I've been a long-time lurker here, and really a virtual newbie at espresso. My attempts at using my La Pavoni Europiccola have always yielded less than stellar results. I've been on the lookout for a deal on a commercial machine rebuild project for years, and finally scored tonight! I spotted this deal on craigslist only an hour after it was posted, and I jumped on it. It's a Pasquini, but I have no idea of the model or the manufacturer. I'm hoping the folks here will help me identify just what I've got and make some suggestions on what to concentrate on before attaching water and power. I'm really surprised at the good condition of the machine considering I paid only $100 for it.

Here's a few shots:




Should the needle on the upper gauge be where it's at? Bad gauge?


I really wasn't looking for an auto, but it seems to be in good shape (visually, at least)


A little dirty, but not too bad:


Does this help with identifying the model?


Rear view:


Pump:


Is this boiler stainless or nickel plated?


There's a couple of the fittings that have obviously had some leaks, but they all look like easy fixes.


solenoid?




Descaling in my future?


So, can anyone help me with identification? What is the low-hanging-fruit as far as reconditioning this baby? Can the Procon pump draw from a carboy before I get it plumbed-in? Any manuals online?

Thanks for your help!

Ross

nice buy for $100, especially if you can get 220v to it.

I'd start by cleaning all the copper/brass in citric acid. Make sure the pump is free.

Yes, the gauge is broken.

Good luck! Looks like an easy machine to work on.

Last night's adventures
I installed a new 2-pole breaker for 220 and ran a temporary line to my workbench (picture romex draped across the ceiling from one side of the basement to the othe), installed a Nema 6-20 plug on the machine (the previous owner had canibalized the plug for his replacement machine), raised the machine up on blocks, slid an old photography tray underneath to catch leaks from wherever, dropped the water supply line in a bucket of water, plugged in the machine, clicked it on.

Relays clicked, the motor started and the pump started filling the boiler - autofill seems to be working - excellent. I could hear the heating coils starting to do their thing. While I wait for the 9 liter boiler to heat, I'm watching for any leaks. There's a couple, but nothing bad. I intend to tear it down, but I wanted to get a sense for what was working and what wasn't. Thinking about the adage about a "watched pot", I turn my attention to the rest of the plumbing and try to understand the water path. In the picture below, is the device that I've circled just a sensor for the auto-dosing, or does it control water flow? If it doesn't control the flow, is that an overpressure valve on the downstream side (the one going to drip tray)? When I press the brew button for one of the groups, I do get a good stream of water from that line.

On the circled device, there's a yellow LED. On one of them, it's illuminated while the machine is idle, and flashes when brewing. The other one is off all the time (perhaps not coincidentally, the auto dosing buttons don't work on that group, but the manual button does).

Oh yeah, it steams like crazy! One wand does want to leak a little unless I really close it tight, but it does generate some nice dry steam.

So, can someone help me put a name and function to some of these parts? Thanks.

Ross

You seem to be quite fortunate. I believe the questioned item is either a flow monitor or a 3way valve. If a flow monitor, the device tells the computer how much water has flowed through it to the group. You may be correct about the OPV.
Cheers
-Richard

Although their branded machines are re-badged Bezerras, Pasquini is a Los Angeles company. So you can call them here (in English!) for manuals and parts (I hope).

Thanks for the help and suggestions - I really appreciate it. This will be my first rebuild, so I'm sure I'll be looking for additional pointers along the way.

On Saturday morning, I hadn't made the decision to strip the thing, and was hoping I could get by with a good descaling. I ran some descaler through and let it heat up in the boiler. I then used the tip on removing the water level sensor connection to force the boiler to overfill, and I opened the steam wands until the started shooting water. I turned the machine off, unplugged, and returned 5 hours later and flushed.

However, I still had a couple issues that would require at least some surgery, I spent some time running the machine to get an idea of where the problems areas are before I began the tear-down. There was an intermittent leak somewhere around the autofill solenoid. It's kind of tucked into the corner of the frame, and I could only see one side of it. One of the opv's on one group is always open, so when the pump comes on, the opv tube is always draining. There was one other slow leak on the supply line to the pump. The electronics all worked on one group, but on the other the auto dosing buttons didn't work (but the manual button did). Maybe they just need programmed - we'll see. At this point, I realized that I would need to remove a number of pieces just to get to the problem areas. That, and Mark's encouragement to tear it down made me decide to strip it. Let the tear-down begin.

Armed with camera and wrenches, I went to it. As I removed each piece, I took a picture of the piece in the proper orientation. Hopefully, reassembly will not be too much of a guessing game. I did find that some of copper tubing nipples were extremely hard to remove from its fitting, and I had to resort to a sharp smack at the juncture of the two. I got pretty good at this. I did have a steam wand casualty - it just broke off at the swivel. No problem, it looked like a mismatched wand anyway.

