Hi DIYCoffee if you could make full video tutorial how did you assemble dimmer and gauge that would be great what is your opinion of this machine, better than bambino?
Hello unfortunately I don't have this machine anymore I sold it to another coffee lover on reddit. Overall opinion on this machine is that it's great entry level boiler machine. The bambino has better features and I believe a larger diameter grouphead and portafilter. It uses a thermoblock and so there is no boiler above the grouphead like the delonghi. There are pros and cons to each type of heating system. I feel that boiler type machines get much better temperature out of the grouphead but you sacrifice the speed of heating up. A boiler will take longer to hit its temperature and warm up. The boiler on this machine is small so its not going to make a huge difference. The other disadvantage of a boiler is that it will use the thermostat to heat and shut off and will not maintain as precise a temperature. This matters more during steaming milk. It can run out of built up steam and pressure in the boiler and then you may need to wait a few seconds mid steaming of milk to get back to pressure to finish. Or you just time your milk steaming when the heating first starts on the boiler to finish steaming by the time the heating shuts off. The bambino uses a PID to control the heat so its not a simple on or off. It will vary the power of the heater to target a precise temperature. You can modify the delonghi to use a pid and solid state relay but you would need to be sure you are familiar on how to wire it as you are dealing with the ac voltage of 120 volts so do so at your own discretion. I linked a reddit post on materials and a sort of how to for the dimmer and pressure guage. The pid is also in that link but I never got around to trying it.
@@DIYcoffee-ct7ii Thank you so much on detailed answer, I was wondering what kind of material is involved with thermojet system in bambino, is it aluminum or something else, I believe all new brevilles have same system
I'm guessing the dimmer switch doesn't actually reliably limit the max pressure regardless of the ground fineness. So the dinner had to be tweaked each time based on the ground and dose right?
Yes you are correct. Each shot will be different and you will need to actively manage the dimmer to throttle your pressure during extraction. With the way these machines are designed (limitations) with no solenoid there is only so much you can do to control pressure. A gaggiuino works better on a system with a 3 way solenoid
That clamp is an oetiker type that uses a tool to clamp it in place. I used a flat blade screwdriver to pry open the clamp. Once you do that you should be able to slide the braided hose off the steam valve. Be careful when taking the hose off of the steam valve as the valve is plastic and could break under tension. A screw driver can help it slide off its a silicone hose with nylon braiding to reinforce it.
Thanks for your video. I also have a 3420. I would like to mimic this project on my machine. Could you please direct me on this? Thank you. How many bars of pressure does this machine get without the dimmer?
if i had to take a guess it would be around 15-20 bars of pressure. depending on how your beans are ground and your puck preparation in the portafilter. for the modification in the video comments i directed someone to a link on reddit with detailed photos of where to modify etc. You will need to be comfortable with opening up the machine and cutting and joining wires. Always use common sense and safety when working with electrical wiring and do so at your own discretion.
Hi ! I have Delonghi ECP33.21 and i suffer a lot from the mediocre taste of my espresso every morning it taste burnt and bitter, i changed the pressurized portafilter with a naked one i changed the beans a got a new grinder ( krups gvx2) i tried everything and the taste is still horrible, i dont know what to do Should i reduce the pressure bar to 9bar ? Or should i change the thermostat i'm really desperate and i'll appreciate your help Thank you and sorry for my English
Hello, The beans you use should be freshly roasted. The quality of the beans is important. If the beans do not show a roast date then they are likely too old. Look for a roast date a few weeks to 1 month old. Not sure about your grinder to be honest. A lot of these entry level grinders are fine for drip coffee and pour over but cannot go fine enough for espresso. Here a a good test you can try. Go to your grinders finest setting and grind dose of coffee. Typically this is 18grams for a double shot. For the smaller delonghi I found about 10-11 grams of beans to be enough for a single shot. You have to weigh the beans first then grind them. If your grinder on its finest setting cannot choke the machine for a bottomless portafilter it likely is unable to get fine enough. Once you know what grind setting chokes the machine you can dial back the grinder to get the right speed for the shot to pull. If its too coarse you may be hitting the limit of the grinder and cannot dial in the grind level. Also one thing to consider is that as your beans age you have to adjust your grinder to go finer as you use up the bag. I would recommend looking into an espresso focused grinder. On the budget end you can find the breville smart grinder pro. The pressure is dependent on the grind level of your coffee in the portafilter. Before you look at pressure modification of the machine, look at the grinder and beans.
