# The £300 Minima...



## Cooffe (Mar 7, 2019)

I guess this isn't really a restoration thread, just more showing what beauties you can actually get second hand, even if they were unloved previously. This purchase was very odd for me, spur of the moment and irrational. Although I had been yearning for a Minima since the Beta machines were launched, and the reviews started rolling in, I really have never had £1,300 to spend on one. £300 on the other hand...

So I was scouring the bay as my usual Sunday night ritual (please, don't tell me how sad it is, I know) for coffee machines/grinders. See a few San Remo Grinders, buy it now price of £700. No thanks. See all the commercial gear, and then scroll across an ACS Minima, with bidding opened at £100. Did a double take, definitely said £100, not £1000. Opened the Advert and saw the buy it now price - *£300! *In my haste, I decided to message the bloke and scroll through a few of the pictures. It didn't look in the greatest nick, but looked like it just needed a good clean and a bit of love. It was advertised as "a few months old" and "works perfectly". I was sold.

Hit the buy it now price, there was no way this was going to get away from me. I've been looking at them for months, and hoping a second hand one will pop up. Funnily enough, I had just bribed the mrs. with an armchair she wanted, and she then gave me the go-ahead to go full-whack and buy a second-hand Vesuvius. Obviously this won't come to fruition for a few years now - I hope - but the precedent still stands.

Anyway, I arrange collection, order on the Sunday, ask him the usual questions "does it have all the accessories", "is there any cracks" etc. etc., he says no, it works fine, but he wants it gone ASAP. So I made the drive yesterday (Monday), from the West Mids. to the mighty Manchester - a nice 4 hr 30 mins round trip. Also worth adding that I bent @DavecUK's ear about what to look out for, which I really appreciated his time and patience - so thank you.

I won't bore you any more, but I picked it up and it looked less than clean. The portafilters weren't even washed, I don't think the baskets had ever been out of the portafilters, and the shower screen was disgusting. Below are the results of my efforts of cleaning it up:

*As arrived (excluding Cheerio's and Kitchen Paper...):* It doesn't really show it - but this was much dirtier than it looked. The casing looked as you'd expect from something that doesn't have a clean drip tray, as sold. Also note there's a screw missing in the cup warmer... How odd...









*Screw missing: How odd*









*The state of the PF's baskets...:*

















*Removing some of the plastic protective coating off the drip tray... as you do...:*









*Having a little look around in the reservoir chamber, and see the manufacturing date... 06/2019!! ITS A MONTH OLD!:*









*My personal favourite, the Shower Screen/Grouphead:*

















Anyway, I think it goes without saying that all of this had a good clean, there were a few deep-ish scratches (most notably on the grille for the drip tray, image below), but all in all, the grouphead was in good nick and the rest of the body was sound - didn't open up inside, that's tonight's job I think when I need to reduce the pressure to ~9bar...









So, here it is, in all of it's glory cleaned up (the beauty shot(s)):















Not pulled any shots from it yet, but hopefully it will be as good as it looks. The boiler does heat and it turns on ok. Just need to flush about 73 gallons of water through, along with about a kg of Pury... (if the portafilters/baskets weren't washed, I doubt the internals were even looked at).


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## Cooffe (Mar 7, 2019)

Just to add, I found the missing screw at the bottom of the reservoir chamber! I can only guess that screws were removed/loosened to get the protective plastic packaging out from under, but they weren't all tightened, and some were (as I'd expect from the factory), so when doing this, one fell loose and fell into the water reservoir, I managed to reach in and grab it and re-fix.


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## Fez (Dec 31, 2018)

What a bargain! Well done @Cooffe


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## Cooffe (Mar 7, 2019)

Fez said:


> What a bargain! Well done @Cooffe


 Definitely a bargain. Just need to flush through the boilers and now buy some 58mm kit (leveller/tamper) as I have nothing... Damn sage and their 54mm gear!


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## joey24dirt (Jan 28, 2017)

Can't believe how lucky that was. Well done.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Cooffe (Mar 7, 2019)

joey24dirt said:


> Can't believe how lucky that was. Well done.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


 You're telling me. Right place at the right time really. I mean Sunday evening...?