By this evening, I had all the tubing out, some electronics removed, groups removed, and boiler removed. Question: Is there any pieces that should not be soaked in descaler (citric acid)? I've got brass groups and other parts descaling in one bucket, the copper tubing soaking in another tray, and the boiler in a bucket. Is there any pieces that I shouldn't be there?

I'm glad I decided to do the tear down. Check out the boiler pictures. UGGGG! I do think that the initial descaling was helpful, because the scale was just coming off in sheets. I was able to scoop out most of it before putting the boiler into fresh solution.

More to come,

Ross

Mark,
I am very happy that I did the full tear down. When I bought the machine, I tried to get some info about the machine from the seller (who owns a coffee shop), but I quickly got the impression that he really didn't have much knowledge about the equipment itself. Based on earlier research on this forum and the posted rebuild projects, I knew that the machine was easily worth risking $100. But, based on the seller's answers to my questions, I was prepared for a full refurb. When I opened that boiler, I knew that I made the right decision to do the tear-down.

Thanks for the info on the time for descaling. I'll leave the boiler in solution for a couple days. The removable end plate is very convenient. Reaching my hand in to scoop out the loose scale was the downside. Over the past hour or so, I've been reading through your Elektra rebuild thread. Very nice looking machine. I'll be referring to the thread as I go through my project.

Is TSP a substitute for something like Cafiza? I just ordered some Cafiza online because I couldn't find any locally, but TSP would be easy to find.

Ross

One other thing - the themosiphon line on each group was clogged with scale for about 6 inches of its length. Amazing amount of neglect.

Ross

Thanks, Mark. I think I even have some TSP liquid at home.

I found a brewer's supply place near work, and I plan on stopping there to buy more citric acid. (I used up all I had on the now-soaking boiler.) They also sell something called PBW (powdered brewery wash). Has anyone tried this for backwashing?

Also, where is a good source for Bezzera parts?

Thanks,
Ross

Ross Leidy wrote:Also, where is a good source for Bezzera parts?

Glad to know I was helpful .

Hey, sorry about that Marshall. I'm so excited about my new project that I'm not paying close enough attention. "My mind is a raging torrent, flooded with rivulets of thought cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives."

I do have an email out to Pasquini that I sent before the machine was identified as a Bezzera, but I've not heard back yet. I'll have to give them a call when I get my needed-parts list.

Ross

I've avoided dropping the entire heating element into descaling solution because I wasn't sure the electrical connections should be submerged. Am I doing the right thing, or can I drop it in as well?

Also, the boiler gasket seems to be in perfect shape. Can I re-use it?

After one soak, the boiler is looking better.

I quickly exhausted the two small containers of citric acid I found at a local supermarket, and I was nowhere near done descaling pieces parts. I found a 10 lb. bag of unadulterated fun at a winemaker's supply place a couple minutes from work. I mixed about 1-1/2 cups in a 5 gallon bucket and submerged the boiler once again.


Sometimes you need to get creative with clamps to get some of the plumbing bits to cooperate.


Whoever worked on this thing last went crazy with the teflon tape. Here's a nice representative shot of some of that exquisite handiwork. Strands of the stuff were entangled in the spring. Yikes!


While disassembling the flowmeters and nearby plumbing, I found that there is an overpressure valve that leads to the drip tray, and a check valve that leads to the group. Inside each, there's a red foam disk. Does this look like the original material? I ask because someone has obviously had their hands inside the machine at some point since the factory (the seller said he had $1500 worth of service performed before he started using it in his coffee shop), and it didn't look like they were sealing all that well (two had a crease along the edge and the all had a pinched flange around the edge that tore off). These things are very spongy. Does that sound like OEM? The check valve for the boiler autofill had a black (harder) rubber disk, which was in perfect shape.


At this point, most of the plumbing bits are soaking in either tsp or citric acid. The wiring harness has been removed from the chassis, and only the motor/pump are left to be removed. I'll need to repaint the frame - either myself or find an auto body shop who will do it.

I'm enjoying myself, but I'm finding that other projects around the house don't seem to be getting done as quickly as they should. I'm at a loss to explain it.

Ross

Can someone tell me if this is the gicleur? I just want to know if I've identified it correctly. The top side of the fitting contains a cylindrical wire mesh screen. The closest match in the Bezzera docs for this machine is the DEB3000MP, which shows a PTFE spacer and disk filter between the fitting and the group, but mine didn't have that on either group. So, I don't know if the Pasquini didn't use them, or if they were left out by a previous haphazard repair. (there was a lot of red rtv between the fitting and the group).

Ross