@@DIYcoffee-ct7ii thank you very much for your quiqu response, i will try for the grinder i can go finer to the max possible because i already modded it so i can grind more finer
what are the parts you used for the dimmer and the manometer? Also is there a way you can make a video showing how to mod that specific machine? I have one just like that but I am not sure where to begin...
Howdy! Any chance you could show how you got access to the ULKA pump power connectors in order to add the dimmer switch? When I open the bottom panel of my ECP3420 the pump is rather obstructed (unless I'm not seeing some obvious way that is eluding me). I don't see anyone anywhere on YTube showing exactly the steps involved in adding the dimmer. Thanks for considering this request. This video definitely has inspired me to want to add a dimmer AND a pressure gauge!
Hello! I followed a post I found on reddit that had some photos of which wire to use for the dimmer www.reddit.com/r/espresso/comments/sahg9l/delonghi_ecp_series_pressure_gauge_and_dimmer_mod/? You basically snip the brown wire that connects to the selector knob on the front of your machine. You have to open the top panel of your machine to see inside. The stainless steel metal plate can unsnap if you move it forward towards you. You need to pull off the selector knob first. The brown wire when cut will have one end go to one wire of your dimmer and the other wire of your dimmer will complete the connection to the cut brown wire. [Brown wire] ----[dimmer wire #1] ----[dimmer wire #2]-----[brown wire] So the dimmer will be wired in line or series to your pump wire I unfortunately do not have this machine anymore as I sold it to another person on reddit.
New to the ECP modding community. I’ve got some crazy plans to create a double boiler / dual PID machine from the guts of two 3220s stuffed into a laser cut and bent stainless case. Do you have any resources you could point me to that helped with your PID installation? Cheers mate!
That sounds like a very cool project. Unfortunately I didn't get thay far with the pid on my ecp. I would definitely join the discord of the espresso group on reddit. They have a section related to modifications on machines and people who are pretty knowledgeable. The power and heating wiring on the ecp was confusion for me and I had trouble with the selector knob failing with all the opening and closing of the machine. Best of luck.
@@DIYcoffee-ct7ii planning to swap the original selector for toggle switches in the big machine. Will likely try and get the PID mod up and running on a single while I finalize the design and get the parts fabbed. Tom’s Coffee Corner on TH-cam has a video on a PID on a delonghi ECP machine which I’ll be watching after I’m done procrastinating my real job lol
@KGB908 great idea. At one point I had rocker switches in my amazon cart but never followed though to try and finish up that selector knob issue. That was on my second ecp. The one in the video I sold to a redditor for pretty cheap. I'll maybe check my local goodwill again for any espresso goodies. I found that ecp for 10$.
@@DIYcoffee-ct7ii I’ve got 3 ECP3220s at the moment. One is my OG (9 years, 10k shots estimated). Leaks out the group head for so long after pulling a shot, I need to diagnose. The two others were FB marketplace scores. Planning to run a custom steam wand on the chungus I’m building. Any tips for steaming with the stock wand (zip tie mod)? I’m either scalding with no stretch or foaming, can’t quite get silky but I think it’s operator error.
@KGB908 I used a rancillio style wand on mine. It's not too hard to swap out. I'm intrigued by the non burn wand that uses a piece of nylon tubing inside the steel pipe portion. I think the new dedica comes with it but I could never find much info on it. For steaming I used to use a thermometer and "cheat" when the needle was green it was at temp and I would stop steaming. The main technique is to get the right depth of the steam tip in the milk to incorporate air. After you have enough just keep the wand submerged to avoid any extra air as you are just getting it up to temperature then. Without the pid I would start steaming as its heating up instead of already boiled and sitting on green for the light as it will cut off the boiler when it hits temperature and you have to wait until it cycles the heater again. With your pid plan it's unlimited steam as long as you have water
I have this ecp3420, but just wanted to know if anyone after installing this dimmer with gauge and the PID, would be interested in selling it to me, do you know any forums that people specialize in this kind of stuff? Thank you beforehand Appreciate your patience and video, i wouldn't have knew about these mods...
Coolness a ecp mad scientist!!!! Love this !!! 😎☕️👍🏽😊
Hi DIYCoffee if you could make full video tutorial how did you assemble dimmer and gauge that would be great
what is your opinion of this machine, better than bambino?
Hello unfortunately I don't have this machine anymore I sold it to another coffee lover on reddit.
