Many thanks.


----------



## tvanarnhem

rossoman said:


> Hi.
> 
> I can use my Silvia V4 only when meCoffee is connected to a phone and app is running. When the connection breaks, orange light turns off and brew switch isn't runging the pump. Then I have to turn the machine off/on wait for a connection and I can start making coffee.
> 
> It's a little bit annoying to always first run the mebarista app wait for the connection and only then use the machine. It should work without the phone too.
> 
> Does anyone had this issues?
> 
> Many thanks.


 I'm afraid I can't help you with that. Sounds like a software issue? Have you tried upgrading the firmware of your MeCoffee? Perhaps that would help?

As for my own questions: haven't heard anything from Jan yet unfortunately. Very disappointing. Can anyone help me with my preinfusion question a few posts up?


----------



## tvanarnhem

davidk21770 said:


> I have an original Silvia and an original MeCoffee. When mine did this, it was that the brew switch was failing. One repaced, it stopped doing that. But I seem to remember that there were special instructions for the V4 because of wiring changes. Did you make sure that you followed the V4 instructions?
> 
> And for others. I was one of the original complainers when Jan went silent. He has been back and answered my email to him when my MeCoffee started doing exactly this -- when turned-on, it acted as if the pump switch had also been thrown. He appologised for his absence and was ready to send me a replacement unit, but I had him wait to see if replacing the switch fixed the problem -- which it did.


 Update: I tried a different brew switch but unfortunately it gave me the same error. Do you have another suggestion to fix this problem? It's really annoying because I cannot complete the MeCoffee setup. Also, Jan is not responding to my emails....


----------



## tvanarnhem

Another update: I managed to get the preinfusion working. In order to do this, I only connected the orange wires together, I left the stock white wire connected to the upper left terminal on the brew switch. That did the trick for me. However, another proplem pops up: I'm trying to get pressure profiling to work. I installed the steps according to the manual, but somehow I do not notice any pressure difference when I enable that function. Does anyone know what to do?

I tried connecting the white wires as mentioned before, but that gives me the error of the pump running all the timpe when powering up the device. So that is not really an option...


----------



## Merkinglue

Sorry tvanarnhem I don't use the pressure profiling so can't help. ?


----------



## friuli

leolo said:


> Hi Friuli, i keep my fingers crossed for you too. It's some kind of gambling. Maybe it is a good sign that the shipping takes a little time, so he doesn't just resend some returned faulty PIDs. You never know. I'm also from Germany and here is a new "player" on the PID sector - as you surely know - http://rancilio-pid.de/. An open DIY project. I talked to one of the developer and he was very confident that a pure PID without any other functionality could be accomplished very easily. Knowing my skill set i still prefer mecoffee or even Auber, which is functional but so ugly, that a can't do that to my Silvia ?
> 
> I'm looking forward to hearing about your experience with the mecoffee pid.
> 
> Cheers


 Bad news: I ordered the PID on 20th of March. Transfered 139 Euro to Jans account. Today (3 months later!!!) no PID shipped. No reaction to any email.

This is really starting to be a fraud. I can understand if someone doesn't manage to answer support emails. But keeping the online shop active without any notice, taking the money and not shipping the product is not excusable. If he is not able to ship he should at least close the online shop or leave a notice there.

So I can only warn anybody to place an order at Mecoffee. You probaply loose your money as I did!!!

Or did anybody here in this forum had a PID successfully shipped or an email answered from Jan in the last three months?


----------



## ashcroc

friuli said:


> Bad news: I ordered the PID on 20th of March. Transfered 139 Euro to Jans account. Today (3 months later!!!) no PID shipped. No reaction to any email.
> This is really starting to be a fraud. I can understand if someone doesn't manage to answer support emails. But keeping the online shop active without any notice, taking the money and not shipping the product is not excusable. If he is not able to ship he should at least close the online shop or leave a notice there.
> So I can only warn anybody to place an order at Mecoffee. You probaply loose your money as I did!!!
> Or did anybody here in this forum had a PID successfully shipped or an email answered from Jan in the last three months?


Hope you paid by credit card so you can get your money back.


----------



## friuli

friuli said:


> Bad news: I ordered the PID on 20th of March. Transfered 139 Euro to Jans account. Today (3 months later!!!) no PID shipped. No reaction to any email.
> 
> This is really starting to be a fraud. I can understand if someone doesn't manage to answer support emails. But keeping the online shop active without any notice, taking the money and not shipping the product is not excusable. If he is not able to ship he should at least close the online shop or leave a notice there.
> 
> So I can only warn anybody to place an order at Mecoffee. You probaply loose your money as I did!!!
> 
> Or did anybody here in this forum had a PID successfully shipped or an email answered from Jan in the last three months?


 Good news now: I sent a really friendly letter to his address and a few days later I got a shipping confirmation. I heard from other users that they just got their PID immediately after ordering just a few weeks ago. So I guess I was just unlucky. Problem is still that he doesn't seem to read emails. For all who have the same problem: a letter seems to work.

So you can order there. My case seemed to be an exception. Haven't heard that anybody lost his/her money. Worst case is that you have to wait a few months.


----------



## staines

Has anyone had any recent experiences?


----------



## Steviespresso

ParisStilton said:


> Likewise with the UK App Store. I had to wipe my phone the other day and when I went to reinstall MeBarista, it wasn't listed. No luck getting hold of the creator via the web form either.





brianchi73 said:


> Now the MeBarista app is no longer available on the US app store for iOS.


 There's a new iOS app for the meCoffee available now on App Store in the UK. It's called uBarista!


----------



## Steviespresso

Sorry, should've been clearer - the app has been available for a while but there is a review now from 3rd Oct stating that it works perfectly.

I couldn't figure out how to edit my post above.


----------



## samuelsparrow

I've just ordered a MeCoffee PID from Jan and then found this forum - should I be worried about fulfilment of the order and the lack of iOS app support in the UK?


----------



## Merkinglue

samuelsparrow said:


> I've just ordered a MeCoffee PID from Jan and then found this forum - should I be worried about fulfilment of the order and the lack of iOS app support in the UK?


 Unfortunately, yes.


----------



## samuelsparrow

Merkinglue said:


> Unfortunately, yes.


  I'll keep you up to date with any developments.


----------



## Keipi

samuelsparrow said:


> I'll keep you up to date with any developments.


 I've ordered on the 3rd of January and received my meCoffee today. Seems like Jan is hard to get a hold off but is fulfilling orders.


----------



## samuelsparrow

Keipi said:


> I've ordered on the 3rd of January and received my meCoffee today. Seems like Jan is hard to get a hold off but is fulfilling orders.


 I ordered on the 26th December and tried several times to contact Jan via email - I didn't receive any reply.

I eventually posted a letter to him and got a dispatch confirmation a few days later...fingers crossed!


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## Ham

I ordered around the same time, received a despatch notification but - so far - no show. Oh yeah, and no reply to the multiple polite emails. Oh well.


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## Ham

Ham said:


> I ordered around the same time, received a despatch notification but - so far - no show. Oh yeah, and no reply to the multiple polite emails. Oh well.


 Well, it arrived this morning! postmarked as per the despatch email, so all good so far.


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## Ham

Ham said:


> Well, it arrived this morning! postmarked as per the despatch email, so all good so far.


 Ah well. Anyone know if there's anything I can do to fix a won't-connect-Bluetooth issue? It's a BLE device.

Connected up the PID, instructions for previous Sivia versions need to be amended as the power switch is now a SP-ST non latching rather than a DP-ST normal switch. Still, no big problem as you can pick up switched power off the pump switch, and if you can't work that out you probably shouldn't be attempting this.

So, I have life, with LED functioning as described (red constant, green flash). I can see the device on my phone which supports BLE, but doesn't pair, automatically or manually.

It's life, Jim, but not as we know it.


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## Ham

Heh! fixed.

Answer? switch off the BLE keyboard and mouse, about 10m away..... (and restarted phone for good measure)

Onwards. Upwards.


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## Ham

OK, all in place now, all working. I've put some heatshrink over what otherwise would be live terminals on the switch, all fitted in as should. Initial observations: the orange light no longer works to show coming up to heat, no big deal. The insulation under the thermostat seems to lead to a little overshoot, again no big deal but I wonder why no heat paste (I confess, I added a little.

There must be something I've forgotten.......

Oh yeah, make some coffee


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## Ham

Well, first impression -and hte coffee it made - is good. Time will tell. A little flakiness around the app, eg the temperature shown occasionally loses its decimal point in the right place, and I have a slight concern that it may not fail safe, if it does fail. Long at short is, if you are expecting to follow instructions word for word without understanding how it all hangs together, you may struggle, but as a piece of tinkerer's tinkering, it gets my vote. Even if it were to fail early life, it is a fun experiment and one I would have tried to do myself, probably spending a lot more along the way.


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## Daniel R

Hi,

Ordered on Jan 13. Kit delivered on Jan 28. Have now completed the full install. Mostly working, but have noticed two issues:



The meBarrista app is not available on the AppStore. I'm using the uBarrista app instead. Have anyone heard if it's coming back?


No PID temperature control of the stem temperature. Power is only at 0% or 100%. Have I done something wrong or is it a bug?


Best,

Daniel


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## samuelsparrow

samuelsparrow said:


> I'll keep you up to date with any developments.


 It arrived a couple of weeks ago and has been installed!

Very happy so far and getting consistent shots after some testing.

I'm using the uBarrista app on an iPhone as I couldn't get the MeBarrista Chrome app to connect.


