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Date: 12 May 2007 21:21:09
From: Robert Harmon
Subject: Here we go again; my latest brain fart for improving espresso machines
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As I was futzing around with putting a second boiler into a Gaggia I had a
brain fart. My machines are left on either 24/7 (Bunn ES-1A w/PID) or are at
least left on all day (Gaggia w/PID). It seems that it would be useful to
have the boiler go into a standby mode when the machine is idle.
I'm looking for a way to drop the boiler temperature from the operational
level to ~150F if it hasn't been used for a while, and be able to ramp back
up to normal operating temperatures on demand.
The object that caused the brain fart in the first place - a solid state
repeat timer - looks like a possible solution in search of a problem. I
might be able to connect it in such a way that at the flip of a switch it
could begin turning the boiler element on/off at preset intervals.
Ideas?
--
Robert (I think when I tinker & tinkle when I drink!) Harmon
--
http://www.tinyurl.com/mb4uj - My coffee pages.
http://www.tinyurl.com/2tnv87 - My 'Guidelines For Newbies' page.
http://www.tinyurl.com/2cr3e2 - I have things for sale here.
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Date: 21 May 2007 01:25:00
From: hbuchtel
Subject: Re: Here we go again; my latest brain fart for improving espresso machines
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Nice. The tube between the pre-heat boiler and the brew boiler is
quite long and exposed, does it do a good job of holding the heat?
Henry
On May 20, 5:39 pm, mocha <acurs...@gmail.com > wrote:
> On 20 May=FDs, 05:03, hbuchtel <henry.buch...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > That is wild! Can you explain what is going on? Is the 3rd boiler
> > for pre-heating the brew water?
>
> > It looks great all put together too!
>
> > Henry
>
> Yes.. the two boilers at the right side are made by Gaggia for their
> smaller machines. The one at the back is for preheating the brew water
> at around 85 C. The 2 circuits are:
>
> 1.pump# 1-preheat boiler controlled by thermostat 85 C-pressure gauge-
> standard Gaggia boiler controlled by dimmer and PID.
> 2.pump# 2-steam boiler controlled by thermostat 140 C.
>
> A solenoid was not included in the design to eliminate back flushing
> requirement.
>
> Algun
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Date: 20 May 2007 02:39:34
From: mocha
Subject: Re: Here we go again; my latest brain fart for improving espresso machines
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On 20 May=FDs, 05:03, hbuchtel <henry.buch...@gmail.com > wrote:
> That is wild! Can you explain what is going on? Is the 3rd boiler
> for pre-heating the brew water?
>
> It looks great all put together too!
>
> Henry
Yes.. the two boilers at the right side are made by Gaggia for their
smaller machines. The one at the back is for preheating the brew water
at around 85 C. The 2 circuits are:
1=2Epump# 1-preheat boiler controlled by thermostat 85 C-pressure gauge-
standard Gaggia boiler controlled by dimmer and PID.
2=2Epump# 2-steam boiler controlled by thermostat 140 C.
A solenoid was not included in the design to eliminate back flushing
requirement.
Algun
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Date: 19 May 2007 19:03:55
From: hbuchtel
Subject: Re: Here we go again; my latest brain fart for improving espresso machines
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That is wild! Can you explain what is going on? Is the 3rd boiler
for pre-heating the brew water?
It looks great all put together too!
Henry
> My 3-boiler Gaggia offers following stand-bye possibility:
>
> The brew boiler's heater is controlled by a dimmer. The dimmer is
> optionally controlled by a PID. If the PID is electrically
> disconnected, the dimmer is circuited for a direct link to the main.
> The dimmer can be set 0 to 80% power (in terms of 220 V, 0 to 1040
> Watts) by turning a handknob. It's possible to adjust for a permanent
> preboil condition of the water. Photos of the machine here:
>
> http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o314/mocha2006_album/Dscn1904.jpghttp://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o314/mocha2006_album/Dscn1887.jpg
>
> Algun
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Date: 13 May 2007 13:15:11
From: mocha
Subject: Re: Here we go again; my latest brain fart for improving espresso machines
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On 13 May=FDs, 00:21, "Robert Harmon" <r_h_har...@Zhotmail.com > wrote:
> As I was futzing around with putting a second boiler into a Gaggia I had a
> brain fart. My machines are left on either 24/7 (Bunn ES-1A w/PID) or are=
at
> least left on all day (Gaggia w/PID). It seems that it would be useful to
> have the boiler go into a standby mode when the machine is idle.
>
> I'm looking for a way to drop the boiler temperature from the operational
> level to ~150F if it hasn't been used for a while, and be able to ramp ba=
ck
> up to normal operating temperatures on demand.
