I'm interested in what Forum members think of this machine. I know very little about Lelit's other products. It appears that the Bianca may be available in some markets now and in the U.S. perhaps in July. The price quoted by 1st Line is pretty competitive with other double boiler machines.
Lelit Bianca
ncrc51
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Hi, just wondering about dimensions as I can't seem to find it anywhere. Lelit say the depth of the machine is 48.5cm. What are they actually measuring, ie does this include water tank located at back of machine? Does it include the portafilter handle. It seems quite deep relative to photos I've seen if it doesn't include one of those.
I was planning on putting water tank to one side and would like to know what the footprint when set up this way.
Cheers
I was planning on putting water tank to one side and would like to know what the footprint when set up this way.
Cheers
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88 Posts
48.5 cm includes the water tank on the back. It is 40cm without the tank..
With the tank and the PF it is about 58.5cm according to my tape measure.
Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk
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3,352 Posts
I use Jim Schulman's Water FAQ when remineralising water. http://users.rcn.com/erics/Water Quality/Water FAQ.pdf
Volvic has an alkalinity of 60.6 and according to the FAQ you'll get scale above hardness of 55 at 95c and 20 at 125c. Bear in mind the brew boiler temperature is going to be higher than 95c even if that's what the pid is set to due to the offset. I find this odd because I used volvic for a couple of years with very little sign of scaling but there was at least some.
I just bought my Bianca from BB today.
Great guys there!
@DavecUK in another thread you wrote „If you are buying from BB in the UK I did quite a good guide for them in addition to the manufacturers instructions....will answer most of your questions"
Does this mean that there is an additional instruction which should have been given to me from BB? I didn't ask but when I unpacked the machine there was only the original manual from Lelit.
Would it be possible for you to send me those instructions? I could also pm you a copy of the invoice from BB if necessary.
I also read somewhere about some adjustments you proposed for the PID Settings. Where can I find those?
Thanks
Great guys there!
@DavecUK in another thread you wrote „If you are buying from BB in the UK I did quite a good guide for them in addition to the manufacturers instructions....will answer most of your questions"
Does this mean that there is an additional instruction which should have been given to me from BB? I didn't ask but when I unpacked the machine there was only the original manual from Lelit.
Would it be possible for you to send me those instructions? I could also pm you a copy of the invoice from BB if necessary.
I also read somewhere about some adjustments you proposed for the PID Settings. Where can I find those?
Thanks
The last couple of days I played around with the Craft House Coffee - Colombia El Muro. I didn't get any pleasant result...
Two days ago I changed to the CHC "Development - House Espresso". I got great tasting Espresso!
But now my question: I have the 18g VST basket and with the "Development - House Espresso" the basket is quite full (with 18g espresso in). Today I checked with a 20p coin and it gets pressed in to the powder by the shower screen.
With the "El Muro" the powder was around 1mm deeper in the basket (same tamping force and more or less grind size).
Is it critical when the powder touches the shower screen? What options do I have: I think only reducing the amount of coffee in the basket?
Two days ago I changed to the CHC "Development - House Espresso". I got great tasting Espresso!
But now my question: I have the 18g VST basket and with the "Development - House Espresso" the basket is quite full (with 18g espresso in). Today I checked with a 20p coin and it gets pressed in to the powder by the shower screen.
With the "El Muro" the powder was around 1mm deeper in the basket (same tamping force and more or less grind size).
Is it critical when the powder touches the shower screen? What options do I have: I think only reducing the amount of coffee in the basket?
No real profiles. Just the pre-infusion from the machine. As I am still in the very early phase of my espresso learning I felt overstrained with trying different pressure profiles...
So I also learned that there are "easier" and "more complicated" beans. Lucky that the "Development House Coffee" beans are on the easier side.
So I also learned that there are "easier" and "more complicated" beans. Lucky that the "Development House Coffee" beans are on the easier side.
Have you tried the El Muro with the Bianca? Can you recommend a profile?
... I still have half a kilo of beans left...
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3,352 Posts
No I've not tried it but why aren't the results pleasant? How does it taste and are you getting good flow from the basket or are you having trouble with channelling? What's the brew recipe e.g. 18g in 36g out? How long is the shot running for?
I had always 18 in, 36-40 out. Shot times between 25 and 40 (depending on grind size).
it was always extremely sour. Only with quite fine grind and long extraction time it went into bitterness. But I never managed to hit the spot in between.
Also sometimes noticeable variation in time (to get the 18/36) with same grind size.
