Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by Kirby64 553 days ago
The Meticulous is a lower end competition with the Decent Espresso DE1, or a more upscale version of the DIY stuff like Gaggiuino.

Given the author has given us essentially nothing regarding what is actually controllable (besides pressure control?), it's unclear to me what you even can do with it. A simple pressure control is pretty basic and not at all comparable to the Meticulous or a DE1.
1 comments
roflyear 553 days ago
OP's machine features are:

- Group preheat (so it has some kind of heater) - "Fully adjustable power" - ???

It does seem that the water tube either goes to a kettle and the pump is in the machine, or it goes to a pump, that you then need to attach to a machine, and that clear line is pressurized.

It does potentially have one feature the met doesn't (hinted at by allowing for filter brews): it'll be able to use up the entire water source, not a small amount of water you pour into the machine (similar to the Decent).

Edit: based on the manual just added, it seems like the pump is in the machine.

link
Kirby64 553 days ago
Best I can tell, with the manual released, this is literally just a pump and a group head. The dial appears to control the pump 'power' (voltage, I assume), and that's about it.

I'm really, really not seeing what could possibly justify this price. If the 'control' is just as simple as an analog knob, then this is no different than adding 'flow control' via a common dimmer switch to any other pump. I've done this modification on vibratory pump models myself, and they function just fine when dimer switch modded.

link
roflyear 553 days ago
"Just a pump with a group head" is still pretty cool. It isn't revolutionary, temp control is a "big deal" in the community, but it's pretty cool that OP created that.

The pump absolutely is a "big deal" though if they can deliver on it. It has been attempted (Decent is trying to make one - actually they have been trying for years) and no one has delivered on a pump like that to date.

link
Kirby64 553 days ago
The pump doesn’t appear to offer any meaningful controls. The espresso machine itself seems just voltage controlled. How is that innovative?
link
roflyear 552 days ago
A small rotary pump would be innovative, nothing like that exists currently. Vibe pumps are loud, but they are tested tech and live forever. A drop in replacement rotary pump would have a big market if it can stand up to use.
link
Kirby64 552 days ago
Are rotary pumps that large? From what I can tell, they’re relatively small as long as we’re talking the ones sized for single group machines.
link