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## Ham

Update time. All working as intended and the start temperature is as steady as a rock. Two things, though.

- It's a bit of a shame that the shot timer just shows the length of time after you finish the shot, a real time timer would be more useful. But, actually that's all academical because....

- I've lost comms with the unit. Most likely because there is another BLE source nearby. When I CBA, I'll try to resolve but for the moment it works fine without the app, just means I can't change anything


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## JeanDit

Hello everyone, I wanted to contribute by sharing some information regarding this installation process of the PID by itself, a subject where I haven't found much recent information and which made my installation a little longer and difficult. Since the company support isn't very responsive our community will benefits of sharing information.

First of all, I live in Canada and even if they said they were out of stock on the web site (ship as soon as possible) I received the unit within 8 days which is very acceptable to me.

The lack of picture/video in the documentation is definitely the most pain of the installation process.

The procedure steps are separated by features, which is great. But as someone willing to install all the options, this brings unnecessary steps: they make you undo a lot of what you did in the previous step to change this again and again. This could have solved this by giving a different procedure for people willing to install everything.

I think some precision or error should be considered/fixed in their documentation:



At the step 9, they mention "The upper left terminal of your power button remains unconnected" which makes the brew button not working. At a previous optional step, they make you connect a white wire there - I think it has to stay there - so I removed everything as they mention, but not the white wire, otherwise it is not working. Can someone please confirm this?


At the step 6 that the "orange and black wires" they should have mentioned where they are taken from the brew switch.


They should add a precision about the pin connector and cable of the sensor: when you unplug it, it can be reassembled in 2 different ways. Red part of cable at pin #1 and #8. Which one is correct? I used Pin #1 and it is working fine so I supposed I'm ok. Can someone please confirm this?


They gave instructions about some "yellow" cables that I haven't found - to assume that my machine is old and that they should be the "brown" cables! Of course this is not the MeCoffee maker mistake, but I thought I should share it here, it can save some time to know. I recommend they have a small notice about this in there docs.


They should also provide a final plan of all the connections so you can verify that everything is ok.


Regarding the built quality, I have only good things to say. It seems robust, comes with all the wires that where the exact good length. The board could have been made a little smaller as I can see unused space on it but I assume it would have impacted the cost of it not enough a problem to bother with.

It took me 2 hours to install, but it would take me 20 min now with what I have learned. If this would have to be done again, I would buy some new plastic for the connectors since mine where old and fragile. I used Shrinks and tie-wrap to secure the whole thing and to keep it clean.

Very anxious to test it out!


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## chevy

Hi JeanDit,

I have the V5 Silvia whereas I think yours must be the V1-4 so the installation is slightly different so please forgive me if what I say isn't right for your machine.

Addressing your points:

1: From what I understand the upper left terminal of the brew switch should remain unconnected. In step 6 I think you should have disconnected the white cable attached there, and connected this cable to the white cable from the kit, leaving them disconnected from the brew switch and simply connected to each other.

2. The orange and black wires are the two you previously connected together in step 5. The orange was originally connected to the top right terminal of the brew switch. The two orange wires should be connected to each other but not reconnected to the brew switch.

3. I'm not sure I understand what you're asking here I'm afraid.

I hope this is helpful - I think the instructions could be better on the website and like you it would be much quicker doing it a second time! It should also say somewhere that right and left is as you look at it from the front of the machine.

All the best,

Chevy


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## JeanDit

Thanks! I think I have a problem and it might be my PID setup since I never experienced any issues like that before. I can make my shots (which are awesome by the way!) and then heat my milk without problem (all features are working 100%), BUT it seems that the boiler is never shutting down. It keep going to the roof ... until... the safety heat switch kill the whole thing. Started it twice, happened twice. So before my roof get on fire, I though I could share my setup here to get advice. I will try to email MeCoffee for advice as well. I will let you know if I have a reply. Meanwhile, anyone have any idea what my problem is? Here is how I plugged the thing (Silvia V3).

Many thanks /cheers


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## chevy

Can I just ask what do the red crosses indicate? Also if you could post a couple of photos that might help.


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## ashcroc

chevy said:


> Can I just ask what do the red crosses indicate? Also if you could post a couple of photos that might help.


Looks like it means cut the connection.


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## JeanDit

Yes sorry for the lack of clarity, that red cross means the wire WAS connected there, but got removed as per the instructions.

I will add pictures in a couple a of hours.

Thanks very much.


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## JeanDit

Here some pictures. And the updated schema for more clarity. Many thanks.


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## JeanDit

Hello everyone, I made a lot of other tests yesterday and I haven't been able to reproduce the heating problem. What I don't like about this, is that I haven't changed anything to the wiring. That intermittent problem makes me think that it could be software related.

My doubt about some bad connections in my setup was also based on the fact that the timer option doesn't work but, according to this forums a lot of people on 120v also have this issue. Also, the shotimer is only appearing after the shot is over after I activated the preinfusion, but again, users here have reported the same issue. The fact that the shotimer is working fine without preinfusion also makes me think that there is something wrong with the software. Still waiting to hear news from my email to MeCoffee.

Today, I made two other shoots and BANG! After doing my milk, the temperature went up until the satefy switch kill it. But the boiler wasn't running while I took a look at it.



Could the boiler be programmed to shutdown to slowly after reaching the 130 degree I asked for, to make it reach up to 165?


Or is it possible that something else than the boiler can make the temperature going up (since the app shows it was shut down?)?


More testing need to be done... Firefighters are on the way ?


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## chevy

Hi JeanDit,

As far as I can see the wiring looks correct in the photos. I realise you were talking about the power switch not the brew switch in your original point 1. I believe the long white wire should be moved down to the terminal below it along with the black Silvia wire and the green mecoffee wire (leaving the upper left unconnected). This gives the valve an always on permanent neutral. You can try moving it but I don't think this can be the reason you're having the issues.

So the boiler is being regulated ok when the problem isn't there but then every so often it fails to turn off? Or does this only happen when you try to steam?


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## JeanDit

Hello everyone,

First of all, thanks @Chevy, I fixed my wiring. But you were also right, it dint fixed my issue.

Now - I'm really starting to have a LOVE&HATE relationship with my MeCoffee PID...

Love because I have simply made, by far, the best cups of coffee I ever had with my Rancilio machine, and on a consistent manner (every shot is good, in opposition to my 2 years of temp surfing).

Hate because of its inconsistent behavior before and after my shots, which I'm really starting to think that comes from the software programming. Again, I had repeatedly - just after making the best coffee ever - having my Silvia shutdown from overheating. The temperature increase until the overheat security switch kicks in. Either the interface lies to me by telling me the boiler is shut while it is not and doesn't give the signal to the machine stop it, or there is something else heating the whole thing... while the boiler is really shut.

I run version meCoffee pcb v9 30 149 15 and I can see there is an upgrade available in the flash firmware option but all firmwares are grayed out. I cannot click on them. I did everything mentioned on the readme but it doesn't work. Anyone had this issue?

I'm also having weird problem with the interface (see screenshot - WTF!).

At this point, I'm hoping that I'm running a buggy firmware and the the V10 version will solve everything... If only I can find a way to flash it!

FYI - Still no news from the company.

Haaaa.. what can't we do... to get a good coffee cup?


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## chevy

I have the same issue with the shot timer. I also occasionally have that misreporting of the temperature but it seems to be when my phone is too far away to receive a strong enough Bluetooth connection. I've checked my firmware is the same version as yours so don't think that's the problem.

By the way, did you set the steam temperature to 130 - mine's set to 125 by default?

I'm afraid I'm starting to run out of suggestions other than that you may have a faulty mecoffee and maybe just need a replacement.

I really hope you manage to get it sorted. Once it's working it does make great coffee!


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## JeanDit

I re-opened my machine and removed the whole thing. I had tho figure out how to re-plug everything the way if was before and now, without the PID, I have no overheating problem.

This sucks. I have wasted a lot of time... The good thing is that I discovered this forum from the experience 

Still no answer from the company, at this point, I'm not even sure if it's even worth asking for a replacement - but I will try.

/cheers.


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## EdsEspresso

Well I have had a meCoffee on my Rancilio Silvia for about a month now and thought I would report.

First, let me say that I really want the meCoffee/meBarista to work. It seems like the best designed PID out there for the Silvia, and had features which no other PID offered. However the issues I have run into and the total lack of support from the seller make me sorry that I went down this path, and I thought I would tell what I have found so that others can be forewarned. Here's what I am seeing:

The meCoffee work pretty much as described as long as it is cool (first shot from being off a while). It keeps to temp very well, does the pre-infusion run and delay as you program it. Only issue I see when cool is that meBarista will remove its shot timer from the screen early (before the max shot time), but meCoffee keeps working so not a biggie, I just count the last few secs. And if all you ever do is pull one shot and let everything cool down before the next, it's OK.

However once the Silvia (and meCoffee) have warmed up (30 mins +), things fall apart very quickly. When warm, the meCoffee will often (>60% of the time) stop a shot after 10-15sec, buzz the solenoid for a few secs and then restart the shot from the beginning. Basically just wastes coffee and time. A more serious flaw (potentially a heater killer and fire danger) is that when warm the meCoffee looses control of the heater, and will leave the heater on 100% even when it "thinks" that it is off. If one does not manually intervene in these situations and turn the power off (assuming you did not give meCoffee control of the power), it seems likely you would boil all the water out of the boiler, burn out the element, and potentially create a fire hazard (depending if you have a model with the over temp breaker in it).