As I said, I am new in that business so very likely that it's just my skills...
it was always extremely sour. Only with quite fine grind and long extraction time it went into bitterness. But I never managed to hit the spot in between.
Also sometimes noticeable variation in time (to get the 18/36) with same grind size.
As I said, I am new in that business so very likely that it's just my skills...
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1,320 Posts
I'm not using a Bianca, but for El Muro i'm at 18 VST > 38g in ~32s. 13 on the Niche. Puck prep very important with this bean, first time I've had channelling with my normal routine in a long while. Also tasted better at higher temps. If your Bianca is set at 93 I'd give 94/95 a go.
The CHC development blend will definitely give you an easier time of things.
The CHC development blend will definitely give you an easier time of things.
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3,352 Posts
I assume it's quite a light roast?
Take care of puck prep and extend pre infusion time. Extended pre infusion will make the shot run faster and you might not even hit 9 bar when you increase flow rate, especially if you do so slowly.
Probably try the finest grind setting you've used and go for a long 2 bar pre infusion and slowly increase pressure to 7 bar then slowly back down to keep flow rate steady through the shot. You could also do a long pre infusion and open the valve quickly to 9 bar and slowly lower to 7 by half way through and down from there.
By long pre infusion I mean 15-20 seconds until the first drops but 10 seconds might be fine.
Or you could just go to 45g out or more.
Take care of puck prep and extend pre infusion time. Extended pre infusion will make the shot run faster and you might not even hit 9 bar when you increase flow rate, especially if you do so slowly.
Probably try the finest grind setting you've used and go for a long 2 bar pre infusion and slowly increase pressure to 7 bar then slowly back down to keep flow rate steady through the shot. You could also do a long pre infusion and open the valve quickly to 9 bar and slowly lower to 7 by half way through and down from there.
By long pre infusion I mean 15-20 seconds until the first drops but 10 seconds might be fine.
Or you could just go to 45g out or more.
I just found a post in the German Coffee Forum about a software/firmware update for the Bianca.
Here's the link: https://www.kaffee-netz.de/threads/lelit-bianca-pl162-review-tests-und-messungen-e61-dual-boiler-temperaturverhalten.122377/page-8
And here is the text translated with Google (and not double checked) - if there is some wrong translation, you can ask and I can try to properly translate individual sentences:
"Lelit has released firmware 4.07c, which is now implemented in all possible machines. I HAVE BEEN COMPOSED HERE OVER THE LAST MONTHS OF DEVELOPMENT, WHICH HAS BEEN FUN. The changes are impressive:
- economy mode:
Press 3sec on the "-" button, which saves the way through the menu. Since I do this several times a day, I'm pretty happy.
- Standby mode:
With the shortcut "+" and "-" for 3 seconds, the machine goes into standby -> steam boiler, brewing boiler 80 ° C.
I tend not to use this mode, but it is a huge improvement to the old menu, where you can only set a time that specifies how many minutes of inactivity the standby mode will start.
- water reserve:
So far, there was no direct stop when the tank was quickly empty, but sometimes it was still possible that the supply did not come to the end. Well, when the water runs out, a water drop symbol appears during the reference, so that you could theoretically refill. In practice, however, it is hardly necessary since the cover continues for up to 60 seconds. If you don't pull an ultra-long slayer shot, you can get there well, otherwise you have enough time to refill.
- Shott timer:
The Shottimer was hidden relatively quickly in the old firmware. Now the time is displayed for 20sec. I got along well with the first solution, but apparently you also complained to customers. It's a good thing that you get into the menu as normal during the 20sec.
- steam temperature:
The steam boiler now goes up to 135 °. This is brutal and absolutely suitable for gastro, if you want to froth larger jugs. I do not see any difference here to the LMs etc.
- Heating program:
This has taken up a lot of the time. So far it worked perfectly with cold machine and dual boiler operation, there was a bit of overheating if the machine still had a lot of residual heat or it was only used in single boiler operation, see my graphics at the beginning of the thread, where I was working for the single boiler Company described a workaround. So far, there was only a threshold temperature of residual heat, where the standard heating program was still activated or was not run at all. If you were just below it, the machine overheated as a result, just above it without a heating program it took just as long or even longer to heat up than a cold machine with a heating program. So you had to wait longer for residual heat than for a cold machine.
Now the machine differentiates fundamentally whether it works in single or dual boiler mode and has two thresholds for the residual heat in order to run different programs. For every boiler mode there is a full heating program, a shortened and none at all for residual heat above 75 ° C.
