Quick Mill Achille 0996

Paolo5

Into my 5th day of ownership with this big guy.

Through trial and error I have found that to prepare a double basket for the Achille the way that I always do for my La Marzocco Linea gives substandard shots.

LM-This would be 18 to 18.3 gm of grounds....tamp firmly from N,S,E and West and then a HARD tamp square on. To do this with the Achille for some reason always yields an underextracted shot (weaker taste, colour and crema).

With the Achille MUCH better results are achieved with 16 gm of grounds....tamp gently from N,S,E and West and then apply only MODERATE tamping pressure square on.

I did this for 4 doubles this morning and (as I have just written to Lacehim) almost saw His Holiness...

This new machine takes longer to warm up than I thought that it would (30 minutes) but on a timer is ready when I am each morning.

Paolo5

In another thread, Galumay wrote:- "I remember the Quickmill thread when the first one turned up on HB, looks like a nice machine, will do the job very nicely Lacehim. I reckon it would be up there with the Izzo & Bosco in terms of quality and finish." I haven't seen either the Bosco or the Izzo but I tend to be quite fussy with things like quality and finish in espresso machines. I can say that the Achille has been crafted with all of the care and precision that I have observed in 2 other machines that I know well...the Cremina and the La Marzocco Linea.

Lacehim

on 1350426290:

This new machine takes longer to warm up than I thought that it would (30 minutes) but on a timer is ready when I am each morning.

I'm intending to put mine on a timer too.  If you are interested in try it out, do you think kickstarting the thermosyphon would speed it up?  I saw Dan mention it on his HB posts, it was something that Reiss (Londinium I) suggested to him. Hopefully by next week I'll have mine!  Can't wait.  A very very exciting machine! Also what's the steam like?

Paolo5

Hi Lacehim, Congratulations on your new purchase! Note:I AM really new to this machine, so this procedure is just a work in progress. 30 minutes is WITH the kickstart. I have a couple of the lower range adhesive thermometers attached to the group....one above and one below the "Hot warning" sticker. When the machine has been on for several hours, two to three of the boxes on the thermo strip are green. The bottom of the group registers a bit hotter than the top. Quicker warmup procedure (to get 2-3 boxes to turn green on the group ASAP) I do as follows- *Turn on *13-14 minutes later anti-vac valve closes and pressure starts to register on the gauge *4 minutes later pressure has reached 1.2 Bar and heater element turns off *Purge water through group for a few seconds. *Cover group with towel Have a quick look around outside and then come in and grind coffee. Ready to go! It DOESN'T warmup as quickly as I had hoped but all things considered, it's not too bad for a full commercial group. Jack says that he can get it up to speed in 17 minutes. I will have to check in with him to find his procedure. I might try doing the kickstart as soon as pressure starts to register on the gauge to see whether this makes any difference. Jack told me that he has turned down the pressurstat maximum on his Achille to 1.1 Bar. I haven't asked him why yet. Steaming is a bit better than a Cremina but not a patch on the speed of a Linea.

Koffee_Kosmo

That's normal for a thermosyphon machine Winter and summer ambient temps may also affect heat up time A general must do is Make sure you use a good water filter Regarding the coffee weight Every machine has its maximum tamp depth This is based on the position of the shower screen If one needs more coffee to fit I recommend that one gets a bigger basket And congratulations on your new purchase KK

Paolo5

Hi KK, Thanks for that! I have the water issue covered. I have a commercial water softener that has mixed bed resin resin in it. It is fed filtered water from a 2 stage under-counter water filter. I re-generate it with 1kg of salt when it needs it. I fill a few 2 litre bottles of softened water from it at a time and store this in a cupboard. This makes it so easy to pour into the machine's tank. Can't be too careful! P.S. I think that I bought a Pullman tamper from you several years ago....how are you going?

Koffee_Kosmo

on 1350441890:

I think that I bought a Pullman tamper from you several years ago....how are you going?

That tamper was a special match to a hand picked LM basket I have found since moving sideways to a lever machine that I needed to grind a little finer This is the result I get with a naked filter - video http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=RzZBM1C4daQ&desktop_uri=/watch?v=RzZBM1C4daQ KK 

galumay

My experience with various levers is that the best coffee is extracted by avoiding over dosing, the sweet spot for me is about 14g - much more that that and I found the flavour profile suffered. I also find that the lower you can run the temp and therefore the pressure, the bette the flavour profile - I cant get the Izzo to produce quite as good an espressso as the Caravel - but thats because the steam suffers if I get down in the right range for the temperature of the extracted coffee. You do have to 'un-learn' some of the bad habits induced by modern coffee machines in order to get the best out of levers - but once you do your coffee will move in to a whole new league!