Cheers though dude. Best of luck selling yours.


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## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

What a steal! Well done! I'd love to know:
- why the sale;
- how can I get so dirty in a month;
- where was it bought from originally.

An absolute bargain for sure! Enjoy!

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## joey24dirt (Jan 28, 2017)

Cooffe said:


> You're telling me. Right place at the right time really. I mean Sunday evening...?
> Cheers though dude. Best of luck selling yours.


Thanks mate. I can't lie, my eyebrows did raise a little "wants it gone ASAP" and "only £300" does seem too good to be true. Fingers crossed it's a solid runner 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Komatoes (Mar 11, 2019)

Maybe it was used commercially? Excellent find

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## Cooffe (Mar 7, 2019)

MediumRoastSteam said:


> What a steal! Well done! I'd love to know:
> - why the sale;
> - how can I get so dirty in a month;
> - where was it bought from originally.
> ...


 Cheers! Sure - I asked all these questions, bar the dirty one - didn't want to offend haha.

1) Sale was because it was too big for his kitchen - although I have a sneaky suspicion that it was actually due to being unable to use it. I doubt the grouphead was properly heated every time before use, and he thought the espresso tasted like shit (no shit as the water wouldn't have been 93 celcius). I'll give it a whirl tonight and see if it makes anything half-palatable. The grinder he paired it with was a Mignon Specialtia, not bad, but I'd have expected a Niche at least at this level of machine - which reminds me... I really need one of those.

2) Not a clue. But based on the oils in the grouphead/coffee still in the portafilters, and with no sign of ever cleaning the spouts, it wasn't cleaned. Ever.

3) Bought from Caffe Italia, no receipt or box provided, but do have the manual which is an April 19 version - sure Dave could elaborate if this was the first iteration or if this is an updated one.


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## Cooffe (Mar 7, 2019)

joey24dirt said:


> Thanks mate. I can't lie, my eyebrows did raise a little "wants it gone ASAP" and "only £300" does seem too good to be true. Fingers crossed it's a solid runner
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 No doubt about it - the ASAP wasn't said but was inferred. Wasn't pushy but could tell he wanted it gone from the tone of his texts etc. I paid up the £300 when I was there and that was done. The drip tray still had water and coffee grinds/oils in it - you can just about see in the first picture.


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## Cooffe (Mar 7, 2019)

Komatoes said:


> Maybe it was used commercially? Excellent find
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 I really don't know - if it was used commercially I would have expected there to have been some maintenance at least on cleaning. I would also have expected a few scratches etc. on the casing, of which there are none (only the one on the drip tray grille and some underneath).


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## Planter (Apr 12, 2017)

Great buy. Its always worth the odd trawl through ebay for things like that. Well done.

Sent from my LYA-L09 using Tapatalk


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## Cooffe (Mar 7, 2019)

Planter said:


> Great buy. Its always worth the odd trawl through ebay for things like that. Well done.
> 
> Sent from my LYA-L09 using Tapatalk


 Cheers mate - gutted I just missed out on your Torr Tamper/VST basket sale - would have been perfect for my newly found E61!


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## mctrials23 (May 8, 2017)

That is a hell of a bargain. I paid £450 for a beta machine and that was a great price for one of these let alone a full production model thats only a month old. Did he seem super wealthy. Some people with a lot of money just want rid of things once they don't need them and don't care much about how much of their money they recoup.


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

Looking at the photos you certainly got a bargain and the machine is relatively bulletproof, so it should work just fine. I can't quite see, but check the place where the group meets the front panel that there is a "gasket" there. I can't see properly from the direct vertical angle. I ask because a worker managed to make me a prototype one without and I had to fit one....I cursed the worker whilst going so, because it took about 20 minutes all told (there is a trick, I invented) to putting one on when it's been forgotten.









Lets hope no one from e-bay reads this, because there will never be such a bargain again....I can't understand why he sold it so cheap and it's definitely a current production machine. Perhaps a separation forced sale. Can tell from the white tank knob, those only started appearing around March 2019. You will have the better expansion valve as well. I wouldn't worry about the drip tray scratch, although you could probably buy a drip tray, I wouldn't bother.