Especially with residual heat in the middle region with the short heating program, if the machine e.g. an hour was up, it only takes about 5-6 minutes.
All in all, the new firmware significantly improves the Bianca once again.
To upgrade you have to replace or have the LCC unit replaced. It is quickly done by yourself, except for the case, you don't have to remove anything. Lelit has published a video on this. To be honest, I don't know how much this part costs, I would in any case talk to my seller about it, maybe there will be a discount as an upgrade customer.
Lelit has released firmware 4.07c, which is now implemented in all possible machines. I HAVE BEEN COMPOSED HERE OVER THE LAST MONTHS OF DEVELOPMENT, WHICH HAS BEEN FUN. The changes are impressive:
- economy mode:
Press 3sec on the "-" button, which saves the way through the menu. Since I do this several times a day, I'm pretty happy.
- Standby mode:
With the shortcut "+" and "-" for 3 seconds, the machine goes into standby -> steam boiler, brewing boiler 80 ° C.
I tend not to use this mode, but it is a huge improvement to the old menu, where you can only set a time that specifies how many minutes of inactivity the standby mode will start.
- water reserve:
So far, there was no direct stop when the tank was quickly empty, but sometimes it was still possible that the supply did not come to the end. Well, when the water runs out, a water drop symbol appears during the reference, so that you could theoretically refill. In practice, however, it is hardly necessary since the cover continues for up to 60 seconds. If you don't pull an ultra-long slayer shot, you can get there well, otherwise you have enough time to refill.
- Shott timer:
The Shottimer was hidden relatively quickly in the old firmware. Now the time is displayed for 20sec. I got along well with the first solution, but apparently you also complained to customers. It's a good thing that you get into the menu as normal during the 20sec.
- steam temperature:
The steam boiler now goes up to 135 °. This is brutal and absolutely suitable for gastro, if you want to froth larger jugs. I do not see any difference here to the LMs etc.
- Heating program:
This has taken up a lot of the time. So far it worked perfectly with cold machine and dual boiler operation, there was a bit of overheating if the machine still had a lot of residual heat or it was only used in single boiler operation, see my graphics at the beginning of the thread, where I was working for the single boiler Company described a workaround. So far, there was only a threshold temperature of residual heat, where the standard heating program was still activated or was not run at all. If you were just below it, the machine overheated as a result, just above it without a heating program it took just as long or even longer to heat up than a cold machine with a heating program. So you had to wait longer for residual heat than for a cold machine.
Now the machine differentiates fundamentally whether it works in single or dual boiler mode and has two thresholds for the residual heat in order to run different programs. For every boiler mode there is a full heating program, a shortened and none at all for residual heat above 75 ° C.
Especially with residual heat in the middle region with the short heating program, if the machine e.g. an hour was up, it only takes about 5-6 minutes.
All in all, the new firmware significantly improves the Bianca once again.
To upgrade you have to replace or have the LCC unit replaced. It is quickly done by yourself, except for the case, you don't have to remove anything. Lelit has published a video on this. To be honest, I don't know how much this part costs, I would in any case talk to my seller about it, maybe there will be a discount as an upgrade customer."
Here's the link: https://www.kaffee-netz.de/threads/lelit-bianca-pl162-review-tests-und-messungen-e61-dual-boiler-temperaturverhalten.122377/page-8
And here is the text translated with Google (and not double checked) - if there is some wrong translation, you can ask and I can try to properly translate individual sentences:
"Lelit has released firmware 4.07c, which is now implemented in all possible machines. I HAVE BEEN COMPOSED HERE OVER THE LAST MONTHS OF DEVELOPMENT, WHICH HAS BEEN FUN. The changes are impressive:
- economy mode:
Press 3sec on the "-" button, which saves the way through the menu. Since I do this several times a day, I'm pretty happy.
- Standby mode:
With the shortcut "+" and "-" for 3 seconds, the machine goes into standby -> steam boiler, brewing boiler 80 ° C.
I tend not to use this mode, but it is a huge improvement to the old menu, where you can only set a time that specifies how many minutes of inactivity the standby mode will start.
- water reserve:
So far, there was no direct stop when the tank was quickly empty, but sometimes it was still possible that the supply did not come to the end. Well, when the water runs out, a water drop symbol appears during the reference, so that you could theoretically refill. In practice, however, it is hardly necessary since the cover continues for up to 60 seconds. If you don't pull an ultra-long slayer shot, you can get there well, otherwise you have enough time to refill.
