La
Pavoni Europiccola instructions... for newbies
Home-Barista.com
March 18, 2008
I have rebuilt a
number of La Pavoni Euros over the past few years and I have sold
some of them on Ebay (where I bought them as 'Charity cases'). I have
always sent a letter along with them (below is one of them)to help
those that are just becoming acquainted with their new friend.
Perhaps it will be
of some use here also...
It is somewhat 'long
winded', but for those starting out with a lever it has helped.
Hi,
These La Pavonis are
a well built machine and if properly cared for will last for ever.
They are designed to never overheat or build up too much pressure. A
fuse wired into the boiler on the older models (later models have
them as replaceable or resettable fuses) to prevent overheating and a
pressure relief valve for too much pressure solves that problem. The
pressure relief valve is what you will hear hissing once the machine
gets up to pressure on setting I.
So anyway the
pressure relief valve is the part of the unit that has the small tube
that is closest to the boiler. It is a small spring with a metal ball
at the end that fits into a venturi mounted on the boiler. The spring
is set so that it allows pressure in the boiler to be let off once
the unit is up to the appropriate temperature. Why am I explaining
all of this? What the last owner did to this unit was to put a heavy
spring in the pressure relief valve that must have increased the
pressure and heat in the boiler until it forced leaks. The only thing
I can think of is that they must have thought that these units use
the pressure and steam from the boiler to make espresso. So when they
heard the unit hissing they thought something needed to be fixed.
WRONG!
I can tell you one
thing it did... it must have made the worst tasting espresso they
ever tasted. By forcing steam through the grouphead to the shower
screen it not only overheated the espresso grind in the portafilter;
it put undo stress and heat on the grouphead gaskets, boiler gasket,
sight glass seals, and to much air from boiling the water
continuously burner out the heating element itself. (The older La
Pavonis did not have a reset able or replaceable fuse it was
inconveniently wired up inside of the heating element body and almost
impossible to replace). In other words these people really messed up.
These machines rely on the lever operator (you) and the piston in the
grouphead to create the pressure to force hot water (approximately
200 degrees F) through the puck in the filter basket.
So that is the
history of this machine as far as I can determine. What I did; was to
go through it and replace all that I have found wrong with it. It has
a new stainless steel heating element and gasket, a replaceable fuse
(Radio Shack) to protect it from overheating, boiler to grouphead
gasket, sight glass seals, spring for the pressure relief valve, and
portafilter gasket. I also descaled the boiler and put new high temp
wiring under the boiler (there was that old fabric kind that was
horribly discolored and frayed). I also check and lubed the piston
and its gaskets.
I have used this
machine for 1 ½ years and it is doing great. As I said earlier, if
these units are properly cared for they last and last and...well you
get the idea. The only thing you will need to replace on a regular
basis is the grouphead and piston gaskets. So I will just take the
opportunity to give you a few tips.
Always make sure you
have at least ¾ of the sight glass boiler filled before heating. But
don't go way over the sight glass level either.
You can use the
setting II for initial heat up but stay close by because when it gets
up toward temperature it needs to be turned down to setting I to make
good espresso.
Once the machine is
up to temperature it will be hissing and sputtering a bit (that is
perfectly normal).
I put the
portafilter in with an empty basket and lift the lever fully (Just
for a second or two) to let off false pressure, steam, and any
impurities that may be on the shower screen.
I then take off the
portafilter dry the shower screen, and filter basket and then load a
filled basket into the portafilter.
I then put the
portafilter into the grouphead and turn it just enough to know that
it catches, but do not tighten it down yet.
Then raise the
handle about ¾ of the way towards getting hot water, and then
tighten down the portafilter firmly. This procedure prevents a vacuum
being created above the espresso in the filter basket which usually
causes channeling during the pull.
Raise the handle to
the full height and allow hot water into the grouphead for about 10 -
15 seconds before starting a firm (But not hard) down stroke.
If the stroke goes
very easy and you get weak espresso with no crema. You probably have
too coarse a grind, have used too little espresso in the filter
basket and/or you have not tamped the espresso firmly enough.
If the stroke gets
choked (the lever doesn't want to go down even with very firm
pressure)... It means you have either used too fine a grind, have
tamped the espresso to hard and/or used too much espresso in the
filter basket.
If you choke the
pull do not immediately take off the portafilter! You will get a
pressure release of hot water, and wet espresso all over the place.
If you have gotten the handle down far enough to be past the point
where hot water is introduced to the grouphead; wait for about 30 -
45 seconds without further pressure on the lever. Try the stroke down
from there again. If it goes hard, don't force it, go ahead and wait
for the pressure in the grouphead to release and then slowly turn the
portafilter handle to relieve the pressure still in the grouphead.
When it starts to 'sneeze' stop and allow it to de-pressurize.
If you did not get
the handle down past the point where hot water enters the grouphead;
turn the unit off and turn on the steam wand to release pressure in
the boiler. But be aware that pressure may still be in the grouphead,
so be careful with the portafilter.
On successive pulls
you will get two or perhaps three great shots before the grouphead
begins to get too hot for good espresso. The solution is to cool off
the portafilter by putting it in cold water.
La Pavoni advertises
that these units can pull 8 doubles... Wrong; at best you will get 5
or perhaps 6 pulls before the water level gets dangerously low to the
heating element. You never want any part of it above the water line.
Well by now you
realize that these machines can be quite a challenge. But once you
get to know Miss Pavoni, she will make the best espresso you've ever
had in your life. The espresso itself is actually creamy and the
crema ooohhh... the crema!
As I mentioned
earlier a lot of making a good espresso depends on you. The machine
is not the problem. You have to consider the Espresso blend, the
grind, the filter basket, the tamper, the tamp itself and finally the
pull. Allot of variables depend on you 'the home barista'. I suggest
you visit some of the many Internet sites that fanatics like me tend
to visit, there is ample great information out there to help you out
of any jam you may get into.
Another issue is the
tamper; I don't know why a company as prestigious as La Pavoni sends
a tamper of such low quality... In layman terms, "It sucks."
Reg Barber makes a top of the line tamper at a fair price they will
'turn' your tamper to the measurement of your basket to within 1/10th
of a mm... for your baskets the correct size is 49.4mm. If you go on
their website you will see you have many choices. Do yourself a great
big favor and get one.
Lastly, the single
size filter basket for the La Pavoni is worthless. In the pictures I
took to sell this unit I used the double basket sold by La Pavoni and
it can make great espresso with practice. But if you want another
double basket (as many people do) La Pavoni baskets are about
$40.00
(Outrageous!) So do yourself another great big favor... Go online and
find a Internet seller that sells the "Elektra Leva 'A' machines
and replacement filter baskets. They are much deeper than the La
Pavoni basket yet are the same diameter. So since you already have a
bottomless portafilter you can use them. They are high quality and
still much cheaper than the La Pavoni baskets. You will have much
more success with them in making espresso because they hold more
grind.
Well that is about
it. By now you may realize that I love espresso machines and I love
espresso. I have three at home, one at my office and five in my shop.
I collect them, I use them and I thoroughly enjoy all different types
of machines... But my wife thinks I have gone a bit overboard. So I
agreed to sell a few... But that does not mean I won't be tempted on
Ebay by some unique find...
Have fun with your
machine. Hopefully what I have written here will help you on your way
to years of great espresso... enjoy!
Bob C.
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