How to prevent the dreaded 5am vibe pump kickstart

Kelsey

Perhaps one morning I ten I'll turn on Betsy and the boiler is apparently already full enough that the pump doesn't need to kick in. No waking the kids up, no rude push into alertness, just blessed silence.

I can't quite figure out how to trigger this state, however!

I've tried running the hot water for a decent length of time prior to switching off for the evening, to no avail.

Is there a trick I'm missing or is just pot luck?

Brett_H

Turn the machine off two hours before bed time. Then just before bed flick the machine on long enough to fill the boiler then turn it off. Quiet mornings!

Lacehim

Good thinking Brett, it will allow the water to cool. Either that Kesley, or upgrade to a pumpless lever! 🙂

Kelsey

I like Lacehim's suggestion better. 😉

Rider

Brett has the answer right there. Machine off after last coffee, quick prime before lights out, silent morning.

Seeya_Latte

Hi Kelsey I also get better strike rate when I turn off the machine as soon as I've run the last shot of the day - just enough time to quickly bang out-wipe-group flush-turn off. Running the water sometimes works sometimes not ... But then again someone once told me that the Wega doesn't draw water from the boiler so I don't quite know what bearing this has on behaviour if indeed true

Koffee_Kosmo

When the machine is cold before bed time turn on so it fills the boiler Then switch off You will then have quiet mornings For what it's worth I like the pump noise to come on in the morning My wife turns the Strega on and I get up 15 / 20 min later to make coffee It's the best alarm clock on the panet KK

Seeya_Latte

KK / Brett- I've just done this so I'll find out tomorrow morn

Seeya_Latte

This morning it worked just as KK&Brett described Me 1 Wega 0

Brett_H

Seeya Latte wrote:

This morning it worked just as KK&Brett described Me 1 Wega 0

Great news! :thumb:

Kelsey

Awesome! Will give this a try tonight.

FreshCoffee2

Not wishing to cause any distress 😉, but I am afraid the grinder makes more noise than that short few second burst from the pump.....and even if we manage the system by doing the bed time thaing, we still have to contend with the grinding noise when getting ready to make coffee, and that for me also includes banging and clanging around with the group handle and tamper! My own system is to very considerately close eveyone's bedroom doors as well as the hall door before starting anything including the microwave for my porridge, and that goes for several minutes and stops with several loud beeps.....! Se la vie 😉

Lacehim

I think what Kesley is talking about is when he turns his machine on to warm up early, the pump kicks in and wakes up the kids. He lives in a flat you see. The kids would be up and about when he makes a coffee at breaky on his nice warm machine. Then he can make as much noise as he wants. 🙂

FreshCoffee2

Aha.....without knowing the amount of time between the switch on, and the actual use of the machine (but it sounds as if it must be considerable), suggest simply a shorter warm up period. I know there are various topics here, there and everywhere advising all and sundry that you need lenghty warm ups, but half an hour should be enough to get a machine to the point where "cheat" methods can be used to quickly get it ready to brew with 😉 In which case the differential between when the machine is first switched on, and when ity is used and everyone is up and about, is shorter and the noise factor more acceptable 🙂

Kelsey

30 mins is about right! At this point we value every single second available for a sneaky lie-in - anything past 6am is a bonus. With our 4 months old girl with the lungs of a diva and a little boy whose first objective every morning is to make as much noise as humanly possible, preferably in our bedroom with the baby, we need two things: 1) to make sure the initial turn on pump noise doesn't hasten the hurricane 2) that when said hurricane arrives we're immediately able to get our caffeine fix to deal with it! That 30 mins of lazy time might not seem like much, but right now it's all we've got! 🙂

Koffee_Kosmo

Kelsey' your machine can be up to temp in 15/20 min as it has an electrically heated head It does not rely on boiler heat I pull shots on the Strega after 15 min because it has an electrically heated head KK

FreshCoffee2

Excellent advice!

Kelsey

Nice to know thanks KK - even so, I'll treasure even 15 mins of 2-year-old sleepy time. As I am now, sitting in a bar by the water while Ol snoozes in his pram:

FreshCoffee2

And again..... Decided this morning and for the greater good, to time the warm up of my own machine. Current machine: a BFC Unico Splendor, with 1.3 litre boiler and 1300 element. Time from cold start to reaching the set boiler pressure = <4 minutes Time to when the group temp is hot enough to make the first coffee < 15 minutes although, you could at that point purge some water through the group to add that little extra heat.....this purge can run through the empty group handle and into a couple of cups, to make sure all is good and ready to brew coffee. At which point, at somewhere between 15 and 20 minites, you could be running off the first coffee, which means you've also started running the grinder at that point...... Suggest you run a similar test with your own machine to see what kind of real time warm up you can actually work with, instead of running with the kind of warm up times we often read about in the forums, which are over the top and result in people switching on their machines way earlier than necessary. It will of course differ a little with each different brand/model machine. The cuppas I ran off my Splendor at around the 20 minute mark, were spot on as far as my palate is concerned! I feel this is well related to the issue of "vibe pump kickstart" in your instance, and I hope that helps. Attilio very first Crema site sponsor.

Ronin

I'm with Fresh Coffee. I have no problems with the shots I pull on the Exporbar Minore after 20min. Definitely worth checking your own machine tho to make an informed decision. I find more often than not the advice from you Attilio on the money.