These problems seem to be in the meCoffee, in that they happen regardless if meBarista is connected or not (except of course the timer going away too soon which is I believe a meBarista thing). I have double checked all the installation connections and they are good; which I would expect since it works when the board is cool.

I have a background in micro-controllers and industrial devices, so am familiar with these sorts of things. It seems likely that the problems I see are due to a hardware flaw in my meCoffee board or in the meCoffee firmware. Especially as it is temperature related (and the meCoffee is in the recommended place). I have tried updating the firmware via meBarista, but it does not work. And I have not been able to get any reply from the meCoffee people to assist with a firmware update or diagnosing a potential board problem.

I have tried reaching out to meCoffee/Jan three times, via email and paper mail. So far no reply. If I don't hear from them soon, I will have to pull the meCoffee out and go back to temp surfing.

So in summary, meCoffee is a great concept, but they have sent me defective product, and appear to be unwilling to help or stand behind their product, despite what they say on their website and help screens.


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## EdsEspresso

JeanDit said:


> I re-opened my machine and removed the whole thing. I had tho figure out how to re-plug everything the way if was before and now, without the PID, I have no overheating problem.
> 
> This sucks. I have wasted a lot of time... The good thing is that I discovered this forum from the experience
> 
> Still no answer from the company, at this point, I'm not even sure if it's even worth asking for a replacement - but I will try.
> 
> /cheers.


 Hi JeanDit-

Just reread your posts here after putting up my post. Looks like we are seeing some of the same issues.

FWIW, I have found that the overheating problem is tied to when the meCoffee board gets too hot, and after making steam. When hot, what happens here is after making steam and you turn the steam switch off, meBarista will "say" that the heat is off (Boiler % goes to 0, target temp goes back to brew temp setting) as it should, but in reality it still has the heater on FULL, as can be seen by the light next to the power switch. There still is a good bluetooth connection as meBarista reports the temp going up and up just fine. I had never let it go long enough to pop the overtemp breaker, but have no doubt it would eventually; and on older versions without the overtemp protection it would likely lead to heater coil burnout or worse. I also have found that a quick power cycle will return the meCoffee to proper operation, but the problems will continue to happen if you use it before it has cooled.

My meCoffee reports using the same FW/board as you reported. And like you I see that this is not the most current FW version. I find it interesting that two recently shipped boards went out with old FW (contrary to what their help/website say). Makes me wonder if perhaps meCoffee is shipping some of their old stock which he wrote about on his blog from a couple of years ago which had quality issues? These problems which happen as the board heats up certainly point to a faulty electrical component or FW.

I am curious, which version of meCoffee do you have the "Android" version or the "iPhone" version? FWIW I am using the android one.

I am continuing to ingestigate and "play around" with the meCoffee. If I find any solutions I will post them.


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## chevy

The v9 30 149 15 firmware version is the one I have with a mecoffee from a year ago. Maybe I've just been lucky but mine hasn't suffered so far from the boiler remaining on issue. The shot timer doesn't work with preinfusion as you say though.

Just a thought - my version of the Silvia is the E/version 5 which has an insulation jacket around the boiler - could the insulation be what's preventing my mecoffee overheating?


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## JeanDit

Hello Guys 

Im running meBarista on Android, on a Silvia V2. On my end, the "boiler not stopping issue" doesn't seems to be only when the MeCoffee is hot, since it does it even when the machine is starting from a cold boot and the PID is outside the case, just hanging in fresh air ? (doing test before permanent install). I will put it around ice and make more tests.

My timer also only shows after the shot and the firmware update are grayed out.

I wonder if I can find a way to extract the V10 version of the firmware from the app and find a way to connect to the PID directly on the chip to force flash it to V10 the see if it works better (I would backup V9 just in case). Anyone with electronic skills have an idea how could this be achieved?

At this point I have nothing to lose, I don't have news from the company after 1 month and it doesn't looks like I'm getting either reimbursed or a replacement.


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## EdsEspresso

@chevy- Yes, my Silvia (a V3) does not have insulation on the boiler. The thought had occurred to me that it might help the meCoffee issues I am seeing. Probably will do it since it should save a few kilowatts if nothing else...

@JeanDit- Slightly different symptoms you're having. I too pulled the meCoffee out and ran it while it dangled from the wires on the top. In that mode, I never saw the problems. But as soon as I put it back inside the issues came back (overheating and buzzing the solenoid) whenever it was left on for too long. I seem to get further in the FW update than you. It will attempt to do it (V10, with the earlier versions greyed out), but it tells me that I need a PIN. I have no idea what the pin for this (or any) version is. I have tried guessing but but have not stumbled on the right PIN yet.

The bigger question I have is what FW version goes with which board. It isn't clear whether there are different versions for the BL2 (android) vs BLE (iPhone) boards. If anyone out there knows more about the FW versions and which goes with which board, and maybe the PINs that would be great. One would think/hope that meBarista will only pick a compatible FW for the board it sees, however given the other bugs we are seeing, I don't think one can count on that.

As far as forcing a FW update outside of the meBarista software, one would need a development station like one that is used for the Arduino (which I believe is what the meCoffee design was based upon). One would presumably have to know a bit about the meCoffee design (you could assume it is the same as the Arduino I guess) and you would have to find the file for the FW. A bit hard to do I think, but I suspect much of the info is buried in the meBarista source code which Jan has made available. But I have not gone down that path yet.

BTW, there are two versions of meBarista up on the Android play store. Which one you get seems to be a bit random. The first time I got the old one, pre-timer fixes. When I went back it downloaded the newer version with the timer/pre-infusion fixes, and that version is better (still does not have a fully functioning timer). No idea why the Play Store doesn't give you the latest version all the time, but it doesn't. If you using Android devices, you might check that you have the newest meBarista.

At this point, I would tend to think that Jan shipped out some of the old "defective" boards he mentioned on his website from a few years back. He stated that they were made with defective components, which might explain the similar but somewhat varied symptoms we are seeing. It would be great if he could confirm that (and answer our other questions ?) and perhaps tell us what he knows of those problems so we could replace the defective parts and get our boards working. But my hope for getting any response from him is rapidly fading.


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## JeanDit

Good stuff here, let's keep pushing this 

The PIN of your meCoffee is 4321.

(Source: https://www.google.com/amp/s/mecoffee.nl/mebarista/help/bluetooth/amp/).


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## EdsEspresso

Thanks @JeanDit. I have used that 4321 PIN to get my Android devices to pair with the meCoffee. But the PIN I was referring to is on the meBarista/Settings/Hardware/Firmware page. There is a line "Pin code required for flashing" where one needs to enter a pin. I have guessed 4321 and 10 (the FW version) and a few other common pins, but have not stumbled on the right one. If one enters nothing for the pin, or have the wrong one, then meBarista complains and does not do the FW update.


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## JeanDit

Hello everyone, I made more testing, and the overheating problem only occurs when I use the steam button. Even if the steam option and cable of the MeCoffee is not plugged/use, it it still happening (otherwise, I would have simply used it for brew and move on). The brew temperature seems very stable.

I tough of this issue in 3 different angle: the software, the firmware and the hardware. The PID is designed to work without the use of the software and the problem is still happening without the use of my phone. Therefore the software, even if it is buggy in my opinion, should not be blamed for overheating part.

Regarding the firmware, I would have loved to try the new version (V10) to see if it fixes the issue, but the flashing firmware option doesn't work. Which brings me back to the software... I went to the open MeCoffee GIT https://git.mecoffee.nl/meBarista/meBarista_for_Chrome and someone uploaded a new version of the code a while ago, but didn't published the .APK. So I asked a friend of mine and, with a lot of dependencies update, has been able to compile it and sent me a new .APK version that I had the chance to test this morning. The timer issue is solved. It is now loading when you push the brew button. And for me, the flash firmware option is now available. But just like you EdsEspresso, it is asking for a PIN that I don't have, therefore I'm stuck to explore the firmware alternatives.

I will ask my friend to take a look into the code again to see if a trace of the asked PIN could not be found so we can try the V10 firmware.

IMO, it doesn't make sense that the PID is able to stop the boiler at 101 degree in a very stable way for the brew, and that it cannot do the same at 125 degree for the steam. From a software perspective, it is the same basic thing to do...

Regarding the hardware, according to this German forum (and Google translate) https://www.kaffee-netz.de/threads/mecoffee-pid-kaputt-out-of-business.115091/ they speak about problems related to the two little orange components that are not holding well the voltage under heat. I wonder if someone with an electronic or engineering background can confirm and also maybe propose a more stable component that could be used as replacement?


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## JeanDit

I have no time to test it today - it takes a lot of time to install and remove every time - and I'm to afraid of fire danger to let in plugged all the time with my family around. According to what he found into the code, the PIN should be *6502*.


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## EdsEspresso

Hi JeanDit-

Thanks for the update. It sounds like you have made some progress, and that the latest meBarista version you got has the timer fix. I am curious though, for me the "timer fixed" version puts up the timer when the brew switch is on, however it removes it early (around 24sec) even when the shot length is programmed to a longer value. The shot does end at the correct time, it is just meBarista removing the timer early. On occasion, it does leave the timer up to the end of the shot and beyond for a bit of time, but 90% of the shots it pulls the timer down too soon. I am curious if you see the same behavior.

And yes, I saw the same screen while guessing at the FW PIN ("No soup for you: pincode not correct", obviously Jan was a fan of the Seinfeld show). Actually I am a bit surprised that the PIN would be in the meBarista program code; typically those codes are unique to each version of the FW, so as to offer some control. But is is good that you found it so that we can give it a try.

