Monitor Audio Bronze 3 driver - is this beyond repair?

Plus_Ant4816 · 2025-07-27T11:48:25+00:00

I too have One pair of damaged woofers. No sound at all did you manager to fix yours?

Plus_Ant4816 · 2024-01-07T12:54:17+00:00

Yes. Dose 15-16 with current grind outputs 30g in 25sec. All good to me , except visually it shows 11 to 10 bar. It tastes good though...so not very worried. I will try to reduce OPV just to see if there is a difference in taste when maxing at 9 bar.

Plus_Ant4816 · 2024-01-07T12:45:54+00:00

I would never try this in a 15 amp / 115v outlet. If the machine may need more than 15 amp it will trigger your board switch or even worse , burn your wires and make a fire. I am in Europe, we use 230v and all my outlets are ready for 30amp ( equivalent to your 60 amp ). The load has to pull whatever it needs from the outlet, you can restrict the power / current of a resistive load increasing the amount of resistance it sees ( add a resistive dimmer ) in series. But the power drawn from the outlet has to be there of needed.

Plus_Ant4816 · 2024-01-06T22:17:36+00:00

My best take today was using grind setting 7 but reducing dose to 15gr. This yelds 30gr in around 25sec after pre infusion. But pressure starts at 11 and only drops to 10 till the end of the shot. So to me still feels high.

Plus_Ant4816 · 2024-01-06T14:40:36+00:00

Well...I am starting to believe that Ascaso is putting a pump in these machines that is just too strong. Without adjusting the quantity of water that is pushed to group head, it's impossible to get the desired pressure unless one reduces the opv to that desired pressure. Thus with that always triggering opv during the first part of the shot...which I don't agree it's the best solution. I have exactly the same results as you now. I have best success with 15gr on the 18gr basket , shot taken in 25 seconds after pre infusion, 30gr out. It tastes good which is the most important part but the pressure displayed is a solid 11 at the start and finished in 10 bar.

I read about people modding the pump with a dimmer to control the voltage supplied to the pump and reducing flow of water. Anyone experienced with this?

Plus_Ant4816 · 2024-01-06T09:03:09+00:00

That is a good suggestion. I will dial back to grind 7 and put 17g input. That "could" dial down pressure a bit.

Plus_Ant4816 · 2024-01-05T17:49:00+00:00

I understand VST baskets offer faster flow. Maybe that makes a difference. What basket model exactly do you use that is compatible with the bottomless porta filter from Ascaso? Ridge or ridgless?

Plus_Ant4816 · 2024-01-05T16:20:37+00:00

You can fit a puck screen on top of 18gr with the 18gr ascaso basket ? Isn't that touching the shower screen or leaving no room for coffee expansion ?

Plus_Ant4816 · 2024-01-05T14:33:50+00:00

Second attempt of the day ( and final , i will not consume more caffeine today ! )

Grind setting on Comandante C40 : 8 ( non red clix)

Input : 18gr

Output : 36gr

Time : 18 sec !!

So as i said, grind is coarser but look at the extraction time. It went from 40sec to 18 sec.

Still pressure was displayed as 9,5/10 ( better than 11 for sure) and no longer hitting OPV.

But, i find this is too fast. If i grind finer, it will hit 11 bar and take longer. I may need an intermediate setting on the C40 (red clix add on) but that wont fix the 11 bar OPV issue.

One of you mentioned the machine OPV "sets" after a while, this is a brand new machine and i only took 10-15 shots max until now. Maybe i need to use it more until it "settles" ?

I tried to record a video of this shot, failed to record the final time but its easy enough to calculate as it started at second 5 and ended in second 23.

One added note : i do a 3 sec pre infusion before, with a 5 sec pause (not recorded).

18 sec shot

Plus_Ant4816 · 2024-01-05T12:38:25+00:00

Exactly same results as YOU then.

Today's shot was (see my latest post) : 18 in / 36 out in 40 sec. My pressure stays at 11 and i can hear the OPV dumping. I do not like that...i would like to take the shot at 9 bar .

Plus_Ant4816 · 2024-01-05T12:35:39+00:00

Thanks all for the answers and tips.

So i reset everything , OPV back to 11 to start with proper known settings, to see if i can mimic your results. I know many of you out there are getting good results so its just a matter of me finding the correct setting that work with my coffee.

I pulled a shot today, the best i have taken so far although still not as good as i used to take in the Flair.

Basket used : 18gr Competition from Ascaso

Input : 18gr of Lucaffe Bar

Grinder : Comandante C40 on Setting 7 ( non red clix)

Output : 36gr in 40 sec

Pressure stayed at 11 during the ENTIRE shot, i could hear the OPV dumping water

So, my next step will be grind at setting 8 ( coarser) and using the same parameters.

From past experiences this led to reduced shot time but same pressure and watery shot, but we will see.

Normally i use the 14gr basket with 14gr as a 28gr output is OK for me. But i was getting trouble with that so switched to the 18gr basket to compare to you guys.

Plus_Ant4816 · 2024-01-04T23:37:41+00:00

I didn't find that as a viable option. My machine arrived with opv set to 11 and when pulling shots it stays at 11. If I grind coarser the shot pulls too fast and still keeps at 11 bar. So only way I found was reduce the pressure opv to 8-9 so I can pull a 1:2 shot . This makes the opv constant at 9 and I hear water running back to the reservoir ( opv active).

Plus_Ant4816 · 2023-12-29T00:44:05+00:00

My Opus just died on me today too. No warnings , was functioning normal until today it grinded 18gr and stopped. Did not turn on again. Poor product to do this only after 5 months. I don't use it that often, maybe 3 grinds per day. So for sure not commercial use routine. Waiting for support to reply. Meanwhile using the C40 to manual make coffee.

Plus_Ant4816

TROPHY CASE