I have owned a Delonghi EC155 for close to 2 years now. After doing one manual boiler cleaning I am still surprised how much this little $100 work horse can handle. I am also amazed how this machine can produce great shots as well as steamed milk & soy. Over the last year or so I have come across a few modifications that make this machine even better. Here are the current mod's.

1. Unpressurized baskets: All Breville machine baskets prior to 2012 will fit perfectly in all Delonghi portafilters. Another alternative is a manual unpressurize which only requires the black plastic valve on the bottom of both baskets be removed with the springs popped out for a permanent mod.
Link: http://www.seattlecoffeegear.com/non-pr ... o-machines
Link 2: http://protofusion.org/wordpress/2010/0 ... rtafilter/

2. Steam Wand:
i: Rancillo Silvia V1/V2 swap out (6mm diameter fit)
ii: La Pavoni lever steam tip replacement with the Delonghi plastic wand.
Link: http://best-espressomachines.com/delong ... team-wand/
(No howto but I can post one myself. I have successfully completed the mod myself)
BUY HERE: http://www.espressotec.com/index.php/pa ... l?___SID=U

3. Thermostat replacement with a PID: Due to the simplicity of the EC155 the internals contain dual thermostats that are easily accessible once the external casing is removed. Some people may think that adding a PID to such a small machine would be overkill. Maybe.. The Rancillo Silvia has the same boiler type and size with a PID addon.
Link:http://protofusion.org/wordpress/2010/1 ... h-arduino/

4. Bottomless Portafilter: If you want bottomless you simply take apart the portafilter and trim the bottom plastic piece off with a dremmel and remove. With the Breville baskets space isn't an issue so if you grow tired of bottomless simply re attach the plastic bottom to the portafilter.
Link: http://vimeo.com/24087505

this is fantastic. I got one of these on ebay for $20 for use at my mothers house, and removed the pressurized part of the basket before doing anything else. I was quite surprised with how well it actually worked, though it wasn't as easy to get in the temperature ballpark as my levers. More recently, it served as my work machine because of its small footprint, forgiveness to coffee ground that morning rather than freshly, the removable reservoir for filling from the kitchen, and my own lack of care regarding its internals from using tap water (as opposed, again, to my levers). Right now its sitting unused in a box, kinda makes me want to get it out again.

I have a fondness for this little machine as it was my first. Unfortunately, I upgraded before I even had a grinder, so I never knew how good it could be! My hunch is that it's the closest-to-acceptable cheapest espresso machine out there. With some extreme surfing or PID, you could probably get a great shot out of it (with a real grinder that is). Maybe you can even put in a bigger heating element while you're at it! Great job! Can we see a bottomless shot with realtime boiler temp displayed?

(EDIT: I've clarified dollar prices with "US$". Even though Canadian dollars are very close, different regions charge difference prices.)

The Delonghi machines do seem to work really well. The boiler is only 4 oz but it works. Depressurizing can be done even more easily by removing the plastic disk. I think the Breville basket is a little too expensive at US$27. But you can get Delonghi baskets that fit, for US$6. P/n 607706 is probably the best double basket, but it requires cutting to fit the portafilter.

You can get the kmix's portafilter, for US$11 (!), which is a little nicer and has more metal.

Note: the Silvia boiler is 10 oz, and is much larger than these machines.

My biggest concern is the small showerhead diameter. I've been told this is great for pods but not great for unpressurized ground coffee. I don't know how or if it limits the quality of the output... in any case quality's pretty good and the machine is easy to use.

Anyone considering these low end machines should also look carefully at the Gaggia Color and Gaggia Espresso machines. They have a similar boiler and group valve design, but have a standard 58 mm portafilter.

I've not seen any other machine near US$100 -- and the EC155's often are available for less than that -- that have a boiler. All the other pump machines at this price point use thermoblocks.

-Mike

Indeed MJW I am merely pointing out that as a starter machine or if your limited financially this machine with a few mods can still deliver a good espresso. Ostonbuzz I don't have a PID installed on my machine but here are a few videos I came across on Youtube. As for a larger heating element doing so would just push the price point up to a larger more expensive machine.

None the less for $150 new or under $100 used can get you a swell little espresso machine!


Bottomless Portafilter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-8Pr3yvjJg
PID tests: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_q ... lzQYVlgge8

I did some digging around and it turns out the "Gaggia Espresso Pure" has a 9 oz boiler and 58mm standard portafilter. Also the same Silvia steam wand mod is possible. I think whis would put it right up next to the Silvia capacity wise. This may be my next mod machine. I am also finding solenoid mods for the gaggia machines as well

Burner0000 wrote:Indeed MJW I am merely pointing out that as a starter machine or if your limited financially this machine with a few mods can still deliver a good espresso.

I agree. It's not perfect but I've been told that perfection isn't achieved until you get to the La Marzocco GS/3. More expensive than that, and one's paying for convenience features.

I think the Pure & Color are good values. I wonder if the boiler is really 9 oz. I believe that number comes from WLL and most of their information is correct; but it's worth double checking that number. For example, the warm up time I would expect to be much larger for a 9 oz boiler vs 4 oz if heater power is roughly the same.

Still another machine for others to consider is the Saeco Aroma, with 5 oz boiler. There are unpressurized Saeco baskets available, plus a bottomless portafilter. All of these alternatives are more expensive than the ec155 though.