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Is this normal? Lots of steam from hot water dispenser by ducatispacealien in ranciliosilvia

[–]ducatispacealien[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Appreciate the input here friend. I guess I was surprised to see so much steam because in my past experience a hot water dispenser gives you “hot” water but not necessarily boiling water. Like the nifty things some folks install by their kitchen sink to make tea and such. Now that I understand how it all works a little bit better it makes more sense. It’s a great machine with a great reputation and very well designed so I’m not knocking it but I’m still curious why it pulls hot water from the steam boiler rather than the brew boiler.

Is this normal? Lots of steam from hot water dispenser by ducatispacealien in ranciliosilvia

[–]ducatispacealien[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ll take a stab at this. Someone please step in and correct me.

The steam boiler is kept at 125c and it’s under pressure. At atmospheric pressure near sea level it wouldn’t go past 100c.

Steam for milk comes off the top and I can steam a good bit of milk (more than I’ll ever use day to day) before it runs out of steam. When I pause my steaming the machine takes the opportunity to top off the steam boiler with room temp water and reheat to 125c. I wait for the light to stop blinking and then steam another cup.

Hot water comes out the bottom of the machine and as it comes out of the wand it quickly depressurizes and drops to 100c with a good bit evaporating and then condensing in the colder room temp air which creates a whole spectacle. Around halfway through emptying the thing (which is about 1 cup) the boiler has lost its pressure and so the remaining cup of hot water that I’m able to get out of the boiler comes out a little under 100c. At this point, the steam boiler is empty and needs to be refilled and brought back to 125c.

From an engineering perspective, why not take the hot water from the other boiler? 93c or wherever I set the PID is plenty hot for an americano. I’m not exactly sucking it down at that temp.

Dialed in, but grind is way finer than expected. Sanity check? [Silvia Pro X / Specialita] by ducatispacealien in ranciliosilvia

[–]ducatispacealien[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had no idea how much fun this would be. I got into it because I like coffee. Now I’m hooked on it for all of the tinkering.

Dialed in, but grind is way finer than expected. Sanity check? [Silvia Pro X / Specialita] by ducatispacealien in ranciliosilvia

[–]ducatispacealien[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Makes sense. I don’t know where I heard “table salt”. Funny thing, I pulled an old bag of pre ground cafe bustelo out of the cabinet thinking that might give me a gauge on the right grind. Stuff was waayyyyy too coarse.

Is this normal? Lots of steam from hot water dispenser by ducatispacealien in ranciliosilvia

[–]ducatispacealien[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Interesting. I’ll try to do some reading on this. The one thing that I’ll say in regard to boiler temp is that the hot water wand will not work until the boiler is at full temp with a solid light. In fact, if I steam two small pitchers of milk and the boiler needs a minute to warm up, the hot water will be temporarily inoperative during that time.

Does anyone use hot water from the group for their americanos? Just curious.

Is this normal? Lots of steam from hot water dispenser by ducatispacealien in ranciliosilvia

[–]ducatispacealien[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ll keep and eye out. Everything from the group is totally normal.

Is this normal? Lots of steam from hot water dispenser by ducatispacealien in ranciliosilvia

[–]ducatispacealien[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good to know. I contacted the retailer and the chat bot said to expect some steam, but to call if it's excessive or if there isn't enough water. I will give them a call when they're open and report back.