Lacehim

FYI Paolo5 is having a wee issue with his sightglass. Any of you guys have any ideas on what causing it?

Can anyone tell me what could cause a "normal" water level reading in a sight glass on a cold machine to increase above the max level and up over the top of the sight glass so that I can no longer see the meniscus under operating temperature....and then drop back to normal when cold again? It's driving me crazy.

galumay

on 1350458516:

FYI Paolo5 is having a wee issue with his sightglass. Any of you guys have any ideas on what causing it?

Umm...water expands when its heated!! Of course it will rise. I think mine was only filled slightly over half way when cold, it sits at over 3/4 now. (I never turn mine off, I dont quite know why people do - but thats a different story)

Lacehim

on 1350460612:

Umm...water expands when its heated!! Of course it will rise. I think mine was only filled slightly over half way when cold, it sits at over 3/4 now. (I never turn mine off, I dont quite know why people do - but thats a different story)

I can't say I've really noticed on mine, I check it when it's cold and use it.  It's way down low so it's not something I take notice of while I'm using it and has low water cut off.  :laugh: As you say it might not be an issue.  I'm not sure what level normal is on Paolo5's machine. The sightglass isn't really that useful on a machine that autofills is it.  I wonder why they included it?  Maybe it has a manual fill function???

Paolo5

With my new Achille there is a glitch....and this explanation of it is a bit lengthy:- The water level in the sightglass sits just on the "max" sign when cold (HOORAY!) but rises to the top of the sightglass tube so that usually I can't see the meniscus as it is behind the stainless panel. (BOO!) We are talking about  a rise of 5 cm. This only starts to rise after the anti-vac valve shuts. Then as the pressure rises, the water level does too. If I drain 2 cups of water out of the water tap, the level often drops back to the "max" sign (GREAT!), the pump kicks in and refills the boiler and the water level stays in the correct place. It will stay there through shutdown and only rise up to the artificially high spot the next time that I use the machine after the anti-vac valve shuts and pressure starts to build up in the boiler again. It does this every time from a cold start. Steaming milk can bring it back down to the correct spot too where it will remain. At this point it would be great If I never turned the machine off like Galumay does. If I turn the machine back on within half an hour of shutdown after it was sitting at the correct level, it will maintain the correct level and all will be well. If I don't use either wand, I will never see the correct water level when the machine is at operating temperature. I started this thread on another forum hoping that someone could help:- http://coffeesnobs.com.au/brewing-equipment-extreme-machines-3000/33131-sight-glass-level-ok-cold-high-when-hot-why.html If anyone here can shed some light on the problem, I would be really greatful.

Brett H

Just check your boiler water level probe is all the way in.

Paolo5

on 1350468943:

Just check your boiler water level probe is all the way in.

Hi Brett, I just checked and yes, it is in all the way. Thanks, Paolo

Paolo5

on 1350452771:

My experience with various levers is that the best coffee is extracted by avoiding over dosing, the sweet spot for me is about 14g - much more that that and I found the flavour profile suffered. I also find that the lower you can run the temp and therefore the pressure, the bette the flavour profile - I cant get the Izzo to produce quite as good an espressso as the Caravel - but thats because the steam suffers if I get down in the right range for the temperature of the extracted coffee. You do have to 'un-learn' some of the bad habits induced by modern coffee machines in order to get the best out of levers - but once you do your coffee will move in to a whole new league!

Hi Galumay, What temperature and pressure do you run for the best results for most beans in your machine? Your Izzo is a PID machine, isn't it? Cheers, Paolo

Lacehim

I was just checking out Dan on HBs photos of the Achille with the skin off and noticed he had uploaded some photos of the group dismantled.  He doesn't appear to have posted on HB about it yet, but I noticed that the group appears to have 2 springs. Attachment not found.

Paolo5

It has two springs all right...I'd like to see your face the first time that you pull the lever down! Achille time must be getting close for you now, Lacehim!

Lacehim

Do you think I will get to work out when pulling a shot?  :laugh:  Seriously though, how hard is it to pull the lever? It's in Brisbane.  Hopefully tomorrow I hope.

derrilex

on 1351060892:

I was just checking out Dan on HBs photos of the Achille with the skin off and noticed he had uploaded some photos of the group dismantled.  He doesn't appear to have posted on HB about it yet, but I noticed that the group appears to have 2 springs. Attachment not found.

Ive run double valve springs on quite a few engines in the past :D :D

Paolo5

on 1351061224:

Do you think I will get to work out when pulling a shot?  :laugh:  Seriously though, how hard is it to pull the lever? It's in Brisbane.  Hopefully tomorrow I hope.

