So I just received my Izzo Alex Duetto II from SeattleCoffeeGear yesterday and while putting it together, I noticed that the curved sides were a little tight on the cup warmer tray. This has been documented by others in this forum. I was hoping that mine would not have this problem but alas, it does.

I did manage to get a work-around to fix it. I was trying to figure out a way to "bend" the stainless steel so that it would bow outward from the inside.

I was thinking if only I had a some sort of screw mechanism, kind of like a clamp but in reverse, like a car jack, that might work.

My solution was to cut about an inch and a half thickness of a piece of the thick packing material that came with the Duetto and sandwich it in between the outer and inner walls of the outer casing. It worked! I have about 1-2 mm of clearance on both sides now.

My hope is that if I use this long enough, the steel may comply and it would be a permanent solution. Otherwise, I could try ever increasing thickness of the foam in hopes that the problem will eventually be solved. Otherwise, I don't mind having a piece of foam in those areas. Sorry I don't have pictures yet. I will post pictures later. I did make an unboxing video and it is on that.

Here is that video:


Joe

I have also experienced fitment issues with my machine. I found that on mine, izzo put some foam strips where the inner and outer shells meet at the corners. The foam strips had folded over and were putting pressure on the outer shell- causing the shell to lose its curve and in turn, rubbed the warmer tray in the middle. Removing them fixed the problem. I found that if the machine was not sitting perfectly level and square on the counter- the frame twists causing distortion on the shell.
Further inspection revealed the frame out of square. The horizontal frame attaches to the vertical support via bolts and they were loose. Squaring and tightening up the mess also took some of the poor fitment out of the equation.
I would agree that a buyer of such equipment would not have to deal with such issues. At almost 80 pounds something is going to suffer during shipment.
I still have no regrets even with the obstacles.

kize wrote:I have also experienced fitment issues with my machine. I found that on mine, izzo put some foam strips where the inner and outer shells meet at the corners. The foam strips had folded over and were putting pressure on the outer shell- causing the shell to lose its curve and in turn, rubbed the warmer tray in the middle. Removing them fixed the problem. I found that if the machine was not sitting perfectly level and square on the counter- the frame twists causing distortion on the shell.

Thanks Kize! I noticed this on my machine as well. I will try your solution to see if it helps.

However, I am content with my current setup. The foam strips are 3x3 inches in size and they are not blocking any vent holes.

I love this machine!

Joe

TomC,

I was just at my local hardware store getting some supplies and found some rubber stoppers in their specialty section. It was just the right size and is small enough to wedge in between the sides. It also seems more robust and may be better equipped to handle the heat better than foam.



Also, I did need to adjust the brew switch that touches the lever. At first, with the little flex that the brew head had while putting on the PF when applying a large amount of pressure, it would turn the brew head on for a fraction of a second. Now that I have adjusted it, not only does it not do this but it also allows for pre infusion, like it is supposed to. It didn't do that when the brew switch was too close to the lever.

All in all, I am happy. The only problem at the moment is steaming, and that's due to my lack of familiarity with the machine and with such raw steaming power. I'm coming from a Rancilio Silvia and had steaming with that down pat. I'm only doing single lattes so with all the steam power, my technique is off. I had to switch to the 2 hole tip because the 4 hole tip was steaming way too fast for me to get any good foam.




Joe

I have the same issue with my brew switch not working for preinfusion. How do you adjust it? Does it just screw in?

Beezer,

The switch is secured on the front and back of the front panel. You first unscrew the front nut and do about 3turns of the nut. Then tighten the back screw by hand as best as possible? It's a tight squeeze though. Then tighten the front and then test. Oh unplug the machine first, then adjust. Plug back in and test.


Someone else had posted this on HB.

OK, thanks. I will try it. It would be nice to have the option of doing true preinfusion.