Hi all, new guy here. I have owned and use (2-3timea/week)a europiccola (2003 model) for many years. However, i have always been troubled (since it was new) by low water volume per pull. Reading some other posts, it seems i should be getting about 1.5 oz per pull. When operated "correctly" I have never gotten this machine to do more than .5 oz and sometimes not even that.

My incorrect method to get a decent amount of espresso is to push the lever up hard until i feel it 'kick' slightly. Then i keep the lever up until coffee drips from the portafilter. How much do i let it drip? Maybe an ounce. Then i pull the lever down. Pressure and time to pull varies depending on grind, tamp, etc. very little crema and very little espresso for that matter, about .2-.5 oz.

I always assumed this was normal until watching a youtube video of someone making espresso with this machine.... It was very different than my experience!!

What am i or the machine doing wrong? Grind and brand changes yield no improvement. It seems like the group head is not filling sufficiently. Is the piston not adjusted correctly, hence the kick issue?

Thank you!!!

Feeling a little 'kick' is normal, and what you logically would expect, because as you lift the lever you are working against boiler pressure with the piston's upper seal, and when that seal passes the inlet hole of the cylinder you will feel a 'kick' where you are no longer working against that pressure.


I'm not clear about your method:

Kenneth wrote: How much do i let it drip? Maybe an ounce. Then i pull the lever down. Pressure and time to pull varies depending on grind, tamp, etc. very little crema and very little espresso for that matter, about .2-.5 oz.

Are you saying that you let full ounce drip with the lever up, then pull for an additional .2 to .5 oz? If so, then you certainly have me stumped. What are you using for a grinder?

Do you get a lot of resistance to your pull? With a fine grind you should be needing 30lbs or more of force on that lever and it should take 30 seconds or more to pull it all the way down. If you don't have that, then perhaps you have a problem with the lower piston seal. (I'm guessing here, I have no real experience with bad lower seals.)

When you flush the machine with an empty basket do you get reasonable flow? My millennium machine dribbles water way slower than my pre-millennium, but I do get around a couple ounces of flush water if I hold the lever up for 10 seconds. When I pull a double basket shot I get between 16g and 25g of espresso in a single pull, after holding the lever at the top for 10-15 seconds. That's 1 - 1.5 fl oz depending on crema. (with no crema, 16g would be slightly over .5 fluid oz.)

P.S.
I assume that your 2003 model is a millennium machine, with the 51mm rather than 49mm basket.

To obtain more water volume per pull you must either grind coarser, use less coffee or make a longer pre-infusion. Anyway I think you'll never obtain 1.5 oz (almost 45 ml !) per pull (with the correct method) that's too much for a shot.

For years i had been using a kitchen aid burr grinder that had been modified to grind espresso. Then it didnt match my new kitchen (it was blue) so i switched to preground espresso, medaglia d'oro mostly or starbucks a couple years ago. I suspect these are pretty low-rent coffee choices around this forum

Should it even drip with the lever all the way up? I suppose what i am doing is just a really long pre-infusion.

Lever pressure isnt great.... Sometimes i dont get much resistance til i'm at the bottom of the stroke. I will measure force today.

Ive never tried running it w/o the filter, just flushing water through... So i will test that today as well and see what it yields.

Thank you for your advice!

You'll never get decent results using preground with an Europiccola. This machine demands freshly roasted coffee and a good grinder. Without that you're wasting your time and drinking bad coffee no matter what technique you use.

Kenneth wrote:Should it even drip with the lever all the way up? I suppose what i am doing is just a really long pre-infusion.

Yes, unless your grind is really fine it will normally begin to drip with the lever all the way up after a few seconds. Your technique is essentially an extremely long preinfusion. That part stumped me because with that long a preinfusion I would expect you to get a fluid ounce from the downstroke. But since you are using preground, it's hard to know what to expect.

I agree with caib. You wont be getting good pulls until you get a decent quality grinder (Baratza Virtuoso Preciso is an example, would cost you ~$300 bucks), some freshly roasted beans, and start dialing in your grind. Without that you don't want to worry too much about the machine - it's probably fine.

Yes, that's kind of what i figured regarding my coffee and grind choices. I did completely disassemble the machine this morning and give it a thorough cleaning. The piston was slightly unscrewed and the inner screen wasnt very clean, restricting water flow. It works much better now, but i giess my next step is a better grinder. Thanks for the advice.
Ken