- Shott timer:
The Shottimer was hidden relatively quickly in the old firmware. Now the time is displayed for 20sec. I got along well with the first solution, but apparently you also complained to customers. It's a good thing that you get into the menu as normal during the 20sec.
- steam temperature:
The steam boiler now goes up to 135 °. This is brutal and absolutely suitable for gastro, if you want to froth larger jugs. I do not see any difference here to the LMs etc.
- Heating program:
This has taken up a lot of the time. So far it worked perfectly with cold machine and dual boiler operation, there was a bit of overheating if the machine still had a lot of residual heat or it was only used in single boiler operation, see my graphics at the beginning of the thread, where I was working for the single boiler Company described a workaround. So far, there was only a threshold temperature of residual heat, where the standard heating program was still activated or was not run at all. If you were just below it, the machine overheated as a result, just above it without a heating program it took just as long or even longer to heat up than a cold machine with a heating program. So you had to wait longer for residual heat than for a cold machine.
Now the machine differentiates fundamentally whether it works in single or dual boiler mode and has two thresholds for the residual heat in order to run different programs. For every boiler mode there is a full heating program, a shortened and none at all for residual heat above 75 ° C.
Especially with residual heat in the middle region with the short heating program, if the machine e.g. an hour was up, it only takes about 5-6 minutes.
All in all, the new firmware significantly improves the Bianca once again.
To upgrade you have to replace or have the LCC unit replaced. It is quickly done by yourself, except for the case, you don't have to remove anything. Lelit has published a video on this. To be honest, I don't know how much this part costs, I would in any case talk to my seller about it, maybe there will be a discount as an upgrade customer.
Lelit has released firmware 4.07c, which is now implemented in all possible machines. I HAVE BEEN COMPOSED HERE OVER THE LAST MONTHS OF DEVELOPMENT, WHICH HAS BEEN FUN. The changes are impressive:
- economy mode:
Press 3sec on the "-" button, which saves the way through the menu. Since I do this several times a day, I'm pretty happy.
- Standby mode:
With the shortcut "+" and "-" for 3 seconds, the machine goes into standby -> steam boiler, brewing boiler 80 ° C.
I tend not to use this mode, but it is a huge improvement to the old menu, where you can only set a time that specifies how many minutes of inactivity the standby mode will start.
- water reserve:
So far, there was no direct stop when the tank was quickly empty, but sometimes it was still possible that the supply did not come to the end. Well, when the water runs out, a water drop symbol appears during the reference, so that you could theoretically refill. In practice, however, it is hardly necessary since the cover continues for up to 60 seconds. If you don't pull an ultra-long slayer shot, you can get there well, otherwise you have enough time to refill.
- Shott timer:
The Shottimer was hidden relatively quickly in the old firmware. Now the time is displayed for 20sec. I got along well with the first solution, but apparently you also complained to customers. It's a good thing that you get into the menu as normal during the 20sec.
- steam temperature:
The steam boiler now goes up to 135 °. This is brutal and absolutely suitable for gastro, if you want to froth larger jugs. I do not see any difference here to the LMs etc.
- Heating program:
This has taken up a lot of the time. So far it worked perfectly with cold machine and dual boiler operation, there was a bit of overheating if the machine still had a lot of residual heat or it was only used in single boiler operation, see my graphics at the beginning of the thread, where I was working for the single boiler Company described a workaround. So far, there was only a threshold temperature of residual heat, where the standard heating program was still activated or was not run at all. If you were just below it, the machine overheated as a result, just above it without a heating program it took just as long or even longer to heat up than a cold machine with a heating program. So you had to wait longer for residual heat than for a cold machine.
Now the machine differentiates fundamentally whether it works in single or dual boiler mode and has two thresholds for the residual heat in order to run different programs. For every boiler mode there is a full heating program, a shortened and none at all for residual heat above 75 ° C.
Especially with residual heat in the middle region with the short heating program, if the machine e.g. an hour was up, it only takes about 5-6 minutes.
All in all, the new firmware significantly improves the Bianca once again.
To upgrade you have to replace or have the LCC unit replaced. It is quickly done by yourself, except for the case, you don't have to remove anything. Lelit has published a video on this. To be honest, I don't know how much this part costs, I would in any case talk to my seller about it, maybe there will be a discount as an upgrade customer."
From my point of view this is another great example why OTA updates will play a more and more important role. IoT will continuously progress and bring added value to the consumers...even for very "mechanical" devices like espresso machines...
361 - 380 of 758 Posts
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