I am a college student so money is tight-obviously. Anyway I spent 90 bucks on a saeco aroma and I've really gotten addicted to this espresso thing. So I have been dredging craigslist and bought a simonelli mdx grinder, and am contemplating buying a europiccola.
I found one that appears to be a pre-millenium with the I,II switch but the kicker is that the piston has been replaced with a nylon one recently-curses. The gaskets were also replaced. Anyway the guy wants $140, the machine appears to be in good shape. Any advice?
Thanks,
David

bearsniper wrote:the kicker is that the piston has been replaced with a nylon one recently-curses.

Tough to comment directly, but my $0.02 is that I've used my nylon-piston LP (millenium) for >5 years now and haven't had any trouble at all. Wonderful, fun, and (at times) exasperating machine.

I owned a Europiccola that had the plastic piston. I found that over a short amount of time the piston would unscrew itself, blocking the inlet hole which allows the water to enter the group. Fixing it was not a major drama, but still somewhat of a bore and frankly, it just shouldnt happen. That is why Pavoni's have since phased out the plastic piston and have reverted back to brass as obviously it had become a widespread problem.

They are fantastic machines particularly if you are not brewing back to back shots. The alternative is to buy a brass piston head and replace the plastic one yourself. But the cost of this is around $50, plus postage plus new seals - so then your $140 becomes around $200. That perhaps makes it a little less compelling - have a look on ebay, craigslist etc to see how this stacks up with the pavs out there. It still might be worth it, assuming of course you dont mind pulling the group apart and replacing the piston yourself.

The one advice I would definitely offer is to avoid the plastic pistons if you can. It will drive you mad!

It still sounds like a good deal. My advice, FWIW, would be to buy it, use it until the piston becomes problematic, then replace the piston with the brass one.

Thanks for the advice, I went ahead and bought it, it seems to be in great shape except for a little bit of water staining by the knob on top. I am going to descale it, any recommendations on what to use?
I guess I thought water would come out when the lever was pushed down, is it only supposed to come out when the lever is raised? Water only comes out when I raise the lever and not when I push it down, and I'm afraid this might be due to the nylon piston, or my ignorance.
Also, do you guys have any tamper recommendations, I would like a nice one but I don't want to drop a ton of money.

That's how it works. Pressure caused by heat and steam pushes water into cylinder when you raise the lever. It's kept in the cylinder when you have a loaded portafilter, then pressed through when you bring the lever down, thus controlling the amount of water.

bearsniper wrote:Thanks for the advice, I went ahead and bought it, it seems to be in great shape except for a little bit of water staining by the knob on top. I am going to descale it, any recommendations on what to use?
I guess I thought water would come out when the lever was pushed down, is it only supposed to come out when the lever is raised? Water only comes out when I raise the lever and not when I push it down, and I'm afraid this might be due to the nylon piston, or my ignorance.
Also, do you guys have any tamper recommendations, I would like a nice one but I don't want to drop a ton of money.

Go to Google Videos or YouTube and watch videos of shots being pulled. I can't get to either from work, otherwise I'd send you the link to a good 8 minute or so video a guy made using his LaPavoni and Rocky. Another one to look for is Mark Prince's two videos on an Olympia Cremina. The first goes over the mechanics of the machine; the second on pulling a shot. The Cremina is a full manual lever like the La Pavoni, so technique is the same.

As has already been mentioned, the water only comes out when the lever is lifted all the way up to the top. The water will enter the piston chamber and will sit on top of the puck (starting the pre-infusion). From there you control the brew pressure with the downward force on the lever.

As for tamper suggestions, they are all just bling. Get one that fits (obviously) the basket and your hand. I have Reg Barbers, but certainly any will do if they fit. Don't get analysis paralysis on tampers...they are low on the totem pole of importance for pulling good shots.

Good luck!

Congrats on the purchase. I really hope the piston behaves well for you. All good advice here and yes, water will only flow when lever is up, with espresso forming as you press down creating the manual pressure on the puck itself. Welcome to the world of the lever machine - an art that occupy for you months, years in fact in the chase for perfection! It is certainly fun and you will enjoy it I am sure, but you will have moments of frustration as well. Just hang in there.

As far as descaling I use a brand called Oust, but I am not sure if that is available in the US. Pavoni's own instruction manual suggests vinegar which I can also vouch for - although there is a little bit of smell that you will need to get rid of with enough flushing.

Agree fully with the tamper. Dont lose sleep on it and dont overpay. A pre millenium Pav such as your means you are after a 49mm tamper. Reg Barbers are excellent for sure and great coffee bling, but just too expensive and if money is tight for you then are better options. If you go on ebay there is a chap called precision tamper that seems to knock out metal tampers at a very reasonable price.

Good luck !

Thanks again for all the help. I'm starting to get the whole process down, the stock plastic tamper definitely adds to the fun factor, is it even possible to get decent results with it while I'm waiting on the new one?

The problem that I am running into now is that either the espresso doesn't start flowing until the lever is halfway down sometimes even further. Also sometimes very little even comes out at all. My instinct tells me this is due to having too fine of a grind, is this correct? The lever doesn't really require much pressure at all to push down.

The other thing is that I'm no longer sure that the machine is a pre-millenium. The steam wand comes off without a wrench but I still have the I,II switch. So basically now I'm wondering if 49mm is really the right size.

Also should I consider using the Fellini move now or wait until I get the normal process down?

You can tell pre milleniums from the posts by their groupheads. Pre's have a smaller grouphead (the bit that you lock coffee and portafilter holder into. This is particularly pronounced in the bell shape of the group, with the mid to top of the group being much thinner than the bottom. Here is an example:
http://coffeesnobs.com.au/attachments/I ... Small_.JPG

Post milleniums have a 'fatter' mid to top, with less of a difference between the top to bottom, and less of a bell if that makes sense. http://www.1st-line.com/machines/home_m ... chrome.htm

If in doubt just post a pic of your machine.

In regards to your other issue, are you bleeding of your steam wand before you make your first shot? The whole idea of this is that when you first turn on your machine after a period of non use, of if you have just filled the boiler, there is air trapped in the boiler which will create what they call "false" pressure. This air tricks the machine's pressurestat in thinking the machine is up to proper pressure when in reality it is not. So try bleeding your machine for 10 secs to get rid of this air.

And I wouldnt hesistate trying the fellini. You should be feeling some decent resistance on the downstroke.