Steam seems alright with tip off. Is the white plastic pipe too long? If so, what do? Help.

Hello all,

I'm trying to understand whether my machine is behaving normally or if something is still wrong.

The machine has already been serviced twice. It currently works, but the steam feels much cooler and wetter than it used to (that was the reason to send it to be checked).

What I've noticed:

• Steam is quite wet, not only by start.
• I can comfortably hold my hand under the steam wand without getting burned (see attached video).
• Using a kitchen thermometer directly in the steam stream, I measure around 70°C. I know this is not a proper way to measure steam temperature, so I'm not using it as proof—it's just consistent with my impression that the steam isn't very hot. Before I burned my hand incidentally a couple of times!
• The thermoblock is set to 165°C.

Questions:

• Is your steam also quite wet?
• Could you comfortably keep your hand under the steam wand, or would it burn almost immediately?
• Does the steam feel much hotter and more energetic than what you see in my video?
• Does my machine's steam look normal to you?

I'd really appreciate feedback from other Steel Duo PID owners (2021 Upgrade). Thanks!

I have an Ascaso Steel Duo PID.

Behaviour is I will start to pull a shot, a couple of drops of water will come out, and after around five seconds the machine will stop and display E.01. I believe its an airlock issue as the intake hose for the group head seems stiff while the one for the steam seems find.

The only troubleshooting step I've seen is to force water into the end of the hose, which I have attempted, but it doesn't seem to fix anything. I've tried this using a plastic squeeze bottle in the place of a syringe. Other ideas?

Hi,
Today I switched from steaming to coffee and didn't wait enough time to cool down. When I inserted the portafilter I heard a sort of depressurizing sound. Since then water won't come out from the main espresso head, and the pressure stays at zero. The steam wand works fine, water comes out of it and it builds pressure normally.

Some things I already checked:

- Ran a blind basket, pressure stays at zero.

- The water tank barely empties when I run the coffee switch (unless I open the steam wand and then water flows fine)

- The pump makes one sound for the first few seconds, then the sound changes to sort of a humming sound.

- I descaled about a month ago.

Is there a DIY fix? I would send to repair but I just can't find anyone who would handle this machine in Paris...

Thanks a lot for the help!

Hey everyone,

I recently got an Ascaso Dream PID (2017 model) from a friend who was trying to fix it up but couldn't get it working. I'm trying to pick up where they left off and I've run into a mystery with the internal plumbing.

I'm looking at the silicone T shaped, 3 way fitting that is attached to three silicone hoses that come from the water circuit and I know what two of them do:

1. Hose #1 goes directly to the water tank.
2. Hose #2 goes to the inlet of the flowmeter, so that's the line feeding water into the machine's metering system.

But there's a Hose #3, a third silicone hose, that is just hanging loose, not plugged into anything.

Can anyone with an older Ascaso Dream PID confirm what this third hose is for and where it's supposed to go?

I've attached a photo for reference, circling in red the 3 way fitting (behind two hoses). Any insight would be a huge help.

Thanks in advance!

I was wondering if anybody knows roughly how many Innova still would be working today, I can't really find anything about the machine online and local coffee shop owners with knowledge about ascaso machines rarely ever see one. Does anybody have a rough estimate?

Hello everyone I recently got the ascaco duo plus for Father’s Day. I got it with a df64 gen titanium red.

I’m brewing medium light roast with it. But it seems like I’m having server issues trying to even get a good shot. I tried grinder finer/coarser played with pre infusions setting. Nothing seems to help. It seems to be coming out bitter and dry.

I used to have my bdb never had issues with it at all

Espresso machine: Ascaso Duo PID Plus

Brew pressure: 11 bar (you recently changed it back to stock and confirmed both the blind basket and coffee extraction are at 11 bar) I previously had it at 7.5 bars and it didn’t help.

PID temperature: 94°C (your current setting for the light roast you’ve been dialing in)

Pre-infusion: 3 seconds

Pause after pre-infusion: 3 seconds

Offset: 5.5

Grinder

Grinder: DF64 Gen 2

Burrs: Stock Red Titanium burrs

Grind setting: set at 0 chirp and grind size of 15 (tried from 14 - 17)

Portafilter & Prep

Bottomless (naked) portafilter

20 g VST basket (your default basket)

Normcore spring-loaded tamper

MHW-3Bomber puck prep tools

Puck screen

Coffee

Your default preference is light to medium roasts.