One caution, and I may just be a bit paranoid here, however it seems possible that different boards versions (BLE vs BT2, as well as PC Board version) may take specific FW versions. I would hope that the meBarista FW download software would account for that but we have no guarantees that was done. If this is the case, then it may be more complicated than just picking the most recent FW version on the list. FWIW, when I have attempted a FW update, meBarista has greyed out the earlier version and only V10 was selectable. I hope that means it is compatible with the HW board I have. Curious if you see the same.

I still have my meCoffee installed (and I use it, with care to turn it off when not in use and I never did the final steps which give it control of the power). I will pull it out of the case and take a look to see if I can locate the orange electrical components you mention. I have some experience (although I was primarily a FW/SW engineer) with electronic components. If I can identify them I will research more heat tolerant replacements. Although it may be a few days before I can get to this. Will let you know what I find. Will also get Chrome installed and check out that German blog.

Also, if you happen to locate the source code for the meCoffee FW, that would be the most useful. With that in hand (and a way to load the new FW on the board) we could in theory program our way around some of these issues.


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## KaffeeMonster

Regarding the PIN code; have you tried 6502?

I just took a fast glance at the code.


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## EdsEspresso

Had some time to try 6502 as the PIN, and it works, or I should say it seems to be the right PIN code as I no longer get meBarista complaining about the PIN.

I tried doing a FW update, several times. It complained about not being connected, and minor version numbers a few times, but eventually got it to work (maybe 8+ tries), or at least go thru all the percentages up to 100% and then put up the number of bytes message. Actually did that twice, just to be sure and because the first time nothing seemed fixed and the reported FW version number was the same as before. Never did see the messages about the upload being complete???

Now however I do see a different FW version reported, it now shows V9 12 149 15, while previously it was showing V9 30 149 15. Odd that the version number is lower now with this update, and yes, I did pick V10 to download??? I have not had a chance to see if the meCoffee works any better with this FW change, but should get an opportunity over the next day or two.

UPDATE: Well, let me update that. While the version number did show that new value immediately after the update, after a power cycle when I checked, it had reverted back to the old number V9 30 149 15. Oh well. No luck on FW yet.

Does anyone know, if there is another step after the byte count message on FW update? Perhaps I need to confirm the update or wait longer or something?


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## Salvidor

Hi, I think the place Jan suggests is too hot. I have installed mine vertically just behind the front plate (i had to extend the wires) on the right side. I don't see any malfunction or foollish behaviour since then.

Ludovic


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## shadow745

I know this is a topic regarding the MeCoffee PID and I don't have/use one, but will ask why espresso enthusiasts continue to use this setup when it seems far from reliable/repeatable? I get that some don't want a typical PID mounted on the machine exterior, want more control over parameters than other units offer, etc., but what good is the MeCoffee if it won't safely do what you want when you want? That coupled with the apparent lack of customer service wouldn't cut it for my use/expectations.


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## Salvidor

I also own a Moto-Guzzi.


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## KaffeeMonster

shadow745 said:


> I know this is a topic regarding the MeCoffee PID and I don't have/use one, but will ask why espresso enthusiasts continue to use this setup when it seems far from reliable/repeatable? I get that some don't want a typical PID mounted on the machine exterior, want more control over parameters than other units offer, etc., but what good is the MeCoffee if it won't safely do what you want when you want? That coupled with the apparent lack of customer service wouldn't cut it for my use/expectations.


 I agree, I have been lurking here for a very long time. I have bought the Silvia a few years ago with a plan to upgrade it with the MeCoffee. I've reversed this idea now and will probably go with the Auber PID now for the reasons you point out. It's a shame as it would seem like an elegant solution but is just unreliable and Jan seems to be unable to provide the kind of service one would expect given the retail price.


----------



## shadow745

About 1 year ago I did just that... My V1 is from 2006 and was still going strong, but I decided to do some preventive maintenance parts replacement. Was going to swap out the stock thermostats as I didn't mind time/temp surfing, but decided to go the electronic route and ordered the Auber PID. Since mine has the particular boiler that has the factory thermowell I went with the probe they offer just for that, which supposedly reacts a bit faster/more accurately and also went with the upgraded model that allows pre-infusion (which I haven't bothered with), programmable timed cycle (also which I don't use) as well as programmable steam temp, which is a nice upgrade. Had to pay the bit extra to get the cool white display as I hate red and don't care for blue. I will say the Auber kit is flawless from the design, build quality, wiring harness being a perfect fit, excellent customer service for the few questions I had, etc. I will say a dialed in Silvia without a PID is easily on par with using one in the demitasse, but it's nice not having to flush, wait, etc. Saves time, water, pump wear and a bit of electricity. Once mine hits 180 F it pulses the element every few seconds just to feather the temp with 1-2 degrees of the setpoint. I've used a kill-a-watt type meter and instead of the high/low electrical use a stock unit has kicking on/off the PID just barely registers any electrical use at all when sitting idle. The pulses are so light and surely that saves internal components a bit as well as things don't get as hot as they normally do with a stock setup.


----------



## JeanDit

I haven't found any ways to make mine (MeCoffee PID) work without bringing to boiler to the roof.

I unplugged everything and I'm not going to plug it back.

If anyone want to give it a try, I will be selling mine for 50$, just PM me.


----------



## ImthatGuy

shadow745 said:


> I know this is a topic regarding the MeCoffee PID and I don't have/use one, but will ask why espresso enthusiasts continue to use this setup when it seems far from reliable/repeatable? I get that some don't want a typical PID mounted on the machine exterior, want more control over parameters than other units offer, etc., but what good is the MeCoffee if it won't safely do what you want when you want? That coupled with the apparent lack of customer service wouldn't cut it for my use/expectations.


 Speaking the OP of this thread, my original MeCoffee has been working reliably for several years and I'm happy with it. But I can't recommend it any longer because the customer service is so unreliable. I haven't upgraded to the mark 2 (I would love IOS compatibility) because of it.

It's very sad - when it works, it's great


----------



## mbenney

Ordered my mecoffee PID April 27th. Arrived this morning. Just read the last couple of pages of this thread.

Is it too much of a risk to try it out?

I have a v6 2020 Silvia.


----------



## chevy

No I don't think so. I know some have had problems but I've been using mine for 18 months now with no issues. If you're methodical and take lots of pictures you should be able to return the machine to the way it was if needed. Do heed the warnings about making sure the machine is unplugged though as I nearly electrocuted myself installing it!


----------



## Salvidor

Hi, you should put it behind the front plate. The place Jan suggest is too hot. For this you need to get longer wires.

Best.


----------



## mbenney

So, I installed it.

Instructions were easy to follow.

It's a bit fiddly.

I wanted to install the minimum features to test it, so I went up to the Active PID/preinfusion step (I was getting the 10 degree overshoot problem with the Silvia E).

The only problem I had during installation is dropping one of the little screws which rolled underneath the bottom plate of the machine. Could not retrieve it.

It was the middle screw of the sensors, so this meant that the steam thermostat was only being held down with one screw.

Did a test shot, it held a very stable temperature and the shot was very good.

When I turned the steam on, I was watching the temperature on the app and it didn't seem to stop wanting to go up, I stopped it at about 145.

I guessed my loose sensor is the problem.

So I installed the steam control wires and let mecoffee take over the steam temp.

In my next test it cut the power correctly at 125.

My questions:

What temp does Silvia normally turn off the boiler for steam? Was I over cautious?

Anyone know where I can get another screw? If mecoffee fails I'm in trouble.

Lastly, is there an easy way to tell when it's up to the right temperature? The boiler button seems to be constantly dim and flickering. This is fine for warming up to the first shot but I normally pull two doubles in quick succession. Is there a way to know when it's back up to temp for the second shot?

Anyway, touch wood, it seems like I got a decent board.

Cheers!


----------



## mbenney

Made 3 shots this morning, and I'm very impressed with the temp stability and the pre infusion.

Probably the three best I've made to date.

To answer one of my own questions, monitoring with the app it gets back up to temp way quicker than I can prepare my next shot, so I'm happy that it can just do it's own thing.

It did however feel like I had way less steam power and struggled to stretch my milk (use oatly barista).

Is everyone using 125 degrees? Should I go higher or try to improve my technique?


----------



## chevy

Yeah I just keep mine at 125, there is bit less steam pressure but not too bad as it's slightly more consistent. Also I wondered whether keeping the temp lower may be safer for the electronics?


----------



## davidk21770

I have played with it all over the map. My experience is that I get a silkier forth with the lower temperature/pressure, but it takes more care, work, and time. I also have the same worry about temperature -- especially since the temperature sensors have a max temperature rating that is fairly close to the higher steam temperatures -- which concerned me, as it does you. So I ended up going back to 125 - 130. 125 now, but I occasionally go back to 130 just to save a little frothing time ;-).

David
-- Still using one of the early beta PID units on a 2003 Silvia ))


----------



## Daniel R

Screenshot från uBarista (iPhone). Quite a sharp drop during brewing. Could something be wrong with my boiler (heating element)?

Also, since it doesn't use PID för the steam temp, it overshoots a lot.

Daniel


----------



## mbenney

Perhaps this is just the normal temperature it would go up to without the mecoffee?

Does anyone know?


----------



## chevy

Yes I think that's normal - try increasing the pro active percentage to reduce the temperature drop.


----------



## Daniel R

I have Pro Active at 50%. Go higher? What are you using?


