Strange Siphon Behavior on Coil Stove

[MikeLoeven]

I recently moved to a new apartment that has a coil stove as opposed to the gas unit at my previous house. I set up the pot like normal and used the included heat spreader however the water was all the way up to the top of the siphon at around 50-55 degrees and shortly after the water drained back down to the lower pot and had to heat up again before it actually started brewing. I am wondering if anyone knows why this is and does it have anything to do with those new temp sensing coils that have been coming out in the last few years ? I haven't used this on a coil stove before so this could be normal I dont know

 

[Thatonebaristaguy]

In my experience in using a siphon, it tends to move back to the lower portion if the constant heat source isn't maintained. It should also be noted that 50-55C is too low of a water temp to be maintained on top because once you remove the lid the heat immediately escapes and moves its way back down. Where I work with modcup, we aim for the top chamber temp to read 90C before we begin to brew in order to maintain the brewing process on top. I hope this helps!

 

[TangyWasabi]

In my experience in using a siphon, it tends to move back to the lower portion if the constant heat source isn't maintained. It should also be noted that 50-55C is too low of a water temp to be maintained on top because once you remove the lid the heat immediately escapes and moves its way back down. Where I work with modcup, we aim for the top chamber temp to read 90C before we begin to brew in order to maintain the brewing process on top. I hope this helps!

This is exactly what it is, the temperature just isn’t hot enough to keep the water in the upper chamber, raise the temp and you’ll be good to go.

 

[MikeLoeven]

I do typically brew at 90 its just for some reason with this specific element it will go up and down several times before the overall temperature reaches the 90 degree point and allows it to stay in the upper chamber. I guess its just a matter of not adding the coffee until after the temp alarm goes off that way I am not getting coffee falling into the lower pot and boiling off.