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## Cooffe (Mar 7, 2019)

mctrials23 said:


> That is a hell of a bargain. I paid £450 for a beta machine and that was a great price for one of these let alone a full production model thats only a month old. Did he seem super wealthy. Some people with a lot of money just want rid of things once they don't need them and don't care much about how much of their money they recoup.


 Lived in a flat in a (what I can tell limited knowledge) nice area of Manchester. The place seemed up-and coming and fairly affluet. Decent enough bloke and completely no pressure to sell or not to sell from his side. It was a great price, hence why I consulted the guru of Dave to see if there's anything I should be looking out for...


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

mctrials23 said:


> That is a hell of a bargain. I paid £450 for a beta machine and that was a great price for one of these let alone a full production model thats only a month old. Did he seem super wealthy. Some people with a lot of money just want rid of things once they don't need them and don't care much about how much of their money they recoup.


 I assume that was the Beta I had that I sold on for ACS (dirt cheap as well I may add)....worked well that did...ACS were going to scrap it for parts, which would have been criminal.


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## Cooffe (Mar 7, 2019)

DavecUK said:


> Looking at the photos you certainly got a bargain and the machine is relatively bulletproof, so it should work just fine. I can't quite see, but check the place where the group meets the front panel that there is a "gasket" there. I can't see properly from the direct vertical angle. I ask because a worker managed to make me a prototype one without and I had to fit one....I cursed the worker whilst going so, because it took about 20 minutes all told (there is a trick, I invented) to putting one on when it's been forgotten.
> 
> 
> View attachment 30839
> ...


 These things are made to be used! There is a orange gasket there, I checked it out last night and wondered what it did, but it was 5mm or so thick, so fairly rigid. I guess this is where you had some manufacturing issues! If you'd asked me if I'd take a month old porche, which had a scratch on the wingmirror, but runs perfectly, at a quarter of the cost, damn right I'd take it!


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

Yes, the Vesuvius one is custom made and twice as thick as usual, simply because a lot of heat can be sinked from an E61 group to the front panel...much more than manufacturers think. So I started ACS on the route of thicker than normal gaskets 5 years ago. This makes the E61 work a little better. I suppose the cats out of the bag now for any manufacturers who bother to read this.

The Vesuvius gasket is custom made (I think from wood fibre). Of course a standard gasket will fit but why would you want to.


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## mctrials23 (May 8, 2017)

DavecUK said:


> I assume that was the Beta I had that I sold on for ACS (dirt cheap﻿ as well I may add)....worked well that did...AC﻿S were going to scrap it for parts, which would have been criminal.


 Thats the one, great little machine and a far better machine than anything else I could have got for that money.


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## eddie57 (Mar 21, 2017)

Absolute steal mate well done?


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## Cooffe (Mar 7, 2019)

DavecUK said:


> Yes, the Vesuvius one is custom made and twice as thick as usual, simply because a lot of heat can be sinked from an E61 group to the front panel...much more than manufacturers think. So I started ACS on the route of thicker than normal gaskets 5 years ago. This makes the E61 work a little better. I suppose the cats out of the bag now for any manufacturers who bother to read this.
> 
> The Vesuvius gasket is custom made (I think from wood fibre). Of course a standard gasket will fit but why would you want to.


 Damn, you weren't lying when you said about the machine really not being able to break. Just out of curiosity, did you use any manufacturing guidelines from TQM/DFM/DFMA when designing the machine? Sorry if it's an odd question - it's my line of work and I saw you mentioned you had an assembly issue. When I was looking at it I did think it could be a bitch to assemble due to its thickness.


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## Cooffe (Mar 7, 2019)

eddie57 said:


> Absolute steal mate well done?


 Cheers pal - I couldn't believe it myself.


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## Achrys (Jun 17, 2019)

Unbelievable! I'm in tears here! lol ?

Exactly the kind of thing I'm trying to find, with a budget just a little higher. Well done, absolutely beautiful machine. ?

One day Rodders, one day....