----------



## Daniel R

Curious if people are using pre-infusion. I have mine set at 4 + 5 seconds with Pressure Release. Tried to set it so that first drip comes **** after PI is done.


----------



## Rob5000

mbenney said:


> Ordered my mecoffee PID April 27th. Arrived this morning. Just read the last couple of pages of this thread.
> 
> Is it too much of a risk to try it out?
> 
> I have a v6 2020 Silvia.


 Where did you order your meCoffee from?

This website says it has been out-of-stock since January... https://mecoffee.nl/order/


----------



## mbenney

Rob5000 said:


> Where did you order your meCoffee from?
> 
> This website says it has been out-of-stock since January... https://mecoffee.nl/order/


 From the website. It had that message too when I ordered, but I thought I would just order and it would come when it comes.


----------



## mbenney

Daniel R said:


> Curious if people are using pre-infusion. I have mine set at 4 + 5 seconds with Pressure Release. Tried to set it so that first drip comes **** after PI is done.


 Stock settings at the moment. I haven't played with it much, would be interested to know what others are doing.


----------



## chevy

I did increase pro active a bit but then reduced it to 30%. It really depends how quick your shot is pulling but you risk scalding it if it's too high and you've ground your coffee a bit too fine. I'd just watch your temperature on the app as you pull a shot and tweak the pro active percentage to a setting which means it hadn't cooled down too much by the end of the shot. It's always going to cool a bit as the water flows into the boiler.

I did have pre infusion set but after a while went back to turning it off. I couldn't tell a noticeable difference and sometimes it's annoying to have it automatically stop eg for pre warming cups, rinsing and cleaning.


----------



## EdsEspresso

@Daniel R - I have settled on a 5 sec delay, just by experimenting. I try to fill just until coffee is about to drip out, then give it time to expand. But I would expect the beans and your grind will influence these numbers. Also, FWIW, I did not find the setting about leaving the valve open or closed made any difference, it always opens.


----------



## Daniel R

FYI, I have sent an e-mail to [email protected], asking them to open source the firmware (Arduino Sketch?) since it appears they are no longer developing it.. They have already open sourced the app att git.mecoffee.nl.

If the firmware would become open source, bugs could be fixed and more functionality could be added.My dream wold be to add both a pressure sensor and bluetooth connected scale (for gravimetric dosing).

You are welcome to also ask meCoffee to open source the firmware.


----------



## EdsEspresso

Thanks @Daniel R. Having the FW source would make fixing these problems much easier.

Let me/us know if Jan makes the source available.


----------



## guiwood

Hi folks,

I am new to the forum and I have joined specifically because of this thread (it is the only place where I find info on meCoffee). I own a Gaggia Classic and a niche zero grinder, and was hoping to elevate my espresso with the meCoffee. However, I am one of the buyers with a bad experience. I have bought it in January and received no answers yet. I have received the email about the shipment shortly after I bought it, and no more messages. Tried contacting them through their website and did not receive any response from them. I strongly recommend that if you did not buy it yet go look for another PID...

Anyone has any suggestions? I read here somewhere that someone got the unit after sending a regular letter.


----------



## Doram

guiwood said:


> Hi folks,
> 
> I am new to the forum and I have joined specifically because of this thread (it is the only place where I find info on meCoffee). I own a Gaggia Classic and a niche zero grinder, and was hoping to elevate my espresso with the meCoffee. However, I am one of the buyers with a bad experience. I have bought it in January and received no answers yet. I have received the email about the shipment shortly after I bought it, and no more messages. Tried contacting them through their website and did not receive any response from them. I strongly recommend that if you did not buy it yet go look for another PID...
> 
> Anyone has any suggestions? I read here somewhere that someone got the unit after sending a regular letter.


 Maybe it's time to request a chargeback (if paid by credit card, PayPal or similar)?

I also want a PID, but read of the issues and decided it's too risky. Before I knew anything I sent them a question and didn't get a reply.

Even if you could send a letter and get the kit, do you want to mod your machine knowing you have no one to contact if something goes wrong or you have a question?


----------



## KaffeeMonster

Doram said:


> Maybe it's time to request a chargeback (if paid by credit card, PayPal or similar)?
> 
> I also want a PID, but read of the issues and decided it's too risky. Before I knew anything I sent them a question and didn't get a reply.
> 
> Even if you could send a letter and get the kit, do you want to mod your machine knowing you have no one to contact if something goes wrong or you have a question?


 I ended up getting the Auber PID and I'm very happy. I'm also surprised how much I like the dedicated display.


----------



## guiwood

Doram said:


> Maybe it's time to request a chargeback (if paid by credit card, PayPal or similar)?
> 
> I also want a PID, but read of the issues and decided it's too risky. Before I knew anything I sent them a question and didn't get a reply.
> 
> Even if you could send a letter and get the kit, do you want to mod your machine knowing you have no one to contact if something goes wrong or you have a question?


 I will try the refund, however their website accepts only direct credit card charging, so it may be more difficult than if it was paid by Paypal for example.

You are right, it is not a great idea to use a PID without any support!


----------



## ashcroc

guiwood said:


> I will try the refund, however their website accepts only direct credit card charging, so it may be more difficult than if it was paid by Paypal for example.
> You are right, it is not a great idea to use a PID without any support!


Credit card has their own protection. If chasing through the website doesn't work, just go to your card supplier.

As far as a PID for your classic goes. Have a look at the MrShades PID kit in the gaggia section of this site. It comes with copious fitting instructions & fantastic after sales support.


----------



## Rob5000

Rob5000 said:


> Where did you order your meCoffee from?
> 
> This website says it has been out-of-stock since January... https://mecoffee.nl/order/





mbenney said:


> From the website. It had that message too when I ordered, but I thought I would just order and it would come when it comes.


 Thanks for the tip mbenney. Despite the lack of replies to my emails and the out-of-stock notice I ordered a meCoffee kit anyway as you suggested. It arrived in Australia one month later. It's installed and works well. With the recent addition of boiler insulation I hope lowered internal temperatures will keep the meCoffee working reliably.


----------



## EdsEspresso

It has been a while, and thought I would report what I have found regarding the issues I am having with my meCoffee on my Sylvia.

Unfortunately, no real solutions. I experimented with insulating the boiler (probably a good idea regardless), putting heat sinks on the SCRs, running the unit outside the Sylvia, and rolling back the install so that I only had the basic PID and brew switch functionality. None of these changes fixed all the problems, although some seemed to help a bit. Here are my conclusions:

There are two or maybe three major issues at the root of the problems.

First the meCoffee will get "lost" (or should say the firmware will) and leave the heater coil on 100% for steam after the steam switch has been turned off. This is very related to the temp of the meCoffee, but has happened when running the unit outside the machine in open air after making several lattes in a row. Note that meBarista shows the heater at 0% although the light and a voltage check show it is on full. A potentially dangerous situation, it caused me to roll back the connections for steam heat and valve control to a more basic PID function only. To not do so leaves open the possibility that the meCoffee will melt down your heater and potentially start a fire.

Second, the meCoffee becomes unable to control the brew valve and buzzes it. This too is heat related, Not dangerous perhaps but does ruin the shot. This seems tied to the third problem as they tend to happen together and perhaps are really just one problem. Again seems to be a FW issue as it happens regardless if meBarista is attached.

Third problem can be seen on the meBarista screen when just using the PID function or without meBarista, if meCoffee is controlling the pump and valve. During shots, although the brew switch has not been touched, the meBarista timer will reset to zero time and begin counting from zero again. Another form of this problem is the timer going away entirely before the shot is complete, with the brew switch still on and the shot in progress. This problem happens regardless of the temp of the meCoffee. Again I assume this is a FW issue. With the unit only installed as far as PID and timer functions, this is more of an annoyance, you may loose the timer but the shot will continue as normal. However with meCoffee in control of the brew valve and pump with a delay the shot tends to get ruined. It would appear that the meCoffee FW has some bugs in it, regarding when/how it determines that a shot is in progress. This can be seen with or without meBarista when it is in control of the valve and pump.

In short, these are the problems I've been able to identify. Unfortunately they all point to bugs in the meCoffee FW (which does not seem to update correctly on my unit at least). So until/unless Jan starts responding, or makes the source of the FW available for us to work on, I don't see much chance of fixing these problems.

One suggestion I would make for when people report issues with meCoffee. Since there are two versions of the HW, different meCoffee FW versions, and different stages of install, it would be useful if posters would report the details of their install along with whatever issues they may be seeing. It could help us narrow down some of these issues.

To that end, here are the details on my setup:

BT2 meCoffee (android only).
Installed only as far as PID and brew switch sensing now (after a roll back from stage 9).
FW version V9 30 149 15 (even after supposedly updating to V10 several times)


----------



## joeC

Daniel R said:


> FYI, I have sent an e-mail to [email protected], asking them to open source the firmware (Arduino Sketch?) since it appears they are no longer developing it.. They have already open sourced the app att git.mecoffee.nl.
> 
> If the firmware would become open source, bugs could be fixed and more functionality could be added.My dream wold be to add both a pressure sensor and bluetooth connected scale (for gravimetric dosing).
> 
> You are welcome to also ask meCoffee to open source the firmware.


 I have followed your lead and also sent an e-mail requesting the firmware. I'll let you know if there is any response (not holding my breath). I'll just be happy if the original functionality as promised could be provided reliably .


----------



## Blue_Cafe

Jumbo Ratty said:


> I think the point of this thread is about the MeCoffee PID and those that have bought it have found it to function and how people like it because it fits inside the machine is controlled by a phone.
> 
> They do fit them themselves.
> 
> If I had a silvia and wanted to PID it it would be with a MeCoffee pid and not have that carbuncle on the side, just my personal preference and no disrespect meant to anyone who likes that look.


