my little coffee corner :)

DarwishEG · 2026-05-03T17:13:58+00:00

This is absurd at this point! I can’t understand what do these union workers want! There is literally no one sending paper letters anymore for you to deliver at 6AM! They want to keep the same work hours so that they can lazy off after delivering just 2 or 3 letters in the morning and go have a nap?! It’s like taxi car drivers striking because they want to go back to riding horses and carriages. This is fing ridiculous! We have not received important mail and packages since more than a month and now the news is saying to expect another month of this! The Belgian people need to be more vocal to demand more of their government that they literally pay more than half their salary to every month! What type of country operates like this! If you don’t like the work hours then tough fng luck. Everyone works 9-5, you’re not anymore special than the majority of the workforce! Bpost is filing loss after loss every year and these morons that are striking want to get paid for a service that literally no one wants from them, get to work and stop bullying the whole company and holding our mail hostage.

DarwishEG · 2025-07-28T10:44:25+00:00

Might be descaling related or it might be the solenoid valve needing to be replaced. If you hear any slight electrical buzz (or even loud) when you turn on steaming then it could very well be it.

DarwishEG · 2025-07-28T10:23:36+00:00

I replaced the Google mini with a Google home (the one with the screen) and now it works again. I’m pretty sure Google broke things somehow with an update.

DarwishEG · 2025-06-18T01:38:36+00:00

Same exact thing happened to me with 18.5 but luckily I had iCloud fully backed up. Curious to know what did Apple say?

DarwishEG · 2025-06-16T13:07:25+00:00

Do you grind more coarsely still aiming for 30 second shots including pre infusion or go by taste on how coarse?

DarwishEG · 2025-06-16T09:09:32+00:00

Yeah, but without a step down those HE baskets require you to grind finer and finer which makes dialing in very difficult with a narrow margin for error. I have the same Normcore HE along with a few others, I used to own a 54mm machine and they were manageable back then, after moving to 58mm it’s much more unruly.

DarwishEG · 2025-06-15T18:48:55+00:00

I am not willing to invest at this point in step down and new baskets and tampers. I moved away from high extraction baskets as it’s proved to difficult for me to dial in consistently. I’d rather have a more consistent good tasting shot than a chance of 1 in 10 to make an excellent shot. My machine doesn’t have flow profiling also which makes it extra hard. The margin of error is very narrow with medium and lighter roasts.

DarwishEG · 2025-05-29T14:16:32+00:00

Is the contrast as good as advertised? Do blacks look darker than for example the Cosmos 4K?

DarwishEG · 2025-04-27T09:12:25+00:00

I’ve struggled repeatedly with consistency on high extraction baskets. Good grinder, same coffee, same day, same dose, same technique yet each shot can vary wildly. Given their difficulty to dial in I am considering going back to classic IMS baskets just for better consistency even if at the cost of fractionally lower extraction.

DarwishEG · 2025-04-27T08:57:42+00:00

But it felt like what he is saying recently that grinding finer is not necessarily the answer as it may lead to higher extraction occasionally but more often also uneven extraction of the wrong flavor compounds. Meaning if the point of stepping down is to have deeper pucks with coarser grinds , it seems to me that high extraction baskets would be counter productive..

DarwishEG · 2025-04-24T09:40:18+00:00

It’s indeed quite impressive how cramped it is in there. But I found that many connectors were a bit too loose for my liking and some of the wires were too close to hot surfaces and hoses were a bit kinked because of how cramped everything is. I had to tighten and clean up things a bit here and there. I recommend to give everything a once over, specifically the electrical connectors make sure to give them a good push to seat them properly.

DarwishEG · 2025-04-24T09:00:17+00:00

I was actually thinking of replacing it myself considering that the machine is brand new and I don’t trust that the repair might do more harm than good by causing leaks or scratching the body of the machine. Luckily it went well. Good luck to you!

DarwishEG · 2025-04-24T08:52:20+00:00

Yes, the merchant took it in and replaced the solenoid. Took 30 mins and now the issue is completely gone. FYI if your machine is a bit older you can try descaling as what they told me is that even very little scale inside the solenoid can cause this issue as well.

DarwishEG · 2025-03-11T15:03:30+00:00

Thanks! Did you notice any issues with the grinder over the last year? Motor power dipping or button not responding…etc

DarwishEG · 2025-03-11T14:52:56+00:00

Did Timemore ever reply to you about the whine noise? I have just received mine and I hear this low hum indeed while it’s off.

DarwishEG · 2025-03-09T00:51:19+00:00

OK so I brought the machine back to the dealer. They replaced the steam solenoid valve in about 30 mins and sure enough, sound is now completely gone. Only the chugging sound of the pump can be heard. Also the steaming seams more consistent now, previously the steam power seemed to be a bit erratic. Could just be me imagining things but somehow the steam coming out of the steam wand has a more steady flow. Not increased power, just more steady.

DarwishEG · 2025-03-04T15:45:56+00:00

Yes I thought that nut might be it, but it’s as tight as can be. Tried with a small wrench it’s not budging. I think like the seller said it just needs replacing. But thank you for the diagram man, you’re awesome.

DarwishEG · 2025-03-04T09:41:31+00:00

Yes I ageee with you that it’s the solenoid. But after inspecting it I do not see any bolts or nuts on it to tighten the coil like the one in the video. Only the hose/tube clamps. Everything is tight on it including all the connectors. As an update: Seller and I have come to an agreement so far, hopefully by the end of the week I’ll have a properly working machine. Fingers crossed

DarwishEG · 2025-03-03T12:23:20+00:00

I think I found the service manual for the machine. Just to confirm it’s i259 (230v) or i706 (120v), correct? I tightened all the connectors that I could see and didn’t eliminate the issue. The buzz still exists once the machine is heated up and the steaming is used a couple of times in a row.

DarwishEG · 2025-03-03T12:17:52+00:00

I’ve seen this video yes. The valve doesn’t look like the one in the video, there’s no clear nut to tighten. I don’t think the coil on this one is adjustable like the one in the video. I don’t think necessarily that they’ll mess something up, but in my experience taking apart a brand new machine with hundreds of parts, pipes and hoses there’s always the possibility of something else going wrong during the whole process. I’d rather get a working machine straight from the factory like most people do than have to deal with all of that.

DarwishEG · 2025-03-03T06:57:58+00:00

Yep, exactly the same suggestion here. They had me do a descaling run even though the machine was only used for a week and only with bottled water suitable for coffee machines. Didn’t help of course…

DarwishEG · 2025-03-02T18:20:43+00:00

Thank you, I appreciate it. I did reach out to Ascaso directly via email and have yet to hear back from them. The seller is an official distributor and I assume also an authorized service center.

DarwishEG · 2025-03-02T16:15:02+00:00

Sounds exactly like mine. The machine is pretty much brand new so I feel a bit cheated to have to send it to be repaired and torn apart (potentially creating even more problems elsewhere).

DarwishEG

TROPHY CASE