# Dual Boiler with IMS Gaggia Precision Shower Screen



## Beanosaurus (Jun 4, 2014)

A side by side comparison of the stock Sage Dual Boiler shower screen and the IMS Gaggia Precision Shower Screen

Stock:






IMS:






You can see that the IMS screen produces a more even even distribution of water compared to the stock screen.

It also flushes more cleanly than the stock which has larger pocketed holes.

It's slightly wider but fits like a dream.


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## 7877 (Aug 14, 2014)

Which is all good to know, but does it really make any difference in the cup?


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## Beanosaurus (Jun 4, 2014)

Sibling Chris said:


> Which is all good to know, but does it really make any difference in the cup?


Depends on whether you believe a more uniform dispersion of water will encourage a more uniform saturation of the coffee bed.

Does it affect extraction then? Well without doing a side by side test using a refractometer it's incredibly hard to discern...

However I've spent a tenner on it so to rationalise my purchase I believe that it flushes better and disperses water more evenly than the stock screen, and also looks much sexier.


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## 7877 (Aug 14, 2014)

nice. where did you manage to get that for a tenner?

in comparison my adventures of the weekend amounted to buying a 50p black plastic cooking funnel from Tesco and cutting it down to sit in my PF as a dosing funnel!


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## Beanosaurus (Jun 4, 2014)

Sibling Chris said:


> nice. where did you manage to get that for a tenner?


It was majnu's group buy thread.


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

I found it a right PITA , coffee seems to get stuck behind the screen to a greater degree and around the group seal. Couldn't find a taste difference in the cup either, nor extraction yield


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## Beanosaurus (Jun 4, 2014)

garydyke1 said:


> I found it a right PITA , coffee seems to get stuck behind the screen to a greater degree and around the group seal. Couldn't find a taste difference in the cup either, nor extraction yield


Really? I've had about 20 coffees through it since it was installed. I'll whip it off tonight and have a gander though I can say I've not had any issues with it whatsoever.

I won't dispute the taste difference/extraction yield though.


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

Beanosaurus said:


> Really? I've had about 20 coffees through it since it was installed. I'll whip it off tonight and have a gander though I can say I've not had any issues with it whatsoever.
> 
> I won't dispute the taste difference/extraction yield though.


This was with 20g VST baskets. The seal between the inner basket diameter and the outer shower screen edge wasnt flush in the same way the stock sage one was. Result - coffee grinds making it up and over the edge of the basket and up to the group seal. Pucks were sloppier and not coming clean away from the dispersion screen either.

I didn't try any other baskets


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## Beanosaurus (Jun 4, 2014)

garydyke1 said:


> This was with 20g VST baskets. The seal between the inner basket diameter and the outer shower screen edge wasnt flush in the same way the stock sage one was. Result - coffee grinds making it up and over the edge of the basket and up to the group seal. Pucks were sloppier and not coming clean away from the dispersion screen either.
> 
> I didn't try any other baskets


Crikey! : (

I've been using 18g and 20g VSTs since the weekend and have genuinely not seen that effect whatsoever!


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Beanosaurus said:


> Crikey! : (
> 
> I've been using 18g and 20g VSTs since the weekend and have genuinely not seen that effect whatsoever!


Hello

With what grinder..

Drinking espresso? Or milk drinks?

Basket will only be reflect the quality of grind and the quality of prep being used. Its not a magic bullet to make stuff instantly better.

If your brew ratio is leading to under extraction for example then the basket don't solve this.


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## Beanosaurus (Jun 4, 2014)

Mrboots2u said:


> Hello
> 
> With what grinder..
> 
> ...


Hi Boots,

From what I recall Gary has an EK at home, and I have a Zenith (that I prepare 95% of my espresso with).

My distribution is bang on as far as I'm concerned, I religiously collapse the ground and use a nutation tamp most of the time so grind a little bit coarser,

rarely do I see clumps and if I do they get the WDT with a kebab stick.

I'm a bit confused as to what you're replying about! I've been using VSTs for well over a year (and sold you one recently!), suppose I could have clarified that.

The screen was installed on the weekend and I've been using those two varieties of VST basket with it and yet not seen the issues that Gary has remarked about.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Sorry I thought u were saying the vst baskets made no difference at all

What you are actually saying is the IMS doesn't seem to make a difference isn't it ?

Apologies for the confusion caused ...


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## Beanosaurus (Jun 4, 2014)

Mrboots2u said:


> Sorry I thought u were saying the vst baskets made no difference at all
> 
> What you are actually saying is the IMS doesn't seem to make a difference isn't it ?
> 
> Apologies for the confusion caused ...


No worries. : )

The IMS screen doesn't seem to make MUCH of a difference (despite my rationalisations of spending a tenner on it. - I buy, therefore I must like...),

when it comes to 9 BAR of near-boiling water slamming into a puck of coffee, it kind of throws "more even distribution of water" out of the window haha. Pinch of salt etc...

I believe Mr **** has quantified this with measurement of extraction yield!

I may post some pics later if I can be bothered, will be having a look behind the screen in any case.


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

Yep, it tasted no different & the refractometer showed no differences which couldn't be put down to usual variability in prep either.


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## Hoffmonkey (Apr 28, 2014)

BUT, if it stops some of the oils from getting back behind the shower screen, it might make a difference between shots poured immediately after a clean vs after a quantity of shots have been poured?


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

Hoffmonkey said:


> BUT, if it stops some of the oils from getting back behind the shower screen, it might make a difference between shots poured immediately after a clean vs after a quantity of shots have been poured?


The stock Sage holds very little behind the screen anyway , cant speak about the Classic as its been several years since I suffered one


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## Beanosaurus (Jun 4, 2014)

Some pics here I took a few days back, well all seems to be good and the screen was really clean when removed, I pulled a 20g shot and took some photos of the puck, screen pre-flush and after.

So I can't say if Gary has exactly the same screen or not and can only speculate if there is some other variable involved which is causing the problems.


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