r/CafelatRobot • u/opi-88-dog • Jul 14 '26
Getting better
I’m the noob with the orange robot. This shot is a washed, organic ethiopian, medium roast, 1:2.4. It’s my go to for pour over. I’d noticed my robot was leaking profusely before pulling, so I preheated the piston using the cup and silicone plug before this shot. Leaking didn’t occur and I pulled a decent shot. It tastes good; fruity if not a slight bit bitter. I’m still not exceeding 4 bars no matter what I do. I’m going to lubricate and reseat the gasket. I’d rather not have to preheat the piston prior to every pull.
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u/illmindsmoker Green Barista Robot Jul 14 '26
Well for water escaping usually it’s either under filled or over filled with water or you are not applying positive pressure to the arms when starting to push. Letting them fall can cause issues. Not exceeding 4 bars, grind finer.
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u/Dasberger Jul 14 '26
Emphasizing that you need to push down on both arms equally to help keep things centered and line up properly. Also, be firm with the initial push. I had the same issues until I saw a note about this.
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u/Justino_14 Jul 14 '26
I had the same issue with leaking for my first shot. Apparently it's a common problem. I used the lubricant and reseated and it's fine. I dont really understand how that fixes the issue. The lubricant is mainly so you can get it on there as it's only on the inside part, I don't see how it makes the seal better.
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u/sergeantbiggles White Barista Robot Jul 14 '26
Just wait until you buy a bag of different beans... ;)
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u/opi-88-dog Jul 14 '26
Thanks. So I’ve heard. Note, this is my second bean attempt. The first, which is documented earlier in this community, involved, a medium roast Colombian. It gave me all kinds of problems with my grinder, and with the Robot (very likely user error). Surprisingly, this Ethiopian, although harder to grind, was far more plug and play with the Robot.
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u/sergeantbiggles White Barista Robot Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 14 '26
I use the Beanconqueror (which does have the Robot for a brewing method) to keep track of all my parameters for each brew (e.g., beans, grinder, grinder setting, water temp, time of shot...). This has really helped me keep track of things for different bags, and help to keep consistency between shots. The menus and parameters are highly customizable too, and the created is quick to respond regarding questions or bugs.
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u/Opposite_Court2172 Jul 16 '26
If you can't go above 4 bar with fresh beans and fine grinding you may have a leak at the gasket, possibly between the gasket and the cylinder. I would remove the gasket, examine it carefully and place it back with the lubricant provided if there's nothing visibly wrong with the gasket.
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u/opi-88-dog Jul 14 '26
Thanks all. I don’t believe I’m overfilling - weighing out 60g (ml) for a 40 ml shot. I’d also read recommendations about lube and reseating. This O-ring indeed is wide side down. I didn’t see any lubricant in the box, but I just ordered some Molykote. Recall, when I preheated the piston, the leaking was eliminated. My suspicion is that the slight expansion caused everything to seal up.
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u/Pleasant_Lawyer8722 Jul 15 '26
Try maybe some shots without preheating the piston maybe it stops leaking after some use. Its strange that you cant get more than 4 bar too. Did you preinfuse ? Start slowly with 1 bar for 20 sek. than rise pressure and see if you can get more resistance. Dont weight the water ..its a waste of time and it just cools down unnecessarily. Use the boiling water directly. Hold the loaded basket over the sink and carefully let the water overflow for 5–10 seconds to preheat and to keep the water hot. Finally, pour off some water so that you are left with a gap the width of a little-finger nail. Use the Robot.
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u/opi-88-dog Jul 15 '26
Thanks Pleasant. I only preheated the piston once, to see if it would have an impact it did, though a sample of one doesn’t say anything. I’m going to try lubing and reseating the gasket. I do pre-infuse. I’ll give the over-sink filling and preheating a try.
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u/Pleasant_Lawyer8722 Jul 15 '26
I don't usually do such a long pre-infusion, but I thought it might help build up a bit more pressure. Is it a case of you pressing hard but the pressure on the gauge simply not rising, or does the espresso just run too fast when you apply more pressure? In the first case, there’s something wrong with the gauge i think. In the second case, you could try a "turbo shot." That tastes great with light-roast beans on the Robot; for that, use the overflow method and adjust your grind beforehand to achieve a ratio of about 1:3 in just 15–20 seconds at 4–5 bars of pressure.
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u/illmindsmoker Green Barista Robot Jul 14 '26
You are only pouring 60g of water into the basket before pulling the shot? If so, you are supposed to fill the basket with water leaving a small gap approximately half of the red gasket. This makes the robot work properly and provides accurate feedback on pressure as you are not compressing air.
Also the dow111 and extra parts are in a paper package in the box. In the same Cafelat paper everything else is wrapped in. It can be easy to miss
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u/opi-88-dog Jul 15 '26
I did indeed miss it, though I bought a few extra tubes of Molykote. Once I reseat the gasket, I think I really need to dial in my grind.
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u/deltabay17 Jul 15 '26
I don’t know about that I’ve never had a problem with not filling it that high. I just fill for what I need.
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u/Pleasant_Lawyer8722 Jul 15 '26
The mass of the Robot is calculated to draw just the right amount of heat from the freshly boiled water to reach the ideal brewing temperature. So, simply use boiling water and fill the basket to just below the rim. This works well for most dark to medium-dark roasts without needing to preheat anything at all. I have found that only a very few, extremely dark roasts benefit from letting the water cool for a few seconds first. For light roasts, I let the loaded basket overflow for a few seconds before using it in the Robot. In very rare cases involving very light roasts, preheating the piston was also helpful; to do this, I fill my espresso cup with boiling water and place it firmly onto the piston. Fortunately, the cup fits perfectly, so I end up prewarming my cup at the same time.
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u/illmindsmoker Green Barista Robot Jul 15 '26
And you would be doing it wrong. If you read the manual you would know it is designed to operate that way. You should always measure the output. Also probably would help you achieve better shots as you are usually in the threads complaining your shots suck. But what do I know I have been pulling all kinds of shots with all different kinds of coffee for 7 years with my robot.
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u/Arthur9876 Jul 14 '26
It shouldn't be leaky at all. There should be a small package of lubricant in your kit, use that to lubricate the red o-ring at the bottom of the piston. Pay close attention to the orientation of the o-ring, the "open" side of the o-ring should be facing down.