 They look dreadful imho. (as good as they might work)


----------



## Ebk71

I have a similar problem as a other user: when the temp is set at 101 degrees it overshoots with about 13 degrees. So when I lower the temp it adjusts. But when shut down the silvia and start it again I have to lower the temp a few more degrees. Could this be the sensor or is it firmware/hardware related?

@jeandit Can you upload the compiled apk here? Maybe flashing could do something for me.


----------



## mbenney

Ebk71 said:


> I have a similar problem as a other user: when the temp is set at 101 degrees it overshoots with about 13 degrees. So when I lower the temp it adjusts. But when shut down the silvia and start it again I have to lower the temp a few more degrees. Could this be the sensor or is it firmware/hardware related?
> 
> @jeandit Can you upload the compiled apk here? Maybe flashing could do something for me.


 What model is your Silvia? v5 or above?

Are you controlling the preinfusion with the PID?

I had this issue and completing more installation steps was the solution.

"If you are seeing a temperature overshoot of up to 10 degrees in your Silvia E, proceed to the next step. The brew button on the V5 is sometimes interfering with the Active PID signal. The problem goes away when preinfusion is completed."


----------



## Ebk71

mbenney said:


> What model is your Silvia? v5 or above?
> 
> Are you controlling the preinfusion with the PID?
> 
> I had this issue and completing more installation steps was the solution.
> 
> "If you are seeing a temperature overshoot of up to 10 degrees in your Silvia E, proceed to the next step. The brew button on the V5 is sometimes interfering with the Active PID signal. The problem goes away when preinfusion is completed."


 No, it's an older model. The preinfusion was never installed. I bought it this way for about a year ago. When I discovered preinfusion was not installed I asked and got the cables from Jan/mecoffee. But I never got to install it. It''s an idea.


----------



## lucau

Hi there!

I am new here, just joining to discuss the Silvia+meCoffee PID setup. Thanks a lot to all contributors in this thread, it has been one of my main source of info... 😉

I bought a meCoffee PID a few weeks ago (delivered in 10 days without problem, although with almost zero communication from the vendor), installed it on my *Silvia V5* without problems this weekend, up to step #8 - Pressure control. (I decided to keep this last step for another day...)

Everything else seems to be working well, but as I test now, I figured I have the same issue as *Ebk71* (see quote).

The temperature is super stable and all looks good... But as soon as I *start brewing, the temperature drops really fast *(down to 70°C in 25 seconds). As if the boiler was not heating up at all during the shot (although the boiler indicates 100% during the brewing, see screenshot).



Has anyone faced the same issue?


Do you reckon it is a config issue and I should play with the P,I,D parameters? Or rather a cabling error and I should recheck my installation (obviously I've gone through the manual several times before posting here)?


If anyone has any idea... Thanks a lot in advance!



Ebk71 said:


> Just bought a Silvia V1 with the mecoffee ble version installed. It looks like it's working ok but what could be my starting point for reading and/or basic settings?
> 
> I chose the default settings and have no experience with espresso, only slow brew coffee so I probably won't want to experiment with pre-infusion in my early steps. Without coffee in the filter when I press the brew button and let it run for 25 seconds I see the temperature drop below 85C. Is this normal? It takes a bit of time to reach 101C again.
> 
> And BTW, Jan is answering mails, in my case pretty fast.


----------



## Salvidor

Hi, could your flow rate be too high ? How much liquide is in your cup after these 25 seconds ?


----------



## chevy

Hi lucau,

Just to give you an idea here are some screen shots of my mecoffee working normally. The first is with an empty basket fitted which gave me 246g of water in 25 sec. The last screen shot is pulling a double shot (16g in, 36g out) with the settings as shown plus the Pro Active Percentage set to 30% and my brew temperature set to 103.5.

Hope this helps.


----------



## Daniel R

Hi,

In the uBarista app it's possible to set linear pressure gradients, both start and end.

I have tried setting the start gradient at 60% and end at 80%. Turned off pre-infusion as the start gradient effectively works as a pre-infusion. In the beginning, the pump sound is quite faint. Not sure if it's generating pressure. Water flow starts very slowly, perhaps just from the solenoid valve being opened.

Overall, I'm getting some good and interesting shots. Has anyone else experimented with this feature?

Daniel


----------



## spasypaddy

starting to think about adding a PID to my silvia, not for any other reason but because i can...

is this still the go to one? (I prefer the auber for the screen but i believe its much much much more expensive)

do i have to have my mobile out when i use this or can i still press the give coffee button on the front of my machine?


----------



## ChilledMatt

spasypaddy said:


> starting to think about adding a PID to my silvia, not for any other reason but because i can...
> is this still the go to one? (I prefer the auber for the screen but i believe its much much much more expensive)
> do i have to have my mobile out when i use this or can i still press the give coffee button on the front of my machine?


I'd quite like to try one of these but their website has been saying out of stock since January. Can anyone recommend any alternatives? Auber is a bit too expensive.

Sent from my SM-A705FN using Tapatalk


----------



## espressoSquirrel

@ChilledMatt

There is an alternative, i was recently introduced to.. be prepared... it's not cheaper or easier, or even easy to get hold of...
But it appears to be a mod on a completely different level

The ITO mod is not just a PID, its a pid + pressure profiling and gravimetric shot measurements. It's a full on operating system for a silvia (and other types of machine)
http://projectcaffe.bplaced.net/features_leva.html
https://www.softwareandcircuits.com/division/circuits/onlineshop/articles/ito/configure-v2.php

I'm trying to research it and build up the courage to do this before orders open again soon. but the installation looks involved and lots of the resources are in german.... but i really like the idea of this.


----------



## spasypaddy

ChilledMatt said:


> I'd quite like to try one of these but their website has been saying out of stock since January. Can anyone recommend any alternatives? Auber is a bit too expensive.
> 
> Sent from my SM-A705FN using Tapatalk


 Well someone above bought one and had it delivered in 10 days in August... I might order one and see what happens. Just put it on my PayPal and then a layer of protection exists


----------



## EdsEspresso

My experience is that they have and are sending out meCoffees even though their website says they are out of them. Whether you want one is another question.

Judging from here and other coffee forums, meCoffee works fine for some, and poorly or not at all for others. The biggest problem is should you be one of the unlucky ones who gets a defective one, there is NO support. Emails and letters all go unanswered; you are stuck with a non-functioning unit. (Said as one who got a defective unit)

If you do decide to order, I'd be sure to pay some way such that you can dispute the charge should you get a defective unit and no response from the seller.


----------



## guiwood

ChilledMatt said:


> I'd quite like to try one of these but their website has been saying out of stock since January. Can anyone recommend any alternatives? Auber is a bit too expensive.
> 
> Sent from my SM-A705FN using Tapatalk


 I do not recommend MeCoffee at all. I bought one on the beginning of the year and never received, nor received any answer to my emails. Run away from it.


----------



## phario

Stanic said:


> I've installed it last week, very easy installation and fool-proof online manual even for a non tech person like me
> 
> works like a charm, finally I was able to make something white and rather flat
> 
> View attachment 11813
> 
> 
> View attachment 11810
> 
> 
> View attachment 11811
> 
> 
> View attachment 11812


 Does anybody know what sensor and mount is used in the mecoffee PIDs?

Weirdly, I read the sensor writing which seems to say LM350T but that leads me to a voltage regulator:

https://uk.farnell.com/on-semiconductor/lm350t/v-reg-1-2v-to-33v-3a-to-220-3/dp/1417673


----------



## spasypaddy

guiwood said:


> I do not recommend MeCoffee at all. I bought one on the beginning of the year and never received, nor received any answer to my emails. Run away from it.


 what other options are there?


----------



## phario

phario said:


> Does anybody know what sensor and mount is used in the mecoffee PIDs?
> 
> Weirdly, I read the sensor writing which seems to say LM350T but that leads me to a voltage regulator:
> 
> https://uk.farnell.com/on-semiconductor/lm350t/v-reg-1-2v-to-33v-3a-to-220-3/dp/1417673


 Holy crap, I realised that the mecoffee PIDs don't actually use a thermocoupler or thermister. They use voltage regulators for the temperature monitoring. See this YouTube video of using a voltage regulator as a thermometer.

Does anyone know what the accuracy/error of this measurement is? Or the thresholds of temperature?

Link: @FairRecycler


----------



## Daniel R

phario said:


> Does anybody know what sensor and mount is used in the mecoffee PIDs?
> 
> Weirdly, I read the sensor writing which seems to say LM350T but that leads me to a voltage regulator:
> 
> https://uk.farnell.com/on-semiconductor/lm350t/v-reg-1-2v-to-33v-3a-to-220-3/dp/1417673


 I think it's this sensor

https://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/lm35.pdf

PS. I'm looking into trying to connect to the meCoffee chip with a FTDI.

1. Download the firmware (hex), to able to go back
2. Figure out how the chip I/O pins are connected
3. Write a new Arduino Sketch

Could be a fun project, but a lot of work. Also, I have no Arduino experience.


----------



## phario

Daniel R said:


> I think it's this sensor
> 
> https://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/lm35.pdf
> 
> PS. I'm looking into trying to connect to the meCoffee chip with a FTDI.
> 
> 1. Download the firmware (hex), to able to go back
> 2. Figure out how the chip I/O pins are connected
> 3. Write a new Arduino Sketch
> 
> Could be a fun project, but a lot of work. Also, I have no Arduino experience.


