
MOVE temperature and heating performance
We would like to present our test procedure for temperature measurement using the MOVE as an example.
A key aspect of heating up a machine is reaching the operating temperature quickly. For us, this means that the boiler, the brew group and the portafilter are completely heated. To ensure this, we introduced the “Fast Heat Up” mode in our single boiler machines and dual boilers last year. The system is deliberately overheated and then cooled down with a flush to heat up all relevant components. The duration of the flush depends on factors such as the boiler size and the delivery rate of the pump and is designed for the portafilter included with the machine. The aim of the “Fast Heat Up” is to bring the brewing temperature into the set temperature range as quickly as possible (85 - 99°C for the MOVE).
The portafilter is the most critical element here, as heat transfer takes the longest. For this reason, we have decided to reduce the mass of the portafilter in the MOVE (comparison: standard portafilter head with dual spout: 417g, new bottomless portafilter: 290g).
In case of the MOVE, the flush time for heating up the system and rinsing out the excessively hot water from the boiler due to the “Fast Heat Up” is ten seconds. It is important to heat the portafilter with the water flowing out of the brew group. This duration has been specially designed for use with the bottomless portafilter with silicone insert.
To measure the brewing temperature, we use test portafilters that simulate the process of an espresso extraction as realistically as possible (flow rate and duration). However, these test portafilters differ from the “normal” portafilters, particularly in terms of their mass. We use a Tech-Up portafilter from DVG (for temperature tests without a connected pressure gauge). Including the handle, this test portafilter weighs around 680g, while the bottomless MOVE portafilter (also including the handle) weighs 430g. Unfortunately, the portafilter heads cannot be compared directly, as the handle of the test portafilter is fixed.
This difference in mass has a direct impact on the measured temperature performance of the MOVE. As we focus on the earliest point at which the machine is ready to extract an espresso at the desired or set temperature, the temperature of the portafilter or the measuring sensor/portafilter used plays a decisive role. Thanks to the “Fast Heat Up” mode, our machines take between 6 and 11 minutes to heat up, depending on the model.
For the PROFITEC MOVE, we specify a heat-up time of around 9 minutes.
While a flush time of 20 seconds was sufficient for previous models to fully heat up both the normal portafilter and the test portafilter, the MOVE's 10 seconds are no longer sufficient. Due to the reduced mass of the new bottomless portafilter, it is brought to operating temperature by the 10-second flush. These 10 seconds are not sufficient for the test portafilter, which is 250g heavier, and the subsequent measurement provides falsified results due to the measuring device being too cold.
For this reason, we have decided to carry out the temperature measurements after the machine has heated up using a fully heated test portafilter in order to achieve comparable results.
Below we have linked an example video that shows our test procedure:
