Pulling a shot on my modified Saeco Via Venezia

This is actually the second shot I pulled (first shot just gushed everywhere and the video wasn't great).

More info on the modifications. I've noticed that little to no water comes out the group in the 'pre-infuse' mode. This is because the pressure relief valve lets out just about everything, which means I need to increase the pressure at which it opens in one of two ways. Either I tighten it (it's slightly adjustable), or I replace the spring with something a little firmer, to raise the pressure to 3-4 bar. There's something in the group head that holds back pressure until it reaches about 2-3 bar it seems. This would be to stop water from dripping out at idle.

I noticed that using the 'pre-infuse' mode to ramp down pressure actually drops off the pressure rather quickly, whereas simply switching the pump off allows for a more natural ramp down of pressure, as there is no 3-way solenoid valve (as in commercial machines) to bleed off pressure instantly.

The slight spraying during the shot is likely caused by the very high brew pressure, due to the lack of an over pressure valve built into the system. I will consider adding one if I can be bother continuing with this.

Another 'bonus' caused by average design, is the fact that the introduction of cold water into the boiler during the shot actually causes the temperature to drop naturally, without me switching off the element throughout the shot. This is a good thing, and pretty much renders that other switch useless, except for when I need to turn off just the element, for whatever reason. I tested the water coming out of the group, and it starts at ~95deg C and drops to 85-88deg C after about a shot's worth of water. This is virtually exactly what a lever machine does throughout a shot.

In the future, I will increase the spring pressure in the relief valve so that it can actually pre-infuse the coffee, and also try to add an over pressure valve, so that I can keep the maximum brew pressure at 8 or 9 bar. Apart from that, I think it works pretty well for a cheap machine with relatively cheap modifications.

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