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

Cooffe said:


> Damn, you weren't lying when you said about the machine really not being able to break. Just out of curiosity, did you use any manufacturing guidelines from TQM/DFM/DFMA when designing the machine? Sorry if it's an odd question - it's my line of work and I saw you mentioned you had an assembly issue. When I was looking at it I did think it could be a bitch to assemble due to its thickness.


 *I don't build em or work for them*, I just gave them some engineering advice. TQM/DFM/DFMA I know what you mean and I realise smart bods out of uni study this stuff and then go designing. Makes you wonder why so much stuff is difficult to fix and service. Trouble is DFMA might make it easy to make and assemble but crucially it doesn't really give any thought to maintenance and repair.....If one were cynical you might think companies sometimes make things extra difficult to maintain and repair!

My advice is a bit different and based on experience e.g. the expansion valve was at the bottom of the machine, fine for DFMA, but not so great for user adjustment or replacement. I had them put it at the top via an extension tube...the gauge on the group, the solenoid group..not so good for DFMA but much better for you the owner. It's like the hotel inspector on TV says, have you road tested the room...spent a night in it. Espresso machine manufacturers need to walk a few miles in a user shoes....then they might make them a bit differently. Now the Minima has some really big boilers in a small space, so there are compromises, but on the stuff you may need to get to more often it's not a problem.

Paolo does use some quite sophisticated cad design software, but like with the beta machines, it might say this steel is thick enough....which it was, as far as clever design goes...I'm old school and told them to more than double the steel thickness (which they did). Now it copes with things that engineering qulifications can't acount for...the courier!

As for TQM, worked under that for years, basically a system to allow the untrained to produce quality in many cases....I think ACS could work on that a bit more and I guess Paolo is sick of me moaning at him. The problem is systems don't replace experience and "engineering feel". When I put my Vesuvius gasket back I only gripped the socket with my hand and by feel I could tell the O ring had properly compressed as I did it up hand tight. I knew it wouldn't leak and will be easy off next time (no boiler removal required). In a factory they will do it up a lot harder to be sure.

The steel is about as thick as you can go before you have problems bending it with standard processes. If you ever look at an Isomac TEA, they also went to the limit of thickness on the steel for the case...frame was cast Iron if I remember rightly. Minima is all stainless, no cast iron anywhere.

It's fortunate that Paolo values my experience. I remember complaining about the packaging Lelit were using on the Bianca when I had the pre production stuff. I explained that they would get large numbers of machines damaged if they didn't change the packaging significantly and told them how to change it. They archly replied that the packaging had been designed by an expert packaging firm and that shipments of 20 machines had all arrived undamaged...*.then ignored me*. Machines started arriving at customers significantly damaged (bent like a banana). It was of course the exact problem I predicted because of the packaging. The reason big shipments had no damage is the protective effect of 10 or 20 machines on a large pallete. They are not dropped because handled with forklifts and the stacked boxes actually have a cushioning effect for certain types of movement. Once they started shipping individually of course the courier handling meant lots of damaged machines. Of course they changed the packaging significantly (pretty much to what I suggested) and no more damage.

Lelit are generally good in the listening stakes, but sometimes I wish would involve me before they think it's a goodun and pretty much ready to go. It would save them time and money! Many companies like Rocket are not good at this and I refused to review any Rocket machines after the R58 (some other things happened as well).

*The biggest clusterfeck on machines is when Retailers make demands/suggestions on manufacturer for a design!*


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## Cooffe (Mar 7, 2019)

DavecUK said:


> *I don't build em or work for them*, I just gave them some engineering advice. TQM/DFM/DFMA I know what you mean and I realise smart bods out of uni study this stuff and then go designing. Makes you wonder why so much stuff is difficult to fix and service. Trouble is DFMA might make it easy to make and assemble but crucially it doesn't really give any thought to maintenance and repair.....If one were cynical you might think companies sometimes make things extra difficult to maintain and repair!
> 
> My advice is a bit different and based on experience e.g. the expansion valve was at the bottom of the machine, fine for DFMA, but not so great for user adjustment or replacement. I had them put it at the top via an extension tube...the gauge on the group, the solenoid group..not so good for DFMA but much better for you the owner. It's like the hotel inspector on TV says, have you road tested the room...spent a night in it. Espresso machine manufacturers need to walk a few miles in a user shoes....then they might make them a bit differently. Now the Minima has some really big boilers in a small space, so there are compromises, but on the stuff you may need to get to more often it's not a problem.
> 
> ...