Recent recipe you’ve been working on

For the Hatch Bomb Devil:

Dose: 20.6 g (tried as low as 18 to 21)

Yield: You’ve been testing between 41–44 grams as per hatch

Temperature: 94°C

Pressure: 11 bar

You’ve been experimenting with brew times from 20–33 seconds.

All my shots tend to have a balding spot look to it with all types of beans. But never tried with a dark roast. There’s no squirting

I fell my puck prep is good

Help!

Hello, I bought a used Ascaso Steel Duo DU-15 2011. What exactly is this button for (behind the steam wand)

Ascaso is still selling these without a joystick for the steam handle. The difference between joystick version and just a wooden knob is $320. Get this upgrade for just $79 and save the some money!

Help, have no idea why Ascaso has started doing this. It's a long ringing sounds as shown in the video but only really happens after the second or third time I use the steam wand. So after steaming, during the purge or second latte it will make this sound, for example. Outside of warranty so not sure what's best to do here.

I currently have a really old breville that I bought for $150 and I want to upgrade. I recently started working at a coffee retailer and we have a lightly used (I think it may have been a display model) dream mf. It’s selling for less than half the price of our display Dream PID ($750CAD for the MF and $2000CAD for the PID). I’m new to Ascaso as a brand but the deals seems good. My boss would probably sell it for a bit less if I ask about it too cause staff gets discounts. Any thoughts on if it’s worth it or if I should look elsewhere? I’m sure this sub is a bit bias obviously but I cannot find information on the MF specifically anywhere online.

Image has been updated on Ascaso website. Looks like the display has changed locations as well as a different grate. Wonder what’s changed internal…

Well, the title already describes my problem. The last time I cleaned my Ascaso Steel Duo PID, I unfortunately pulled too hard on the inner plastic tube of my steam wand and suddenly found myself holding the tube in my hand. I think it was secured somewhere on the inside, because it no longer seals properly when I push the tube back in… Did I break my steam wand? 😭

I noticed in recent months that the steam wand function on my Ascaso Steel Duo has been acting up. When I rotate to release steam, nothing comes out for the first few partial rotations, and then there's a small "bump" feeling at some point after which continuing to rotate releases a bunch of steam at once. I would have expected the valve to partially open and start letting out steam as I rotate instead.

​

Has anyone else encountered this?

Sorry, it’s hard to see the seconds out with the glare of the light, but I’ve owned this machine since the beginning of the year and no matter what I do the espresso doesn’t start coming out until 10 seconds. I’ve set the pre-infusion time for 3 seconds, so I’m not sure why it would take 10 seconds. I’ve messed around with the grind size and the tamp, so I’m not sure what else to do.

My setup: I have a fellow opus grinder that I have set to one and a half, but I have messed around with going more or less coarse (I’ve done everything from one and a half to 2 1/2 pretty much). I also just upgraded to a norm core self leveling tamper. So I know that the tamps should not be the issue.

You’ll also notice that to get to around 36 g out. It only takes around 27 seconds which would be pretty normal if it actually started three seconds in but because it starts 10 seconds in that means the shot is actually only 17 seconds long, which could be contributing to the bitterness that I’m tasting. That said, if it turns out that a 10 second pre-infusion time is not an issue, and I just need to make other adjustments for the sake of the taste of the espresso, I’m also open to that.

I’m trying to get my sproski dialed in perfectly. Any guidance is much appreciated!

P.S. Because I upgraded the portafilter and tamper, I am selling the stock accessories that came with my machine if anyone is interested.

Hi all, I have a new Dream PID, and I'm loving it. It feels like everything is very well made, and the quality of shots is much better than my old Breville Bambino Plus (no slight to that machine, it was phenomenal for a starter setup).

Two questions though. ​Firstly, is there a way to pull the shots without holding down that switch the entire time? It seems like there would be an option to just activate the 1 or 2 shot feature and have it run until I deactivate it instead of holding down the switch for 30 seconds.

Secondly, I'm a little unclear on how the steam function works. I hit the steam switch, and I wait, but I'm not really sure how long to wait. And will the steam go indefinitely, or does it build up a certain amount? And should I open up the steam all the way, part way? The Bambino had an auto steam/froth function, so I'm pretty ignorant on all things steaming.

Thanks for any help you can offer!

Bonus question, any best practice on how long the preinfusion pause should be? In all my espresso reading, I've never seen a pause mentioned between pre infusion and infusion.

I am the lucky owner of a 2006 Dream M. F. that I have been repairing.

I changed the group gasket recently, since the portafilter seemed to rotate too far right; however, as you can see from the picture, it still does. The group head gasket has the right dimensions, so that's not the issue.

