For a very light roast that I find hard to extract without sourness, I like to position the cylinder in the silicone pre-heating cap and fill it twice with water off the boil, letting it rest at least 30 seconds each time. Here's the workflow, assuming you've set up the PRO, and it's ready to brew with the stand inserted on the base and the drip tray and grate inserted.

In my experience the "worst case" is pretty mild, and the cylinder does not completely separate from the portafilter. The Flair PRO and PRO 2 Press Stand, Brewing Cylinder and Stainless Steel Plunger are warrantied against functional defects for five (5) years from the purchase date, when used in accordance with all operating instructions. Keeping in mind the lag time for Artisan sampling, low pressure preinfusion ran for 15 seconds, followed by full pressure.

Then you may find that the downward-curving lever is awkward for higher pressure pulls, and you won't be able to raise brew temperature to the levels you can with closed-boiler machines.

I then place the cylinder on the portafilter and onto the brew platform, fill with water off the boil, insert the stem and pull. The taste was very close, but crema and mouthfeel I just couldn't quite get to the same level as my lever machine with either of the manual Espresso makers.The shower screen allows even infusion of water into the coffee and keeps the wet grounds in place to help prevent channeling.