 That's a really interesting read. I work at a fairly large Automotive Manufacturer in the west mids (guess who), and, as you say, there are a lot of thoughts that occur that makes the part brilliant, but only once it is in its assembled state. However it's getting it to it's assembled (final) state where a lot of the incidents happen. I only ask as you seem to have reams and reams of knowledge of everything, and understand that you had a lot of input into the design process, so was curious as to what thought process you went through to develop a seemingly rigid and very robust machine.

I sometimes struggle with the thought that the machines are thin and light. I want a machine to herniate me when I pick it up because it's all about perceived quality of the customer, not necessarily whether it will be good, or excel any requirements. As long as it meets the requirements with a safety margin, it's fine. The robustness and rigidity improved the perceived quality. I think the Kano model describes it well. Satisfaction vs. Expectation.

Design should be left with the designer, go to the engineer and the engineer should make it useable and have quality. One thing that I think is going down the pan in a lot of engineering manufacturers. I'm glad you're still involved in consultancy or I'm afraid the future of our coffee machines would be bleak, with high temp. plastics (PA66 etc.) being the future, which is what I don't look forward to...


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## Cooffe (Mar 7, 2019)

Achrys said:


> Unbelievable! I'm in tears here! lol ?
> 
> Exactly the kind of thing I'm trying to find, with a budget just a little higher. Well done, absolutely beautiful machine. ?
> 
> One day Rodders, one day....


 Sorry dude! I mean you would have had to go to Manchester to collect it if that's anything...


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## Hasi (Dec 27, 2017)

ha! Great story
Welcome to the club  enjoy her!


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

Cooffe said:


> That's a really interesting read. I work at a fairly large Automotive Manufacturer in the west mids (guess who), and, as you say, there are a lot of thoughts that occur that makes the part brilliant, but only once it is in its assembled state. However it's getting it to it's assembled (final) state where a lot of the incidents happen. I only ask as you seem to have reams and reams of knowledge of everything, and understand that you had a lot of input into the design process, so was curious as to what thought process you went through to develop a seemingly rigid and very robust machine.


 Sometimes I calculate and other times I *guess*  I remember once a company spent 60K+ on the basis of my best guess, which did worry me a bit. When I mentioned it, they said "they trusted my guesses more than other peoples facts". I was immediately reminded of Star Trek, I do miss Leonard Nimoy in his role as Spock...

James T. Kirk: Mr. Spock, have you accounted for the variable mass of whales and water in your time re-entry program?
Spock: Mr. Scott cannot give me exact figures, Admiral, so... I will make a guess.
James T. Kirk: A guess? You, Spock? That's extraordinary.
Spock: [to McCoy] I don't think he understands.
Leonard McCoy: No, Spock. He means that he feels safer about your guesses than most other people's facts.
Spock: Then you're saying... it is a compliment?
Leonard McCoy: It is.
Spock: Ah. Then I will try to make the best guess I can.

So yeah, sometimes I just guess......


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## Cooffe (Mar 7, 2019)

DavecUK said:


> Sometimes I calculate and other times I *guess*  I remember once a company spent 60K+ on the basis of my best guess, which did worry me a bit. When I mentioned it, they said "they trusted my guesses more than other peoples facts". I was immediately reminded of Star Trek, I do miss Leonard Nimoy in his role as Spock...
> 
> James T. Kirk: Mr. Spock, have you accounted for the variable mass of whales and water in your time re-entry program?
> Spock: Mr. Scott cannot give me exact figures, Admiral, so... I will make a guess.﻿
> ...


 Haha as long as there's logic behind it... It's when it's a finger in the wind guess that I'd worry about.


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## Cooffe (Mar 7, 2019)

Hasi said:


> ha! Great story
> Welcome to the club
> 
> 
> ...


 Cheers dude! I'll throw up some pics of some shots I do later tonight hopefully...


