Glad to hear you are healing Jon, and better still it hasn't put you off tinkering some more (did you kill the old SSR when you shorted the circuit? or is this another project??!) I've been playing with the temperatures a bit but maybe I ned to better control some other factors too... its so hard when you are needing to grind finer due to age of beans etc. to actually know what is affecting what! I think we will need some time to find out for sure the best method! But I am impressed at the consistancy of the quality of the shots it has produced regardless of temp after some practice. I think some earlier naff shots may have been inexperience, or maybe some of those other factors... as I've had some great hotter shots too now. Since the PID I'd say 9/10 were good shots, with all the qualities people point out - the body, the taste, the crema, the flecking pattern in the crema; and most importantly I like the taste and experiance!
By the way I forgot to mention before, if anyone needs an SSR I have 2 spare, just PM me.