Hi guys.

Being a lever machine enthusiast I decided to try my hand at a pump machine. So being a huge fan of Olympia Express, I decided to buy a Pasquini Livietta off eBay(only because I haven't been able to find a used Maximatic).

The machine arrived in good condition but not quite the "excellent" condition as described. I normally ask questions before bidding but honestly I wasn't planning to buy this machine but changed my mind at the last minute and won the auction.

Their was rust in various areas. Not terribly bad but I was disheartened to see the machine want very well taken care of. I made quick work of the rust wherever I was able to using a Mr clean magic sponge. I also used the sponged of grime caked on various areas. There were lots of scratches all over but after a few hours of machine buffing and hand polishing using Griots Garage Metal Polish and cotton facial pads (wrapped around popsicle sticks) the machine was starting to looking nice. Fortunately the electrical internals look good. The pump looked new.

I wanted it the reservoir and found the little filter attachment broken /torn. Where can I find another one of these?

Anyway the boiler had tons of scale.. I used a citric acid solution 1tbs:1L to and after about four hours and three solution changes the interior was looking much better. Scale was about 95% removed.. It was getting late so I just wanted to fire it up before going to bed. I will finish descaling it later I told myself. You should have seen at the bits and flakes that came out. I'm tempted to just do a full rebuild on the machine after seeing the boiler like that.

So... I turned it on and... Pump didn't work. I just hear a click.

So I touch the pump and it appears to be completely lifeless. I assume the clicking sound was the 3-way valve engaging.

I went poking around and didn't see anything obvious. I unplugged the machine and started to firm up the wiring connectors going it is just a loose connection. I plug it bag in and start it up again. I turned the pump and BRrrrrrfffrrrrfrrrrrrrrrrr. Woo-hoo. It works whew!


I measured the boiler pressure using the cool.. errrr. I mean 'neat' steam wand-connected pressure gauge I got from Orphan Espresso. It was set to 1.5 bar. Is this normal for a pump machine? I know with my Creminas they are set to 1.2 bar.

I figure maybe because the machine is an HX the temp had to be set higher to accommodate for the cooling flushes? I dunno. If someone can help that would be great.

Anyway I decided to adjust the pstat to 1.2 bar.

So I tried my first shot. 16.5g of Finca la Fany El Salvador from Bar Nine Collective. A superb coffee I might add. Anyway, 26 sec later I had my shot. Looked okay. But... It was very sour and bitter. Mostly sour . What gives? Normally is one or the other but not both. It was a bad shot. So I adjust the grind on the HG One a tad finer. Still tasted yucky... Sour. Bitter. Nasty!

I decided let's tighten up the grind even more. So this time the shot took much longer to show. About 6 or 7 seconds in it started to drizzle. Then an anemic mouse tail formed. Very rich looking shot. The flow sped up and by the 25 sec mark it was looking about normal. Seems the flow caught up. 29 seconds in all before I stopped the machine for approx. 1.2floz.

Still no good. Better but not good. I proceeded to make a latte out if it. The steaming is powerful. Microfoam could be a little richer but it didn't so me from putting a nice little leaf. So I drowned the shot in milk and walked away a bitdisappointed but not discouraged.

It took a while to get used to the Cremina, so I expected there to be some feeling out, get-to-know-you phase.

... The adventure continues.

Any tips would be great.

What a few simple tools and lots of TLC (aka elbow grease) will do for a machine!

These machines need love, folks.



Looking good

Any ideas how I can restore the front label? It tells a story of a neglect from a past slob owner... So sad I have to look at this abuse every time I'll use the machine.



The metal label doesn't seem to be painted. It's anodized or has used some other electric staining process.

Unfortunately the dried on coffee and oil seems to have dissolved the color leaving ugly "stains" ...

The lettering is actually sandblasted. Maybe there's a way I can easily mask the lettering (without staining it) and restain the metal. <shrug>

Regarding the sour taste, I assume your rinsed all the Citric acid out of the boiler really well? I saw this machine on eBay and it looked in very good shape from the pix. Disappointing to hear it wasn't exactly as portrayed.

first off, congratulations on a fine acquisition! May not be as advertised, but i'm sure your TLC will pay off in spades.

As for bitter/sour: i think your boiler's a little hot. I keep mine down to about 1, certainly no more than 1.1. Im not into milk drinks but you'll probably still get plenty of steam for 6oz of milk at 1.1, no prob.

Also you might need a longer-than-expected cooling flush. Lately i end up flushing about 100-120ml (3-5 seconds after sputtering fully silences).

Welcome aboard. I love my livietta. My front label is a little blemished as well. I figure it might be an inevitable result of so much steam and warming & cooling on cheap adhesive finish. Doesnt bother me too much, personally. Your metal looks to be in great shape at least.

I think it is a great machine. If I were to go back to pump type it would be very high on the list, especially for well under $1K used price tag.

Yeah I ran several liters of clean water through group made sure to taste the water out if the group before brewing. It'd be easier to troubleshoot if I was using a bottomless pf. Unfortunately those are hard to come by for this machine.


Will need to play with the machine more.

I wanted it the reservoir and found the little filter attachment broken /torn. Where can I find another one of these?

I have a spare reservoir, PM if its something you want.

Scott,

You said, "So far I'm pretty happy." I think you should be.

I did not have a Cremina or two to compare with the Livietta, but compared to the Pavoni the shots were shorter in duration but markedly fruity. We pulled alot of ethiopian SOE through that little machine. Our times were shorter compared to the Pavoni and the MCAL basket allowed them to run a bit longer prior to blonding. Looking at the time on the video I notice that your shot time on the Livietta was about 38 sec compare to about 45 on the Cremina. Ours were almost always blonded by 25 sec but even pulled really short the shots were quite tasty. Enjoy! Maybe that HG One compared to my Zassenhaus explains how your machine runs longer without blonding. I had to be careful not to tighten the grind too much lest it nearly choke.