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## dan1502 (Sep 8, 2012)

Luckily for you I rarely check ebay for things like this anymore as I'd have been straight on it with it being local. Better it went to someone who wanted it thought as I'd have just turned it over. I wouldn't be concerned about the boilers with that little use. The water is soft here. Seems a bit odd that a machine that you would think only enthusiasts would buy wouldn't be advertised for at least half price as it would still have been a bargain at that. One not be repeated. Well done.


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## Cooffe (Mar 7, 2019)

dan1502 said:


> Luckily for you I rarely check ebay for things like this anymore as I'd have been straight on it with it being local. Better it went to someone who wanted it thought as I'd have just turned it over. I wouldn't be concerned about the boilers with that little use. The water is soft here. Seems a bit odd that a machine that you would think only enthusiasts would buy wouldn't be advertised for at least half price as it would still have been a bargain at that. One not be repeated. Well done.﻿


 Definitely. I'm going to flush it through anyway just for my own sanity... It's been a month so probably about time!!! :classic_laugh:


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## Achrys (Jun 17, 2019)

Cant wait for the shot pics tonight. Fab find.

@DavecUK there's a great book called "blink' by Malcolm Gladwell, based on trusting your instincts. Some fascinating anecdotes.


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

Achrys said:


> Cant wait for the shot pics tonight. Fab find.
> 
> @DavecUK there's a great book called "blink' by Malcolm Gladwell﻿, based on trusting your instincts. Some fascinating anecdotes.


 Have just ordered.


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## Achrys (Jun 17, 2019)

DavecUK said:


> Have just ordered.


 Great!

The guy who can predict relationship success to a high % (within 'a couple of minutes of listening in' to a conversation), is one of my favourites! ?

Nice one.


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## Cooffe (Mar 7, 2019)

Update on the Minima.

Runs well, retains pressure and can pull a great shot! See video below of my 3rd shot (first real shot) after shooting 4L of water through the group/steam/hot water outlet. I think the shot came out @ about 17g in, 34.5g out in 37 or so seconds, with some channelling. It seems to be the best I can do at the moment with the godawful tamper they give me and my knock off LWW tumbler.






My only concern so far is that there is some bubbles/drips of water out of the steam wand when I run it, where it connects into the backing plate - not sure if this is meant to happen? Issue seems to go away when I turn the steam up. I've added a picture below as well.









The hot water outlet water was disgusting - really brown as if coffee had managed to get in there, not sure if this is meant to happen? Grouphead water was fine when it came out, and the steam had a good 10-15 second purge a couple of times. Managed to get the H2o flash at me so it's good to know the pressure sensor (?) works. Only other criticism I have is that the A7 warning light came on after I ran 2L of water through. Reading up on it, it seems to not really mean much, just something to do with the service boiler? Read the instructions in the manual and turned it off and back on again, issue never came back. I guess it's something to do with the amount of water I was running through it.

@DavecUK - checked the Gasket. Have also added a picture in the next post (over image allowance) but it is very much present. Looking at the thickness closer, I can imagine it being a pig to get on!

Cheers everyone for the well-wishes and to those who will/have offered me advice/help! It is very much appreciated, and as expected, a huge step up from the Sage BE.


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## Cooffe (Mar 7, 2019)

Image of gasket *(with the trusty Barista Express in the back, may I add!)*:









Tags for those who I said I'd put some images/videos up for tonight! @Hasi @Achrys


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## Achrys (Jun 17, 2019)

Keep going... I'm still crying ?

if you ever look at it one day, and think 'This thing was a mistake' - send it my way, and I'll send you one of my kids as a slave. Or you can have the Dog - but he's an asshole.

??


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## Cooffe (Mar 7, 2019)

Achrys said:


> Keep going... I'm still crying ?
> 
> if you ever look at it one day, and think 'This thing was a mistake' - send it my way, and I'll send you one of my kids as a slave. Or you can have the Dog - but he's an asshole.
> 
> ??


 Haha - thats brilliant. I'm afraid I don't think there's any way I'm reverting back to the Sage now. I'll need to stick that on the for sale section soon.

I must say it's the first time I've been offered slave labour for... anything. You either rate your children very low or the Minima very highly! If you're ever around the West Mids, you're welcome to come and have a fiddle/mess about with it!