 I get what you're saying but:



The LM35 looks very different than the LM350T I linked, and the LM350T I linked looks identical to the one that's mounted on my Silvia.


The one on my Silvia definitely says LM350T. The writing is faded, but I checked with a loupe.


----------



## Daniel R

Hi,

My meCoffee just stopped working. Red led (power) is on, but not the blinking green.

Any hints?

Daniel


----------



## Daniel R

It's LM35DT, with a D. Here's mine (now that I'm anyway taking it apart)


----------



## phario

Daniel R said:


> It's LM35DT, with a D. Here's mine (now that I'm anyway taking it apart)
> 
> View attachment 45730


 Ahah! That must be it (I stand corrected as I noted, it's difficult to tell the difference between 'D' and '0' on mine). Here is the data sheet for it (It is rated from -50C to 150C):

https://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/lm35.pdf?HQS=TI-null-null-digikeymode-df-pf-null-wwe&ts=1601127332616

It's an analog sensor.

I'd be keen to know what is the pink sheet they use underneath the sensor...maybe some sort of thermal bonding double-sided sticker?


----------



## phario

I'm sure most people are a bit bored of these discussions that are about the components, but anyways. The pink sheet underneath is a heatsink transfer sheet which avoids the use of thermal compound:

"Heatsink Transistor Mount Kit for use with TO-220" via RS 712-8225


----------



## phario

Removed as I'll make a proper post.


----------



## Daniel R

Hi,

My meCoffee died so I removed it. My Silvia is back to stock.

Might attempt a DYI PID project.

All the best to all meCoffee users. It's a great kit, just a pity that it's no longer supported and developed.

Daniel


----------



## AlbertoG

Hi,

I would love to contribute to a mecoffee like open source (and open hardware or at least DIY able hardware) project. Is there anyone interested to team up, or are there any projects like mecoffee but following this criteria? Thanks!


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## Androidclone

Lookup the espresso subreddit a guy just released a volumetric arduino mod.


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## mbenney

Change of topic. But does anyone know reliably what the temperature set in mecoffee translates to in actual brewing temperature?


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## phario

mbenney said:


> Change of topic. But does anyone know reliably what the temperature set in mecoffee translates to in actual brewing temperature?


 This document explains everything you should need to know about how boiler temperature (measured at the top) correlates with brew temperature (scace measurement): https://www.seattlecoffeegear.com/assets/files/silvia-pid-operation-manual.pdf

The recommendation is to set a boiler temperature of 105C which then yields a brew temperature around 95 to 95C.


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## Ham

Ham said:


> Update time. All working as intended and the start temperature is as steady as a rock. Two things, though.
> 
> - It's a bit of a shame that the shot timer just shows the length of time after you finish the shot, a real time timer would be more useful. But, actually that's all academical because....
> 
> - I've lost comms with the unit. Most likely because there is another BLE source nearby. When I CBA, I'll try to resolve but for the moment it works fine without the app, just means I can't change anything


 Update on my update.

I've been very happy using it, no issues at all apart from the lack of comms between meBarista and the PID. I should add that I'm a Google fanboi, and my phone is a Pixel 3, connecting over BLE. The relevance of this? I've just updated to Android 11 and it now connects rock solid. (I also never use steam)

Oh, and those people asking why the temperature drops when you run the device? It's called the laws of physics. Your machine pumps in cold water, temperature drops (the PID shows it in real time, something a mechanical thermometer would struggle with) and the small heater in the device takes some time to bring it back to temperature. As phario says above, start with a higher temperature to get a real brew temperature.


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## MikeyB20

Hi guys, has anybody had any experiences getting one of these recently? The website is showing as out of stock and after emailing several times and getting no response I'm hesitant to purchase after hearing about the owners communication issues of anything did go wrong. Thanks


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## Doram

MikeyB20 said:


> The website is showing as out of stock and after emailing several times and getting no response I'm hesitant to purchase after hearing about the owners communication issues of anything did go wrong.


 Haven't you answered your own question? Do you want to mod your machine with a kit from a site that is out of stock (for a long time), has no communication (for a long time) and reports of issues (from many people)?

As much as the mecoffee PID sounds attractive, I would not consider this solution (even if someone bought it recently and got lucky by some miracle). But hey, some people like to walk on the edge and get a kick out of it, so if that's you - knock yourself out. 🙂


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## RiccoA

AlbertoG said:


> Hi,
> 
> I would love to contribute to a mecoffee like open source (and open hardware or at least DIY able hardware) project. Is there anyone interested to team up, or are there any projects like mecoffee but following this criteria? Thanks!


 What are your thoughts. You already have Auber and ITO (i will purchase the ITO when next batch is released in February 2021).
I think there is a market where you make a magnificent easy-to-install/handle with an APP control.


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## Bibib

Hello!

Can somebody help with the last mebarista (android) version apk?

Thanks a lot!


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## AngVas

Hi, there!

I just installed it on my Silvia v5 and sharing here if it helps anyone avoid a lot of frustration.

Ordering and payment went very smooth.

In the course, I asked a couple questions on the website contact form and never heard back from a human. All I got was a couple automated emails with the receipt and the shipping notice. Emailing requests back to [email protected] never got answered - overall 6 attempts, 5 of which after they had already pulled the money from my card.

The package arrived with a 5 business days delay from the max estimated delivery time of 6 business days. I decided to give it a try. Then the real fun began when it turned out their iOS app is not available on App Store for my region. My region (including my delivery address and my payment origin and currency and the notes in my order) is the USA. Again: The required / mandatory iOS MeBarista app IS NOT AVAILABLE ON THE USA APP STORE and the SELLER IS ABSOLUTELY UNREACHABLE FOR ANY SUPPORT. There is another iOS app that seems to work with the hardware but it is not the one claimed as included and required for the setup and it seems owned by a different entity. It seems pretty good but it lacks specific features that are required as major indicators in the hardware installation process.

I somehow made it through the installation exercise. Their YouTube video is ridiculous, camera mostly showing the great looking blonde hair of the technician and suspected enterprise CEO. With all the declared stress on safety, one of the first things in the video was pulling out the water tank and the pipes, dripping water right into the power strip outlets behind the machine - a clear Darwin Awards nomination, imho! The video comes with the label of being obsolete and not good for actual installation reference. This is a pretty humble way of saying it's mostly useless and confusing, and totally incomplete. The "true" installation manual is uncharacteristically free of illustration and the text is definitely not making up for it. Starting with the confusing usage of "left" and "right" without any point of reference like 50 times over the procedure and always about connecting powered wires all across the circuits. True it gets going once you sort it out by trial and error and/or deduction but still signaling profound amateurism, at best.

Be careful not to unintentionally disconnect the sensor cable from the sensor! It happened to me and overheated the boiler. Luckily, the machine has an overheat thermostat with a reset button that kept it from major damage and let me reset it. Of course that last bit was not in the manual.

Step 9 "Timer" didn't work for me: there is no red wire on the lower terminal of the power button and trial and error with all four power button terminals did no good, especially given that the original iOS meBarista app was not available for the USA so I couldn't "go into meBarista#Hardware and check Flipping power button / V5".

It's now set up - without the original app and without the Timer and I am looking forward to new adventures starting with tomorrow morning's espresso. Will share here if anything noteworthy comes up.

If anyone knows how to set up the Timer on the v5, please share!

Any other masochist that wants to give it a try: good luck, don't panic and keep safe 🙂


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## AngVas

@JeanDit I got mine a couple days ago and I realize it might be too late but if you are still keeping yours, you might want to check the connection between the sensor and the board - both couplings, the cable, etc. I had your issue exactly as described and it turned out I had accidentally disconnected the cable from the sensor. I guess the same would also be happening if the sensor was dead or misreading lower than the actual boiler temperature. Hope it helps.


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## AngVas

@chevy, thanks for your posts!

Have you managed to install Step 9 / Timer on your v5?

The instruction requires an operation on a red wire on the lower terminal of the power button that I couldn't identify. The original lower terminal wires on my machine were a black one (on the brewing switch side) and a white one on the other side. The only red wire was on the upper terminal above the white one. I tried the operation on all four terminals but none seemed to work (all resulting in the machine not powering up at all) and I could't make it any further since the mebarista app is not available for iOS and the ubarista app doesn't have the next step function referenced in the instruction.

Any tip greatly appreciated!


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## Bibib

...and somebody can tell me how much is the PID output?

It's an SSR integrated? If yes, what about the max. power (Watts)?

Thanks!


