#SPX channeling

31 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

full owl
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Hi all, I just got my SPX last week and I can't seem to fix the problem of it channeling... please help!

  1. RDT and WDT check
  2. The puck has two filter papers on each side, and a puck screen as well. I've tried to remove the filter paper, but no luck
  3. I've tried 15g, 18g, 20g baskets, no luck
  4. It's a light roasted blend from Sey, 10 days old when I first tried it, two weeks old as of today
  5. Grinder is a niche duo with stock espresso bur(mizen). I tried to adjust the grind size (3-8); obviously coarser grinds yield faster extraction and finer grinds yield slower extraction. but doesn't work, channeling still exists.
  6. I've heard the possibility of adding pre-infusion would solve the issue, but.. no.
    *Side note, the espresso taste ok except when water went in ofc. but the squirting is very unpleasant and I do want to solve the problem if at all possible.

So after trying out all of these attempts (I only change one factor at a time, and all those attempts are quite bean-consuming lol), I became suspicious of the machine being defected. So I decided to run a no-puck "extraction". The video is attached, but I wasn't able to find much information of analyzing the water streams. Some observations include uneven distribution? I tried to turn the machine around to make sure it's not due to my table being tilted, but no, the water seems to come out more from the outside(right side in the video) of the head. Is this common? Maybe that's the cause of channeling?

remote sequoia
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What do you mean by channeling? People use the word to mean different things. In that first video, it looks like you've got some sort of a leak, maybe around the group head gasket? I can't see it clearly and don't know this machine

full owl
remote sequoia
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That sounds like a leak to me, not channeling. Take a careful look, and hopefully you can identify the source. Otherwise someone else needs to look at it. It definitely shouldn't be leaking

full owl
steel anchor
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@full owl Yeah looks like a leak. Grouphead should not have water coming out from the sides.

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One thing I learnt is that you shouldn’t watch water flow just like that. It behaves differently under pressure and with a puck.

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Check the colour of your puck if it’s even. That’s a more better way to check.

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Here’s an example, some spots but minimal issues.

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Here’s a “bad” example.

full owl
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The one with filter paper is the bottom, the other is the top

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So… channeling confirmed?

full owl
steel anchor
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Look from the bottom actually, and I’d peel off the paper to see. But it does look like channeling

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But seeing that your grouphead is leaking. I think you should fix that first.

full owl
teal gate
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Is there something wrong with the taste? What exactly are you trying to fix aside from the pull being visually unappealing?

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The leaking in the corner is a caused of concern though

full owl
untold pond
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how tightly are you seating your PF?

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try going pretty hard with it

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also if that's not a rancilio bottomless PF, there may be some slight difference in tolerance

full owl
untold pond
full owl
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Well the return package is going to be picked up later today(hopefully) so it's all packed now, I guess that's itehhhh

untold pond
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Gotcha. if you're doing a replacement, grab a rancilio bottomless pf, the newest version sits really nicely.

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Rancilio pf seems to need a little bit of oomf to seat well. the flair pf is all the way on the other side of the spectrum of that, super soft and easy to seat.