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## jscott (Jun 25, 2019)

Wow, what a find! Fantastic!!

I also recently upgraded to the Minima from a Barista Express, I agree, a huge step up! Enjoy!!


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

If you are using android smartphone, you can simply embed google photos links into the forum very easily, I did a post on how to do it and considering every photo is replicated on googlephotos (lower .jpg res) with no space allocation used with the reduced jpg resolution, it's super easy to link to em! I did a post on how to do this a few months ago, but can't find it...good luck if you can?

The photo doesn't explain exactly how the wand is leaking, you need to be clearer?

Show a video, is it leaking from inside when you take the top off, is it spraying back from the ball joint????

Oh you might find this handy, especially the smartphone version I did in Sway.

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/vesuvius/owners-manual-acs-minima-t258.html


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## Cooffe (Mar 7, 2019)

DavecUK said:


> If you are using android smartphone, you can simply embed google photos links into the forum very easily, I did a post on how to do it and considering every photo is replicated on googlephotos (lower .jpg res) with no space allocation used with the reduced jpg resolution, it's super easy to link to em! I did a post on how to do this a few months ago, but can't find it...good luck if you can?
> 
> The photo doesn't explain exactly how the wand is leaking, you need to be clearer?
> 
> ...


 Sure - I use an iPhone, but was over the 7.81MB limit due to the video embedded I think. Can't use google photos though.

The photo wasn't great I admit, was trying to steam, whilst holding a camera and taking a video. The leak is on the outside, where there is a bolt connects to the plate (see attached image). I'll try to get a video of it tonight in action.









I have been consulting the handbook you referenced, as I have a hard copy as given with the machine. I must admit that I stopped reading @ the Advanced setting page, though.


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

The sway version can be viewed in a browser as an interactive book (even on apple). Wwith videos never post em to the forum, upload them to youtube as unlisted and then link to them. Faster for me, faster for you, better for all.


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## Cooffe (Mar 7, 2019)

DavecUK said:


> The sway version can be viewed in a browser as an interactive book (even on apple). Wwith videos never post em to the forum, upload them to youtube as unlisted and then link to them. Faster for me, faster for you, better for all.


 Yeah I think the video was posted with youtube (I definitely uploaded it as unlisted and pasted it) but auto embedded the link I supplied.


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

For the leak you also need to take top off and look inside with a torch, take a photo as well.


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## Cooffe (Mar 7, 2019)

DavecUK said:


> For the leak you also need to take top off and look inside with a torch, take a photo as well.


 Shall do. Presume just a photo required of the pipe from the service boiler to the exit to the steam wand is needed, with a video? I'll try to grab them both tonight if I'm still having the issue. Seems to be on initial startup, once it's ran through for a few seconds, the bubbling/leaking stops.


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## Cooffe (Mar 7, 2019)

@DavecUK Video here of the steam wand leaking: 




Did try to get a bit of the video of the inside, but can't really see anything - the top is still off so can still go and have a fiddle about until I need a coffee! Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

Cooffe said:


> @DavecUK Video here of the steam wand leaking:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 It's not leaking from the nut on the case (as you indicated) but from the wand securing nut, where the ball joint is. take it apart and see whats wrong, it shouldn't be hard to fix. Perhaps someone has had it apart and done something stupid with it....or it might just be loose. It doesn't need to be very tight at all just a bit more than finger tight. I made a post a long time ago, but cant find it now. Take that nut off where the ball joint bit is...if it's not obvious what to do take some photos of the bits.


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## Cooffe (Mar 7, 2019)

DavecUK said:


> It's not leaking from the nut on the case (as you indicated) but from the wand securing nut, where the ball joint is. take it apart and see whats wrong, it shouldn't be hard to fix. Perhaps someone has had it apart and done something stupid with it....or it might just be loose. It doesn't need to be very tight at all just a bit more than finger tight. I made a post a long time ago, but cant find it now. Take that nut off where the ball joint bit is...if it's not obvious what to do take some photos of the bits.


 Yeah you were right, I just re-watched the video and decided to try tightening the nut - it's working fine now. I come back and you've told me to do it! Cheers for the help mate!


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