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## Doram

AngVas said:


> Hi, there!
> 
> I just installed it on my Silvia v5 and sharing here if it helps anyone avoid a lot of frustration.
> 
> Ordering and payment went very smooth.
> 
> In the course, I asked a couple questions on the website contact form and never heard back from a human. All I got was a couple automated emails with the receipt and the shipping notice. Emailing requests back to [email protected] never got answered - overall 6 attempts, 5 of which after they had already pulled the money from my card.
> 
> The package arrived with a 5 business days delay from the max estimated delivery time of 6 business days. I decided to give it a try. Then the real fun began when it turned out their iOS app is not available on App Store for my region. My region (including my delivery address and my payment origin and currency and the notes in my order) is the USA. Again: The required / mandatory iOS MeBarista app IS NOT AVAILABLE ON THE USA APP STORE and the SELLER IS ABSOLUTELY UNREACHABLE FOR ANY SUPPORT. There is another iOS app that seems to work with the hardware but it is not the one claimed as included and required for the setup and it seems owned by a different entity. It seems pretty good but it lacks specific features that are required as major indicators in the hardware installation process.
> 
> I somehow made it through the installation exercise. Their YouTube video is ridiculous, camera mostly showing the great looking blonde hair of the technician and suspected enterprise CEO. With all the declared stress on safety, one of the first things in the video was pulling out the water tank and the pipes, dripping water right into the power strip outlets behind the machine - a clear Darwin Awards nomination, imho! The video comes with the label of being obsolete and not good for actual installation reference. This is a pretty humble way of saying it's mostly useless and confusing, and totally incomplete. The "true" installation manual is uncharacteristically free of illustration and the text is definitely not making up for it. Starting with the confusing usage of "left" and "right" without any point of reference like 50 times over the procedure and always about connecting powered wires all across the circuits. True it gets going once you sort it out by trial and error and/or deduction but still signaling profound amateurism, at best.
> 
> Be careful not to unintentionally disconnect the sensor cable from the sensor! It happened to me and overheated the boiler. Luckily, the machine has an overheat thermostat with a reset button that kept it from major damage and let me reset it. Of course that last bit was not in the manual.
> 
> Step 9 "Timer" didn't work for me: there is no red wire on the lower terminal of the power button and trial and error with all four power button terminals did no good, especially given that the original iOS meBarista app was not available for the USA so I couldn't "go into meBarista#Hardware and check Flipping power button / V5".
> 
> It's now set up - without the original app and without the Timer and I am looking forward to new adventures starting with tomorrow morning's espresso. Will share here if anything noteworthy comes up.
> 
> If anyone knows how to set up the Timer on the v5, please share!
> 
> Any other masochist that wants to give it a try: good luck, don't panic and keep safe 🙂


 Have you read this thread BEFORE ordering from mecoffee, or did you only find it after you had trouble? If you ordered knowing all the information here - I envy your bravery.


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## AngVas

Doram said:


> Have you read this thread BEFORE ordering from mecoffee, or did you only find it after you had trouble? If you ordered knowing all the information here - I envy your bravery.


 It wasn't bravery. Do you know how to set up the timer on v5 that has no red wire on the lower power switch terminal and without the meBarista app? Do you by any chance have an Android meBarista apk you can share?


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## Bibib

Anybody know why in apk temperature is 105 and the "manometer" constantly change from 1-2 to 22-23 degree C ??

Real temp is 75 C...

If I disconnect no 5 pin the temperature it's correct...

Thanks


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## Jmd471

I saw few posts saying they had issues early on with power up. I'm on my second mecoffee (first one worked well for 5 years). The new one seems to have issues booting up. Maybe one in 20 tries has success. Every other time I just get the solid red light for power. I wonder if anyone else has resolved a similar issue.


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## Aleksandr

AlbertoG said:


> Hi,
> 
> I would love to contribute to a mecoffee like open source (and open hardware or at least DIY able hardware) project. Is there anyone interested to team up, or are there any projects like mecoffee but following this criteria? Thanks!


 Hi,

Have you found a decent project? An alternative to mecoffee?


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## nikitas

Aleksandr said:


> Hi,
> 
> Have you found a decent project? An alternative to mecoffee?


 I am working on an open-source app that extends meCoffee capabilities to gravimetric control, bluetooth scale integration, shot timing, advanced pressure profiles, data analysis and more!

See this post I made in the forum today and the following video for more details - would love to hear what you think!


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## joeC

Looking for a used meCoffee that any of you folks wish to sell.

thanks


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## nikitas

joeC said:


> Looking for a used meCoffee that any of you folks wish to sell.
> 
> thanks


 Assuming you don't mind spending £120, you can buy a new one at mecoffee.nl. I bought mine two months ago and received it within 10 days. It works fine so far!


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## Pfofeldix

AngVas said:


> It wasn't bravery. Do you know how to set up the timer on v5 that has no red wire on the lower power switch terminal and without the meBarista app? Do you by any chance have an Android meBarista apk you can share?


 You can get me barista APK from apkmirror or similar. Or you compile the source code from github.


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## RobTheCoffeeSnob

Yea, just sharing my experience.

Mine took just shy of 30 days to show up here in Australia, even though quoted 5-10. Sent a few emails during the wait to confirm it was shipped etc. got no replies. On day 28 said if I don't hear from the bloke I'm gonna contact the credit card company and make a claim. Then it arrived no less than 10 minutes later. Go figure.

Installed it, and now realised that the google play app is missing from the store, the chrome app only works on computers (not the tablet i had planned) and my personal computer has dodgy bluetooth and my work computer blocks installation of chrome apps, so am up the creek without a paddle atm and bit worried about this lack of communication i am experiencing and seeing.

Why in the world would they sell the bloody thing if the app is no longer in the store!?

I should have listened to the alarm bells in my head.


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## Pfofeldix

RobTheCoffeeSnob said:


> Yea, just sharing my experience.
> 
> Mine took just shy of 30 days to show up here in Australia, even though quoted 5-10. Sent a few emails during the wait to confirm it was shipped etc. got no replies. On day 28 said if I don't hear from the bloke I'm gonna contact the credit card company and make a claim. Then it arrived no less than 10 minutes later. Go figure.
> 
> Installed it, and now realised that the google play app is missing from the store, the chrome app only works on computers (not the tablet i had planned) and my personal computer has dodgy bluetooth and my work computer blocks installation of chrome apps, so am up the creek without a paddle atm and bit worried about this lack of communication i am experiencing and seeing.
> 
> Why in the world would they sell the bloody thing if the app is no longer in the store!?
> 
> I should have listened to the alarm bells in my head.


 You read my post right above yours?

I don't know if posting links is allowed here, so I try:

https://m.apkpure.com/de/mebarista/nl.digitalthings.mebarista


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## RobTheCoffeeSnob

Thanks Pfotofeldix. I did manage to get an older version installed, but I will try this newer version.

I did get it working and the mecoffee has definately improved my coffee flavour and consistency with the constant temperature.

Am concerned that I find the unit freezes up once or twice a day, and I have to turn the coffee machine off at the wall to reset it in order to get it working again, is this known issue?

It is a brilliant idea, but concerned it's poorly implemented, in particuar, all my communications being ignored from the supplier.

Had intended wiring up the second harness to get the extra features, but very weary about doing so without the confidence that it's reliable. Ie, if my machine's reliability is based on this buggy bluetooth, maybe I shouldn't.


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## nikitas

> Am concerned that I find the unit freezes up once or twice a day, and I have to turn the coffee machine off at the wall to reset it in order to get it working again, is this known issue?


 How do you mean freezes? As in that the app won't connect, or that the temperature control won't work? Note that the app doesn't have to be connected to the coffee machine all the time.


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## Pfofeldix

You're welcome.

Maybe your Silvia freezes due to high temperature of the electronics?

I compiled myself the latest mebarista version from github. So far I didn't recognize any problem related to bluetooth.


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## RobTheCoffeeSnob

Hi @nikitas,

Yea, it appears the firmware freezes i suppose. Once or twice a day the unit locks up; the app won't see the unit and the boiler light won't light up even though the power is on. Don't think it's the app since the boiler is not flickering. Turning it off at the wall for about 10 seconds fixes the problem and all works again. Once the unit froze mid-shot, and I could see the graph pause at the bottom of the temperature dip, then the temperature values go to a '--'.

I dunno, the connections are all tight and i have the box in the corner away from the boiler. Temperature sensor is electrically isolated from the boiler properly too.

@Pfofeldix, I have written and compiled a couple of Android apps in the past having taken a short course in it, but was not planning on doing so when I purchased this unit (have to get back on the learning curve). The website still states the there is an android app, but one would infer this doesn't involve sideloading or risking a security hole on your android device (by sideloading from an unknown source as I did earlier)

Maybe my problem is one off, but with no communiation from the supplier, having a little buyers regret. 

Thanks again, cheers

rob


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## Pfofeldix

You´re absolutely right, if you buy a project then you want the complete package, not only the half. I checked the net before I closed the deal and the experiences of more than only some people were not good... But to me it seemed like a well-rounded solution and I was looking for some thrill... Concerning app security: You´re again absolutely right, but I think it doesn´t make sense to put some malicious code in an app that is a few years old and will only be compiled by a handful ( or less ) of people...

But back to your Silvia:

Have you checked to operate the machine with opened cover?

If it really would be a bug in the firmware, many people or even everyone using it would have this problem.


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## RobTheCoffeeSnob

Hi There,

I have not run it with the lid off as I dont' want to expose all the 240v electrics to my family. But it appears to happen more so in the mornings when it is warming up, ie the element is running longer to heat up the thermal mass. So that would be more related to heat in the transistors rather than heat from the boiler enclosure. 

Sometimes it works all day, other times, only for a few minutes. i have even seen it crash when brewing. When it crashes, it goes into some sort of limp mode keeping the temp 5-10 degrees below target temperature (almost like sleep mode), so i would say the controller is still running somehow, but the precision PID control goes out. Why i don't know.

I may and try reflashing the firmware. Otherwise, it will have to go in the bin. The supplier has been completely useless with communication, has left me high and dry. And for that reason, I would highly recommend _against_ purchasing this product. Yea, it's cheaper than the other PID's out there, until you have to pay $200 on this one, and then $300 to buy a proper one. I mean that's more than half the cost of the machine itself.




Pfofeldix said:


> Have you checked to operate the machine with opened cover?
> 
> If it really would be a bug in the firmware, many people or even everyone using it would have this problem.


----------