>
> The object that caused the brain fart in the first place - a solid state
> repeat timer - looks like a possible solution in search of a problem. I
> might be able to connect it in such a way that at the flip of a switch it
> could begin turning the boiler element on/off at preset intervals.
>
> Ideas?
> --
> Robert (I think when I tinker & tinkle when I drink!) Harmon
> --http://www.tinyurl.com/mb4uj- My coffee pages.http://www.tinyurl.com/2t=
nv87- My 'Guidelines For Newbies' page.http://www.tinyurl.com/2cr3e2- I hav=
e things for sale here.
Hello,
My 3-boiler Gaggia offers following stand-bye possibility:
The brew boiler's heater is controlled by a dimmer. The dimmer is
optionally controlled by a PID. If the PID is electrically
disconnected, the dimmer is circuited for a direct link to the main.
The dimmer can be set 0 to 80% power (in terms of 220 V, 0 to 1040
Watts) by turning a handknob. It's possible to adjust for a permanent
preboil condition of the water. Photos of the machine here:
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o314/mocha2006_album/Dscn1904.jpg
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o314/mocha2006_album/Dscn1887.jpg
Algun
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Date: 18 May 2007 22:28:33
From: Danny
Subject: Re: Here we go again; my latest brain fart for improving espresso
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mocha wrote:
> My 3-boiler Gaggia offers following stand-bye possibility:
>
> The brew boiler's heater is controlled by a dimmer. The dimmer is
> optionally controlled by a PID. If the PID is electrically
> disconnected, the dimmer is circuited for a direct link to the main.
> The dimmer can be set 0 to 80% power (in terms of 220 V, 0 to 1040
> Watts) by turning a handknob. It's possible to adjust for a permanent
> preboil condition of the water. Photos of the machine here:
>
> http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o314/mocha2006_album/Dscn1904.jpg
> http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o314/mocha2006_album/Dscn1887.jpg
>
> Algun
>
That's some srious modding - Kudos to you!
--
Regards, Danny
http://www.gaggia-espresso.com (a purely hobby site)
(apparently bad grammar but I like it that way...)
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Date: 12 May 2007 17:10:05
From: seastl
Subject: Re: Here we go again; my latest brain fart for improving espresso machines
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On Sat, 12 May 2007 21:21:09 GMT, "Robert Harmon"
<r_h_harmon@Zhotmail.com > wrote:
>As I was futzing around with putting a second boiler into a Gaggia I had a
>brain fart. My machines are left on either 24/7 (Bunn ES-1A w/PID) or are at
>least left on all day (Gaggia w/PID). It seems that it would be useful to
>have the boiler go into a standby mode when the machine is idle.
>
>I'm looking for a way to drop the boiler temperature from the operational
>level to ~150F if it hasn't been used for a while, and be able to ramp back
>up to normal operating temperatures on demand.
>
>The object that caused the brain fart in the first place - a solid state
>repeat timer - looks like a possible solution in search of a problem. I
>might be able to connect it in such a way that at the flip of a switch it
>could begin turning the boiler element on/off at preset intervals.
>
>Ideas?
>--
>Robert (I think when I tinker & tinkle when I drink!) Harmon
I assume the second boiler would be for steaming, or would it be for
pre-heat? In any case, maybe a SPDT toggle to switch between high and
low thermostats (or pressure switches) - select lower (idle) temp when
off, and steam temp when on (like 250 vs 300 degrees).
SPST toggle to switch a dual-setpoint pid.
You could use a momentary switch to start the timer you describe to
give you X seconds/minutes to steam, then drop back to idle so that
it's idiot-resistant. Or, use a mom switch and delay-on-release relay
to do the same.
I'm not sure how they worked, but remember the lamps that you just
touched to turn them on? That, with a timer would allow you to wake up
a machine for steaming easily, and amaze your guests by just nudging
your machine. Then when not handled for x minutes, it could idle again
Or you could just use a clapper...;-)
Brad
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Date: 12 May 2007 23:11:38
From: Coffee for Connoisseurs
Subject: Re: Here we go again; my latest brain fart for improving espresso machines
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It's been done. The Sunbeam 6900 series dual thermoblock machines have an
electonically programmed standby mode. See
http://www.sunbeam.com.au/product_documents/EM6910_IB.pdf
--
Alan
alanfrew@coffeeco.com.au
www.coffeeco.com.au
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Date: 13 May 2007 04:48:37
From: D. Ross
Subject: Re: Here we go again; my latest brain fart for improving espresso machines
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"Coffee for Connoisseurs" <alanfrew@coffeeco.com.au > wrote:
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