Not sure who told me (an Achille owner #1 or #2) that their wife/partner couldn't pull the lever down. It is really manageable but a surprise nonetheless how much oomph is required.

Koffee_Kosmo

Its all those years of button pushing that's turned us into whimp's In any case I have a spare long handle in a sexy Atomic Style for the pull lever I can pass on of it fits like Bezzera style thread KK

Lacehim

Maybe I could borrow it for a bit to see how the extra length goes.

galumay

on 1351061224:

Do you think I will get to work out when pulling a shot?  :laugh:  Seriously though, how hard is it to pull the lever? It's in Brisbane.  Hopefully tomorrow I hope.

My wife has no problem with the Izzo.

Paolo5

It is definitely a job for both hands....both pulling down....and releasing up...

Lacehim

Well this morning I got a delivery.  Woohoo!  Seems the tamper Jack sent me didn't arrive, where that went I don't know.  Probably fell out the bottom of the pallet.   Hopefully he can figure it out!  So in the mean time it's plastic tamper land for me. (at least it fits the filter unlike the lusso) Initial thoughts after a few hours of ownership?  BIG!  FRUITING BIG!  Still looks nice, plenty of bling bling for those that love it (personally I'm thinking that cleaning it going to take a while).  The s/s needs a bit more finishing on the edges, not sharp, but it looks like there is a dirt leftover from the cutting process or something.  Looks well made stainless everything, and well laid out with the tank to the side for easy filling.  The rotary pump needs to be checked out, it's a lot more noisy that I imagined, and the drip tray vibrates if it's not pushed right back to make it sound even worse!   So far that 3 owners of these have all commented that the rotary pump is noisier than expected.  Jack has already contacted Quick Mill, so we shall see how their support goes on this matter.  Personally I think maybe the safety valve touching the top might be the problem. Still on the upside everything seems to be working fine, just filled with water which gave the rotary a work out and hopefully boiling some Sunshine Coast water in there (less than 50ppm so I'm just using an odour/taste filter).  Yep, just up to 1.2 bar, and it seems to kick back in just under 1.1 bar.  Sweet.  No leaks and the house hasn't burned down from using my temporary adapter from DSE.  Jack didn't unpack this machine at all, it's straight from Italy,  because he didn't want to disturb the packaging.  Quick Mill made a fluff and didn't put AU plugs on these beasts!  Sparky on his way over tomorrow! Portafilters aren't as heavy as previous handles I've had.  I suspect by the look of them that they are stainless steel, rather than brass. Ohhh and antiburn wands/hot water tap!  NICE!  Need two bloody hands to pull the group down though as Paolo said!  Work out material! Anyway, here's some eye candy.  Currently waiting for it to warm up.  Doesn't it dwarf the lusso a tad! Christmas came early! Side by side with the lusso Front Side Bum Drip Tray Group Handle Bits and bobs that came with it.  Plumb kit, 2 group handles, single double basket, plastic tamper and the usual usless manual.

Kelsey

Oooohhhh shiny. I'm gonna have to come around....

lemoo

oh wow grats!

conikal

..Jack didn't unpack this machine at all, it's straight from Italy,  because he didn't want to disturb the packaging.  Quick Mill made a fluff and didn't put AU plugs on these beasts!  Sparky on his way over tomorrow!

The next time the forums flame up over the hiked up  prices we pay here compared to Europe,..and one of our local retailers jumps on proclaiming how much work and modifications they have to do in order to render the European machines suitable for use in Oz,...... ...I shall remember the above statement ! I hope that sparky is being paid for by the importer !

hiphipharar

Nice looking machine. It looks the goods - I hope it delivers the goods. I notice that they still provide a crappy plastic tamper ...but stuck on the end of the dosing spoon. Guess this will be consigned to a dark corner of some drawer or cupboard. If they can't include something a bit more worthwhile, why bother.

Lacehim

on 1351147945:

Nice looking machine. It looks the goods - I hope it delivers the goods. I notice that they still provide a crappy plastic tamper ...but stuck on the end of the dosing spoon. Guess this will be consigned to a dark corner of some drawer or cupboard. If they can't include something a bit more worthwhile, why bother.

Me too.  And don't slag off my tamper, it's all I have at the moment! I need to sort out a better bench for it.  This stand alone thing nearly falls over when you pull the lever!  :doh:  Back to trial and error with getting a shot!  But that's normal with any new machine.

Beanz

Congratulations Lacehim it looks good! We will all be sitting on line tonight waiting for reports. Can the drip tray be lifted out to empty it or does it need to be plumbed in? The photo looks as if it drains out the bottom of the tray.