I’ve got to post. I keep saying tomorrow and now my [Sciral](http://www.sciral.com/consistency/) is deep in red. I don’t like being deep in red, so lets start something.
I’ve decided to modify my espresso machine and to a _light_ extent at this time my grinder.
Welcome to the innards of a Nuova Simonelli Oscar. The Sirai is a give away that this isn’t an older unit. They used to use a Matar pressurestat giving a lot of older users some serious grief. I started a post on [Home Barista](http://www.home-barista.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1237), another great resource in geeking out. Taking knowledge from HB & alt.coffee folks I’m trying to continue the evolution of ‘better’. Better is a precarious balance these days.
Better to me is:
* Refining any kinks in the machine to make it cleaner running.
* Adding a [PID](http://rcl.eng.ohio-state.edu/matlab/PID/PID.html) for thermal stability
* Adding a Vacuum Breaker so that the unit can be timed if desired/one less hassle to deal with on startup.
* Clean up the OPV valve/get the unit to do some backflow during a blind filter.
* Maybe a few more things as I travel this path..
At the end of all of this I’d like to be able to dial in any single orgin coffee and pull out the best elements. I’m dieing for a perfect blueberry harrar and I can’t find it with the current setup. If I poll PeterG at [Counter Culture Coffee](http://www.counterculturecoffee.com) for some numbers and profile I think I can find that zone.
Right now I’m just collecting my tools and my instructions. Getting to know the machine without a hood; to know what is possible. I’ll keep everyone updated with progress. Above all else this is to learn from. If you have any tips they are more than welcome!
-a