Search found 16 matches

by AndyH
September 4th, 2020, 10:50 am
Forum: Tips and Techniques
Replies: 9
Views: 530

Difficulty with reproducing the perfect espresso

It sounds like you are on the right track - as a longtime E61 HX user I think you have great advice from @Jeff. Temperature can make a big difference. I used the "water dance" approach for years, but when I finally bought a grouphead thermometer, I realized I was probably +/- 8 deg F on my
by AndyH
August 19th, 2020, 11:11 am
Forum: Repairs, Restorations & Mods
Replies: 3
Views: 1103

Izzo Alex E61 HX Profiler Conversion mod

Michael, that is a great idea. Like you mentioned, on a machine like mine with two gauges already, you could in theory have three different pressure readings with the two gauges by having one of them be a dual gauge. One issue to watch for would be diameter of the gauge opening. My original gauge cu...
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by AndyH
August 15th, 2020, 10:04 pm
Forum: Repairs, Restorations & Mods
Replies: 3
Views: 1103

Izzo Alex E61 HX Profiler Conversion mod

Background: I started out in espresso with a moka pot on a lab hot plate in 1998 (my lab director always told me to buy the preground Illy, not LaVazza!), and progressed eventually to my current machine, a 2007 Izzo Alex HX mk II (*not* a duetto). Paired with an HG1 and weekly roasts on my Behmor, I...
by AndyH
August 4th, 2020, 10:37 am
Forum: Repairs, Restorations & Mods
Replies: 5
Views: 226

Izzo Alex PID MKII boiler safety valve, replace with lower pressure?

Check with chriscoffee.com. They have a wide variety of Izzo specific parts, and I've bought several replacement parts from them for my 2007 Izzo Alex HX mk II (which I also bought from Chris Coffee). Try emailing their technical support. Good luck!
by AndyH
August 14th, 2012, 10:52 pm
Forum: Coffee Roasting
Replies: 8
Views: 1025

Vacuum for Behmor 1600

I use a Shop Vac Wet/Dry Hang Up Mini Vac. It works great, and it can go for many roasts without requiring a filter change. $35 at Amazon
by AndyH
August 10th, 2012, 10:50 pm
Forum: News and Suggestion Box
Replies: 76
Views: 3218

Should HB have a buy/sell forum?

Count me in that group. I am a longtime lurker. If you search the forums you can find a detailed answer to almost any espresso-related question on HB, so it is easy to gain tremendous value here without posting much at all. Sweet! Post count up to 11! Pretty soon I'll be able to sell my grinder
by AndyH
July 23rd, 2012, 9:28 pm
Forum: Espresso Machines
Replies: 11
Views: 15181

To Descale or Not To Descale

Thank you for these great insights. It is interesting to me that some of the highly respected people who sell (and service?) espresso machines are essentially recommending against preventive descaling but endorse therapeutic descaling. In other words, as long as there are no symptoms that the espres...
by AndyH
July 23rd, 2012, 10:11 am
Forum: Espresso Machines
Replies: 11
Views: 15181

To Descale or Not To Descale

I was leaning against descaling but want to be sure. I'll count myself as fortunate to have soft water from the tap. The funny thing is, we've never noticed that "soft water feeling" where you can't rinse off the soap
by AndyH
July 23rd, 2012, 12:51 am
Forum: Espresso Machines
Replies: 11
Views: 15181

To Descale or Not To Descale

After doing research on HB for a grinder upgrade from my beloved Mazzer Mini, I bumped into some of the espresso machine maintenance threads and realized I have neglected the descaling part of routine maintenance for my Izzo Alex (E61 HX single boiler machine). I have never descaled my Alex, which I...
by AndyH
November 19th, 2007, 2:46 pm
Forum: Espresso Machines
Replies: 28
Views: 3397

Do I REALLY need a $1200 espresso machine? Be honest ....

I am facing a similar upgrade choice right now-- the planned budget went from $700 to $1500 pretty quickly. I believe the cheapest HX E61 machine is the Expobar Pulser at $799. I recently compiled a "list of all available HX E61 machines under $2000" which I believe is nearly complete. From what I u...