Overall opinion on this machine is that it's great entry level boiler machine. The bambino has better features and I believe a larger diameter grouphead and portafilter.
It uses a thermoblock and so there is no boiler above the grouphead like the delonghi.
There are pros and cons to each type of heating system. I feel that boiler type machines get much better temperature out of the grouphead but you sacrifice the speed of heating up. A boiler will take longer to hit its temperature and warm up. The boiler on this machine is small so its not going to make a huge difference.
The other disadvantage of a boiler is that it will use the thermostat to heat and shut off and will not maintain as precise a temperature. This matters more during steaming milk. It can run out of built up steam and pressure in the boiler and then you may need to wait a few seconds mid steaming of milk to get back to pressure to finish. Or you just time your milk steaming when the heating first starts on the boiler to finish steaming by the time the heating shuts off.
The bambino uses a PID to control the heat so its not a simple on or off. It will vary the power of the heater to target a precise temperature.
You can modify the delonghi to use a pid and solid state relay but you would need to be sure you are familiar on how to wire it as you are dealing with the ac voltage of 120 volts so do so at your own discretion.
I linked a reddit post on materials and a sort of how to for the dimmer and pressure guage.
The pid is also in that link but I never got around to trying it.
@@DIYcoffee-ct7ii Thank you so much on detailed answer, I was wondering what kind of material is involved with thermojet system in bambino, is it aluminum or something else, I believe all new brevilles have same system
I'm guessing the dimmer switch doesn't actually reliably limit the max pressure regardless of the ground fineness. So the dinner had to be tweaked each time based on the ground and dose right?
Yes you are correct. Each shot will be different and you will need to actively manage the dimmer to throttle your pressure during extraction. With the way these machines are designed (limitations) with no solenoid there is only so much you can do to control pressure. A gaggiuino works better on a system with a 3 way solenoid
Hey bud, im attempting to swap out the steam wand with the rancilio, but im having trouble unhooking the hose clamp in the red hose.
And tips???
That clamp is an oetiker type that uses a tool to clamp it in place. I used a flat blade screwdriver to pry open the clamp. Once you do that you should be able to slide the braided hose off the steam valve. Be careful when taking the hose off of the steam valve as the valve is plastic and could break under tension. A screw driver can help it slide off its a silicone hose with nylon braiding to reinforce it.
what steam wand did you change it for?
Ita a rancillio style one. They sell them on Amazon and eBay. Check for the kind that says compatible with delonghi
Thanks for your video. I also have a 3420. I would like to mimic this project on my machine. Could you please direct me on this?
Thank you.
How many bars of pressure does this machine get without the dimmer?
if i had to take a guess it would be around 15-20 bars of pressure. depending on how your beans are ground and your puck preparation in the portafilter. for the modification in the video comments i directed someone to a link on reddit with detailed photos of where to modify etc. You will need to be comfortable with opening up the machine and cutting and joining wires. Always use common sense and safety when working with electrical wiring and do so at your own discretion.
Hi !
I have Delonghi ECP33.21 and i suffer a lot from the mediocre taste of my espresso every morning it taste burnt and bitter, i changed the pressurized portafilter with a naked one i changed the beans a got a new grinder ( krups gvx2) i tried everything and the taste is still horrible, i dont know what to do
Should i reduce the pressure bar to 9bar ? Or should i change the thermostat i'm really desperate and i'll appreciate your help
Thank you and sorry for my English
Hello,
The beans you use should be freshly roasted. The quality of the beans is important.
If the beans do not show a roast date then they are likely too old.
Look for a roast date a few weeks to 1 month old.
Not sure about your grinder to be honest. A lot of these entry level grinders are fine for drip coffee and pour over but cannot go fine enough for espresso.
Here a a good test you can try. Go to your grinders finest setting and grind dose of coffee. Typically this is 18grams for a double shot.
For the smaller delonghi I found about 10-11 grams of beans to be enough for a single shot.
You have to weigh the beans first then grind them.
If your grinder on its finest setting cannot choke the machine for a bottomless portafilter it likely is unable to get fine enough.
Once you know what grind setting chokes the machine you can dial back the grinder to get the right speed for the shot to pull.
If its too coarse you may be hitting the limit of the grinder and cannot dial in the grind level.
Also one thing to consider is that as your beans age you have to adjust your grinder to go finer as you use up the bag.
I would recommend looking into an espresso focused grinder. On the budget end you can find the breville smart grinder pro.
