Long Steam Arm for S1 Vivaldi I

[wgaggl]

I have the original S1, with the short curved steam arm (the one after 2/20/04) and found that there's a new long steam for sale by ChrisCoffee arm for the Vivaldi II. Does that steam arm fit my S1?

Thanks,
Wolfgang

[Niko]

Nice to see you again, Wolfgang!

That longer (S5) steam arm will be a beautiful fit on your S1. I tried it on my older S1 and it was great.

[chas]

I have the original S1, with the short curved steam arm (the one after 2/20/04) and found that there's a new long steam for sale by ChrisCoffee arm for the Vivaldi II. Does that steam arm fit my S1?

Thanks,
Wolfgang

Wolfgang:

You were one of the original S1 purchasers. Did you get yours early enough to get one of the free steam arm upgrades Chris sent to the original early adopters? I didn't know it until I got the VII and discovered that the VII steam arm was shorter, that Chris had actually send us the S5 arm. Later purchasers who bought S1's with the "new" arm actually got the shorter one that comes standard with the VII. So it is possible that you already have the longer arm.

[wgaggl]

It's good to be around here again; my Vivaldi and I got into a routine and I focused on roasting with my modified Hottop lately.

The S1 I have is from May 2004, so I guess it has the shorter arm, it's good to hear that the longer arm fits too. If I had been aware that it's the S5 arm, I'd have installed it long ago :)

Thanks,

Wolfgang

[Niko]

Please visit us more often, we value your input.
Let us know how the arm works out for you and do check out the new steam tips available, there's been at least 2 new ones since the current one you're probably using.

[wgaggl]

I have all the available steam tips as far as I know.

I currently prefer the 4-hole tip with the slightly larger holes for larger quantities of milk (typically do 2 single cappas, so a total of 8-9oz milk), as it steams quite fast while still producing good microfoam with these quantities.
For single cappas or macciatos I prefer the 4-hole tip with the small holes (the most recent one at ChrisCoffee), it steams somewhat slower and gives me the same amount of control for small amounts of milk as I have using the tip with bigger holes on larger quantities of milk.
Unfortunately I'm usually too lazy to switch every time, so I usually use the 4-hole tip with larger holes as it's faster. But both are really nice.
Especially the one with smaller holes works well if the pressure in the steam boiler is at its lower end.
With the larger tip I always make sure to be in the top steam pressure range (or bleed the wand until the heater starts). The Vivaldi II heater delta on the steam boiler is half of that of the Vivaldi I that I have, so Vivaldi II users might not have that steam pressure issue (or do they?).

I also have two 3-hole tips, which I never used since, and one two hole tip (with adapter) that has really small holes, but that one just takes too long to steam for me.

Wolfgang

[Niko]

The Vivaldi II heater delta on the steam boiler is half of that of the Vivaldi I that I have, so Vivaldi II users might not have that steam pressure issue (or do they?).

You are correct about that, Wolfgang.
The VII does not suffer the same thing as the orig S1 but you have managed to get almost the same performance. That trick you mentioned is key and I use the same trick on my other S1.
Another thing to note is that you can change your steam sensor to the VII version and get more sensitivity but I would leave well enough alone, if your machine hasn't suffered the same fate as a lot of other S1's with the sensor (you have one of the older, more stable ones) Just stick with it.

[wgaggl]

It's done! ..and took me less than a minute to install.

That new steam arm gets me just that length to reach down into larger steam pitchers.

Great addition!

Wolfgang

[Niko]

Excellent!
Nice to hear, you will not miss the old one at all since this one works with small and large pitchers.
Now the only thing is what to do with the old one :?

[wgaggl]

Boy, you're a fast responder, Niko! :)

Well, I have kept all the old parts for my S1 so far, it's a nice history of updates and changes I made to it.

Things like:

Various PF spouts
A bottomless PF
LM basket springs
Triple Basket
Wooden handles from Thor
Two sizes of brass dispersion disks
Modified shower head screw
5 steam tips
Spare group gaskets (already needed one of those!)
Spare baskets and PF
Modified double basket for temperature measurements
PF pressure gauge
Extra gicleur valve
Several different tampers
Preinfusion timer mod
Even the pod conversion kit (for completeness...)
and now 2 steam arms

My wife thinks I'm crazy keeping all that stuff, but I can't part with them

Wolfgang

[Niko]

I should salute all those medals!
I'm curious about the double spout, it's probably the flatter wider version, right?

Tell me more about that pre-infusion mod thing you got going.

But nothing would complete your collection more than having that 3rd steaming arm, the No-Burn version - I have one! :D

[wgaggl]

I should salute all those medals!
I'm curious about the double spout, it's probably the flatter wider version, right?

Yes. It's the LM.

But nothing would complete your collection more than having that 3rd steaming arm, the No-Burn version - I have one!

Outch, missed that one!

Tell me more about that pre-infusion mod thing you got going.

It's an Omega timer module, I used it both for pump-driven (infuse/soak/continue) and pump-delayed (infuse with line pressure, then turn on pump) infusion. The problem with the S1 and preinfusion is, that it has a passively heated group, so the first few seconds are always low in temperature. This way the shot has a slightly sour component with preinfusion; with the S1 you actually want to go through the first part of the temperature curve as fast as possible, so preinfusion isn't beneficial to the taste. After I played with it for a while, I stopped using it.

Wolfgang

[Niko]

Sounds like you should underdose your triple basket by several grams to increase the dwell before the shot emerges out of the spout. In other words, pull only doubles with a triple basket, this should cause at least a 5 second dwell.

I would love to see someone PID a Vivaldi... :D (not that it would make the shots any better).

[wgaggl]

Sounds like you should underdose your triple basket by several grams to increase the dwell before the shot emerges out of the spout. In other words, pull only doubles with a triple basket, this should cause at least a 5 second dwell.

I always have at least 5 sec from pump start until the shot emerges with my triple basket, that's no problem.

I would love to see someone PID a Vivaldi... :D (not that it would make the shots any better).

Thought about it for a while, but gave it up, because I too believe that this wouldn't improve the shots much. Most room for improvement would be in the initial temperature rise, but that depends on the group design (eg. actively heating either electrically or with brew boiler water).

If you want a fast rising and flat profile, go with the LM. But the S1 is very consistent and has a pretty flat profile after a few seconds into the shots.

Wolfgang

[Niko]

If you want a fast rising and flat profile, go with the LM. But the S1 is very consistent and has a pretty flat profile after a few seconds into the shots.

Wolfgang

Amen to that, the S1 is a champ according to the Scace readings once the machine is properly warmed up.