Rant: Took me 4 months to figure out my espresso machine's pressure issue

I kept pulling sour shots no matter what I did with grind size or dose. Finally broke down and bought a pressure gauge kit from Amazon for $35. Turns out my machine was running at 11 bars instead of 9, and adjusting the OPV valve fixed everything in 10 minutes. Has anyone else dealt with a factory pressure setting being way off?

4 comments

4 Comments

the_viola10d ago

My Gaggia Classic was running at 12 bars from the factory and I didn't know for over a year. I just thought all light roast espresso was supposed to taste like battery acid. Fixed my OPV valve with a $5 spring swap and it was like getting a whole new machine for basically nothing.

mileslane10d agoMost Upvoted

Doubt it was really that bad, @wendy_henderson21 probably just had bad beans.

wendy_henderson2110d ago

Battery acid espresso. Been there with a bad grinder.

wade_kelly7710d ago

12 bars from the factory? That's insane, @wendy_henderson21 probably would've been drinking battery acid for a year with that setup. Glad you caught it before the machine died completely.