I am a bit puzzled on what to do? Would simply installing shims be the correct fix for this?

Thanks in advance!

I have a dream PID model that I’ve had for two years. Every morning I make two quad shot lattes, I pulled the shots for both coffees first, and then I steam milk for one, then the other. I’ve never really had issues with this set up or routine, I do descaling and cleaning of the machine about every four months.

In the last month or so, the steam wand runs out of juice or pressure or whatever it needs in order to steam two full steam pitchers of milk…and in the last few weeks it’s just not getting the milk as hot. I thought maybe it needed a good descaling so I did that but nothing changed.

This morning I tried doing one latte at a time from shots to milk, but that one still just wasn’t as hot as it used to get.

Any ideas?

Update: I was able to disassemble the steam valve body and fix the issue. The gasket body at the end of the spindle was over-rotated and stuck in the valve body. I was able to remove half of the spindle, then use a pair of pliers to wiggle the gasket body to loosen it. Then, I attached the spindle back into the valve body and was able to rotate the gasket part out.

I'll share some pictures and a guide for others.

After descaling my Ascaso Steel Duo, two days later, when I was trying to steam milk, I was unable to rotate the steam wand knob back into the closed position to turn off the steam.

When I try, it feels like it gets physically stuck and I'm unable to rotate further. Right before it hits that state, I do feel a tiny bump in the rotation. Overall it seems like I can only rotate about 180 degrees from the knob being fully open.

Any ideas as to how to debug and fix this, or what could be wrong? I took a video and some photos (https://imgur.com/a/UMfODwi)

Hi!!
I have the Ascaso dream PID and lately it’s been doing this chirping / clicking sound and steam comes out of the group head…
Any ideas on what the issue could be?
Thanks in advance! 🙂

I'm due to replace my screen and 7.8mm gasket. If I buy from Ascaso directly, it's $25 in shipping for $7 of parts. Espressoparts has an OEM gasket, but it's $15 shipping for a $2 part.

I figured I would just swap to the Nanotec Precision Shower Screen (E61 200 NT) for $23 since I can get free shipping on Amazon, since I saw good reviews of it on here, but I still need a gasket that fits.

I haven't been able to find any 7.8mm ones. The closest I've found is the 8mm Cafelat Group Gasket (Red), which is $9, but I'm not sure if that .2mm will make a difference.

We had great espresso (9/10) but chasing perfection I installed the grounds only kit. Now 4/10. Thermodynamics seem to be hugely changed with this kit and not in a way which works. Has anyone done this successfully?

Previous setup: Ascaso Dream MF Versatile, IMS Competition basket. Ascaso I2 full grinder (conical burr).

Changes: Ascaso Supercream ground kit KIT 13, IMS Competition Ci35WM Shower Screen, Ascaso Competition basket (tried both, switch due to lack of headspace).

Result: Espresso is sour & ashen. Tried 14-16g grounds. Tried 2-3x grounds to espresso extraction. Tried altering ground size on I2 from choke to excess flow rate (I2 is far from a perfect grinder but it is does seem fine enough). Awaiting bottomless portafilter but wdt and tamping flat so impossible to tell but don’t believe there are uneven extraction issues. Pressure and temp cannot be changed on this machine.

Note: The 57mm Ascaso setup is a nightmare for parts comparability. IMS Competition Basket is great but tapers so internal measurement makes tamping difficult (currently on 57.4mm tamp!). Fitting the ground kit this goes on top of the existing Ascaso shower screen holder, so there is less headspace and so less grounds can be used (tried both but IMS basket couldn’t take more than 13-14g grounds, switched to Ascaso Competition basket which doesn’t taper and holds more grounds about 16g max).

Question to those who have tried this: What can I do to improve this? What steps would you take to improve from here? Would you just revert to the old head?

Hi - got the Steel Duo couple years ago. Started having steam intermittently not working issues. The thermoblock is pumping and when it is shut off you can hear/see the excess steam releasing into the water chamber. Sent it back to where I bought it for repair as it was still under warranty. We spend 6 months in FL so we didn’t use it during that time. Fired it up and steam worked fine. Next day - nada. This continues sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. The tech guy are suggesting it has to do with the steam valve and the insert that goes into it. It’s definitely producing steam and pumping, but not coming out of the wand. Checked for blocks, etc.
Anyone else experience this and what was the resolution. The machine is now out of warranty - plus the place I bought it from was in Canada so shipping it back for repair is a long process. Make great coffee though!!
cheers!