[sshanky]

I have two Saeco Vienna Plus machines. These have what appears to be a pretty decent grinder built in. The machine brews a decent shot, but the electronics are probably not very precise (who knows the temperature, and the brew length is controlled by a basic potentiometer that seems inconsistent). ]I wonder if these are good candidates for some interesting hacks...Does anyone have any experience with these? I'd love to get a Silvia but I like the idea of the built in grinder.

[lvs]

No big hacks, but I've brought a couple of those Saeco superautomatics back from the dead. One of them had a crazy power fault that caused the dosing solenoid to emit a very loud and scary buzz as soon as I gave it power. It was so jarring that the first time I heard it, I thought I was somehow electrocuting myself. Traced it down to a bad triac on the controller board. 58 cents from Arrow.

I've always liked these, but if I were to hack one up, I'd probably want to see if I can achieve higher pressures. It has a really narrow regime of operation, and it doesn't quite achieve a high enough pressure to operate with true espresso fine grind. You have to set it to a slightly coarser grind, and the result is that it makes a fairly weak shot. But it does so with great consistency.

Definitely don't buy the newer Saecos with the BMW design bullshit. They are choc full o' nutty sensors and control circuits that make me very angry. (Too many faulty sensors is a BMW specialty.)

[snowwindwaves]

I've been using one for 3 shots daily for 5 years. Paid $150 cad for it used when it was 8 years old. Had a proper service done once. It is leaking quite badly now, time to crack it open and find out where from!

I agree with other poster that if the grind is too fine it doesn't have the pressure to get water through it. To be fair a super fine grind and packing a shot in to the stove top unit also results in a lot of steam coming out the safety pressure release valve.

[lostlogin]

Try a different roast too if you haven’t already. Really dark ones seem to clog up more. I like dark roasts and lots of crema and became expert at clogging the machine.