The pressure is dependent on the grind level of your coffee in the portafilter.
Before you look at pressure modification of the machine, look at the grinder and beans.
@@DIYcoffee-ct7ii thank you very much for your quiqu response, i will try for the grinder i can go finer to the max possible because i already modded it so i can grind more finer
what are the parts you used for the dimmer and the manometer? Also is there a way you can make a video showing how to mod that specific machine? I have one just like that but I am not sure where to begin...
I made a post on reddit with a link to the materials.
Here www.reddit.com/r/espresso/comments/w029lb/budget_delonghi_ecp3420_with_pressure_control/?
Howdy! Any chance you could show how you got access to the ULKA pump power connectors in order to add the dimmer switch? When I open the bottom panel of my ECP3420 the pump is rather obstructed (unless I'm not seeing some obvious way that is eluding me). I don't see anyone anywhere on YTube showing exactly the steps involved in adding the dimmer. Thanks for considering this request. This video definitely has inspired me to want to add a dimmer AND a pressure gauge!
Hello! I followed a post I found on reddit that had some photos of which wire to use for the dimmer
www.reddit.com/r/espresso/comments/sahg9l/delonghi_ecp_series_pressure_gauge_and_dimmer_mod/?
You basically snip the brown wire that connects to the selector knob on the front of your machine. You have to open the top panel of your machine to see inside. The stainless steel metal plate can unsnap if you move it forward towards you. You need to pull off the selector knob first.
The brown wire when cut will have one end go to one wire of your dimmer and the other wire of your dimmer will complete the connection to the cut brown wire.
[Brown wire] ----[dimmer wire #1] ----[dimmer wire #2]-----[brown wire]
So the dimmer will be wired in line or series to your pump wire
I unfortunately do not have this machine anymore as I sold it to another person on reddit.
New to the ECP modding community. I’ve got some crazy plans to create a double boiler / dual PID machine from the guts of two 3220s stuffed into a laser cut and bent stainless case. Do you have any resources you could point me to that helped with your PID installation? Cheers mate!
That sounds like a very cool project. Unfortunately I didn't get thay far with the pid on my ecp. I would definitely join the discord of the espresso group on reddit. They have a section related to modifications on machines and people who are pretty knowledgeable.
The power and heating wiring on the ecp was confusion for me and I had trouble with the selector knob failing with all the opening and closing of the machine.
Best of luck.
@@DIYcoffee-ct7ii planning to swap the original selector for toggle switches in the big machine. Will likely try and get the PID mod up and running on a single while I finalize the design and get the parts fabbed. Tom’s Coffee Corner on TH-cam has a video on a PID on a delonghi ECP machine which I’ll be watching after I’m done procrastinating my real job lol
@KGB908 great idea. At one point I had rocker switches in my amazon cart but never followed though to try and finish up that selector knob issue. That was on my second ecp. The one in the video I sold to a redditor for pretty cheap. I'll maybe check my local goodwill again for any espresso goodies. I found that ecp for 10$.
@@DIYcoffee-ct7ii I’ve got 3 ECP3220s at the moment. One is my OG (9 years, 10k shots estimated). Leaks out the group head for so long after pulling a shot, I need to diagnose. The two others were FB marketplace scores. Planning to run a custom steam wand on the chungus I’m building. Any tips for steaming with the stock wand (zip tie mod)? I’m either scalding with no stretch or foaming, can’t quite get silky but I think it’s operator error.
@KGB908 I used a rancillio style wand on mine. It's not too hard to swap out. I'm intrigued by the non burn wand that uses a piece of nylon tubing inside the steel pipe portion. I think the new dedica comes with it but I could never find much info on it.
For steaming I used to use a thermometer and "cheat" when the needle was green it was at temp and I would stop steaming. The main technique is to get the right depth of the steam tip in the milk to incorporate air. After you have enough just keep the wand submerged to avoid any extra air as you are just getting it up to temperature then.
Without the pid I would start steaming as its heating up instead of already boiled and sitting on green for the light as it will cut off the boiler when it hits temperature and you have to wait until it cycles the heater again. With your pid plan it's unlimited steam as long as you have water
I have this ecp3420, but just wanted to know if anyone after installing this dimmer with gauge and the PID, would be interested in selling it to me, do you know any forums that people specialize in this kind of stuff? Thank you beforehand
Appreciate your patience and video, i wouldn't have knew about these mods...
you can try the reddit r/espresso and see. the dimmer is pretty easy.