# Hey



## Christiangaz777 (Mar 4, 2014)

Guys, when the water tank is empty, and I refill it do I have to heat the boiler again on this new baby Gaggia? This morning I heated it for 15 minutes before remembering I forgot to fill the tank, then filled it and done another 15. I got 1 cup of double americano and that was warm, the second was after I filled the tank again (Done alot of flushing) appears also warm.


----------



## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

You don't have to switch the machine on, i.e. heat it up when refilling the water tank. You do have to make sure you don't let the tank run dry when the machine is on though or you'll fry the element.


----------



## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

Hi Chris,

When you say you got a warm Americano, how did you fill up the mug with hot water?

The boiler size of the Baby is the same as the classic I think, so around 100ml, so if you are filling from the steam wand after pulling a shot then the boiler will just be pulling water straight from the tank directly to your cup.

You post reads a little like you are leaving the extraction going until you have a whole cup of coffee... which would make very bad coffee.


----------



## Christiangaz777 (Mar 4, 2014)

I half fill the cup with water from the boiler (not using the steam wand) and after the double shot that fills my cup. I know I need a new grinder, fresher beans and a new tamp. trust me im working on it


----------



## Christiangaz777 (Mar 4, 2014)

Sorry if this sounds confusing I am a beginner to this.


----------



## Christiangaz777 (Mar 4, 2014)

Also when I heat the boiler (first thing) I do so for 15 minutes. Should I do this with the portafilter in? Or just heat for longer say 30 mins


----------



## Christiangaz777 (Mar 4, 2014)

How long this the boiler stay hot?


----------



## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

Heat up with portafilter in place.


----------



## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

Christiangaz777 said:


> How long this the boiler stay hot?


What do you mean?


----------



## Christiangaz777 (Mar 4, 2014)

Sorry mean long DOES the boiler stay hot. What do you recommend, 15 or 30 minutes, and will the portafilter be in for that long too?


----------



## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

Boiler has a thermostat which will kick in when the water temp drops below a pre-set limit. Boiler thermostats have, what is called, a dead band which can be a few degrees C between the upper and lower operating limits. To get round this, people use 'temperature surfing' - google it to find out how it works. This is why upmarket machines use PIDs which have a very fine tolerance for maintaining a set temperature.


----------



## Christiangaz777 (Mar 4, 2014)

I really dont have a clue. I know I am doing something wrong. The end result actually tastes quite good. The instructions say 6 minutes to heat the boiler, so maybe im going to try that tomorrow with the filter in.


----------



## Christiangaz777 (Mar 4, 2014)

Temp surfing? I really dont have a clue. Heeeeeelp lol


----------



## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

Christiangaz777 said:


> Temp surfing? I really dont have a clue. Heeeeeelp lol


I wouldn't worry about that for the time being It's quite simple though. You wait until the thermostat light goes out which means there's not heat going into the boiler so the temp will begin to drop. You then let 'x' amount of secs elapse before hitting the brew button. It's what I used to do on my Silvia when I had one - just Google 'temp surfing on the Silvia'.

As said, forget about that for the time being and concentrate on your technique and getting consistent shots out in 25-25 secs from time you hit the brew switch.


----------



## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

Christiangaz777 said:


> I half fill the cup with water from the boiler (not using the steam wand) and after the double shot that fills my cup. I know I need a new grinder, fresher beans and a new tamp. trust me im working on it


Right, hang on, if I'm reading this right this may be the problem.

Filling (even half) a cup of any substantial size from the boiler will give you 'warm' water. The boiler is very small, so as soon as you turn on the brew switch it is pulling cold water in from the tank to fill the boiler as it expels it from the brew head. Even if your half full cup was only 100ml the water coming out is immediately being cooled by incoming water, so even this 100ml will not be hot. Machines of this size will just about give you stable enough temperature over a double shot (around 50ml), after this the incoming water cools the brew water too much.

If you are then pulling a shot immediately after half filling your cup then your shot is being made with water that has only just made it into the boiler, the boiler heating light will probably still be on when you are brewing.

I would suggest sticking the kettle on before you start pulling your shot, allow it to boil and forget about it whilst you are finishing off your espresso making process. By the time you have ground and pulled your shot it will have fallen to a decent (around 90deg) temperature and you can just top up with this.

It is important for your espresso to be brewed at the right temperature, so if you give that a sip straight after a shot has been pulled and its only warm then you definitely have a problem


----------



## Christiangaz777 (Mar 4, 2014)

Ok I understand. Thanks. At the moment the double shot is just a cup full of crema. Will keep working on technique and order some decent equiptment, do a descaling etc so I know everything is clean and done properly


----------

