Hello home baristi...

Long-time lurker, new poster. I have finally managed to get a decent espresso set-up at home, with a new La Cimbali M21 Junior S/1 paired with a lightly used La Cimbali Junior grinder. Alas, the vendor (here in Turkey) did not have a manual for the machine(s), either electronic .pdf or printed.

Would there be anyone out there that can help with a .pdf copy of either manual? I greatly appreciate your assistance.

I have had the machines for a week now, and all of the years of anticipation had me prepared to pull a shot 'by the numbers.' Alas, I must confess that I have yet to experience any epiphanies, with most of my shots coming out sour and metallic. Granted, it is a struggle to find decent espresso beans, and I have taken to pulling my shots with what was available from the local Starbucks. Not being happy with their blend, I have tried blending some of their other roasted beans to achieve something more palatable, but with no success so far.

As a result, I am starting to get concerned about the pressure-stat setting. I live in a rural village, far from the the vendor, so I can not rely on them to adjust the machine for me, in the event that the pressure (and hence, temperature) might be a little low. I have seen some other posts along this line on the site, but would like to have a manual in hand before I get carried away with adjustments (and I need to put a FedEx order in for some decent beans...)

Cheers,

Diarmuid

I don't know if you ever came across the LC Junior manual. I just got it from a local supplier. Give me your email and I will send it. Its actually two pdf's: one is the installation manual, the other is the user manual.

Thanks Jeremy! For the convenience of future readers of this thread, I've uploaded the PDFs to HB's server:

La Cimbali Junior M21 owner's manual
La Cimbali Junior M21 installation manual

Scanning the documents, there's a lot of identical content. The main difference is the installation manual covers programming starting on page 19.

are there service manuals for these cimbali espresso machine that one could purchase? sorta like the service manuals for autos...

jthiessen8 wrote:I don't know if you ever came across the LC Junior manual. I just got it from a local supplier. Give me your email and I will send it. Its actually two pdf's: one is the installation manual, the other is the user manual.

Thanks very much, Jeremy. I appreciate your help.

I am still coming to grips with the machine; I just received some lovely espresso from The Coffee Collective in Copenhagen, and have been using that as a decent espresso from which I can calibrate my shot preparation techniques and routine. Alas, I have yet to see any sort of consistency, with the majority of my shots coming out sour.

Here is my routine:
Warm the machine for 90 minutes after waking up.
Pull a big flush (120ml)
After 3 minutes, pull 90ml
After 1 minute, pull 60ml
After 1 minute, pull 60 ml
Dry the portafilter, grind, dose, distribute (Stockfleth), tamp
Pull 60-90ml (until steam stops)
Wait 15 seconds (for the water in the group to heat up again)
Pull the shot

If I am using the machine during the day, and it has been left on for a while;
Pull 60ml
After 1 minute, pull 60 ml,
Grind, dose, distribute, tamp
Pull 60-90ml (until steam stops)
Wait 15 seconds
Pull the shot.

If anyone has any advice on how to tweak this routine, it would be greatly appreciated. As it stands, it s rather difficult to get decent espresso beans here in Turkey (with the post from Copenhagen getting lost once, and the replacement order taking over 10 days to arrive.)

Cheers,

Diarmuid

I would echo the request for an operating manual for the La Cimbali Junior Grinder. I seem to have misplaced mine when I moved, and it is surprisingly difficult to locate any online resources.