# Getting a reliable weight out.. (expresso)... with my Lelit MaraX



## Mike_coffeeinbath (Dec 26, 2020)

Hi folks. I've got a feeling this question may have been asked before, but couldn't find it on the this section anywhere.

I've quite recently taken delivery of a Lelit maraX and am VERY pleased - updgraded from a Gaggia Classic. Paying more attention to getting the the a better ratio from fresh beans (using a Specialta grinder) has really stepped reliability and pleasure up a gear.

An issue that's popping up for me, is that I really can taste the difference n ow between different ratios of dry weight in to weight of liquid out with the same bean ... admittedly mainly when there's a fairly significant difference.

My Question/ challenge is this: If i want say 38g-40g out (for 18g dose), if stop the pump when weight gets to target, of course I get quite a bit more out after pump stops, It does vary a bit, my tamping may not be that consistent, but is routinely 2/3 g. So if I actually want a weight in the range, I'm finding i have to make a judgement about when to stop before I get to that weight... it makes it a bit hit and miss. Add to that a bit of variation in the time for a shot of the same mass, I probably get 10% variation in both output and shot time... which does seem to make a noticeable difference to the taste. Rarely so that it's really horrible I have to say, but when I do find a 'ooo that's really nice' spot, it's hard to reliably repeat.

Any advice would be welcome.


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## Rob1 (Apr 9, 2015)

Turn the pump off about two grams before your target weight. You might end up being out by 1g. You'll get better at timing with practice.


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## Tinkstar (Nov 27, 2020)

Mike_coffeeinbath said:


> Hi folks. I've got a feeling this question may have been asked before, but couldn't find it on the this section anywhere.
> 
> I've quite recently taken delivery of a Lelit maraX and am VERY pleased - updgraded from a Gaggia Classic. Paying more attention to getting the the a better ratio from fresh beans (using a Specialta grinder) has really stepped reliability and pleasure up a gear.
> 
> ...


 Is the timing it takes to get to 38 40 the same every time?

What I think I am understanding from your statement / question the if you stop at 36g you might then go to 37 or 40g which you then find the taste can range from awful to oooooo

Is their any stale grind in the machine?


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Try and work out what the latency is, if to get 39g in the cup, you have to kill the pump at 36g for instance (3g latency...I use spouted PF & have to work with about 10g latency).

If you go a few g over, it will matter less than being a few g under, as extraction tails of logarithmically (e.g. 39g will essentially be the same extraction as 41g, just that 41g will be a tiny, tiny tad weaker).

If rocketing way over target, pull the cup & scales away, or stick a saucer between PF & cup at target weight.


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## Mike_coffeeinbath (Dec 26, 2020)

Tinkstar said:


> Is the timing it takes to get to 38 40 the same every time?
> 
> What I think I am understanding from your statement / question the if you stop at 36g you might then go to 37 or 40g which you then find the taste can range from awful to oooooo
> 
> Is their any stale grind in the machine?


 Thanks. Timing is fairly consistent, I'd say but can vary by a few seconds. As I said typically 10% - around 30s, can be 27-33s. awful not usually in the taste range! More hmmm... that's ok/ quite nice to somewhere in the combination (time and weight out).. "ooo"


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## Mike_coffeeinbath (Dec 26, 2020)

MWJB said:


> Try and work out what the latency is, if to get 39g in the cup, you have to kill the pump at 36g for instance (3g latency...I use spouted PF & have to work with about 10g latency).
> 
> If you go a few g over, it will matter less than being a few g under, as extraction tails of logarithmically (e.g. 39g will essentially be the same extraction as 41g, just that 41g will be a tiny, tiny tad weaker).
> 
> If rocketing way over target, pull the cup & scales away, or stick a saucer between PF & cup at target weight.


 This does make measuring to 0.1g a bit academic/ beside the point though? More like working to roughly the nearest gram out. Varying dry dose by as much as a gram does make a bit of a difference so I get being a bit more particular there


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Mike_coffeeinbath said:


> This does make measuring to 0.1g a bit academic/ beside the point though? More like working to roughly the nearest gram out. Varying dry dose by as much as a gram does make a bit of a difference so I get being a bit more particular there


 You're not going to hit a beverage weight to 0.1g all the time, but it's very easy to dose to 0.1g or even less (I dose to +/-0.02g reading on my scales, it's faster with higher resolution scales, I don't believe it makes a noticeably better cup).

I measure a lot of extractions & you need to know weights to a decimal place for that to work.

Think of it this way, many scales are less precise than their resolution, some 0.1g scales are that, but others are +/-0.3, or 0.4g.

1g resolution scales can be +/-3g or 5g depending on how big you go, so "1g" scales can't really do the job (unless it's measuring brew water for brewed coffee), hence why 0.1g scales are really minimum standard.


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