Search found 658 matches

by Alan Frew
January 29th, 2024, 5:00 pm
Forum: Repairs, Restorations & Mods
Replies: 14
Views: 231

Butterfly La Scala (2003) Pressure/Heating problem

So ... heats up to 1.1 bar, pressurestat clicks off, pressure slowly falls back to 0.5 bar before pressurestat clicks on again. The Mater pressurestat is pretty simple, a membrane and a microswitch. First thing to try is replacing the switch on the new pressurestat with the switch from the old one. ...
by Alan Frew
January 18th, 2024, 6:56 pm
Forum: Repairs, Restorations & Mods
Replies: 13
Views: 601

Old Francis Francis espresso machine worth fixing?

If you haven't attempted a machine restore before this you'll be heading for a world of problems. The machine was almost certainly built by Imat, and most of the necessary spares (element, gaskets and o-rings) would be available from someone selling Lelit spares. The complication will be that this m...
Advertisement
by Alan Frew
January 10th, 2024, 7:20 pm
Forum: Repairs, Restorations & Mods
Replies: 14
Views: 231

Butterfly La Scala (2003) Pressure/Heating problem

1) Blocked/stuck vacuum breaker valve. 2) Blocked pressurestat or burned out pressurestat switch. {image} Alan
by Alan Frew
November 21st, 2023, 4:18 pm
Forum: Repairs, Restorations & Mods
Replies: 11
Views: 251

Help with Rancilio Silvia v2 wiring

This might help {image} Alan
by Alan Frew
June 10th, 2023, 7:10 pm
Forum: Repairs, Restorations & Mods
Replies: 7
Views: 462

Lelit Anna PL41TEM no water to steam wand

Given all the crud accumulated in the brew path it's a wonder that water flows anywhere at all. The murky purple colour of the top teflon pipe indicates serious grime build up, your machine needs an urgent backflushing or 3. I've removed steam valve blockages by removing the valve stem (steam knob) ...
by Alan Frew
May 2nd, 2023, 12:32 am
Forum: Coffees
Replies: 97
Views: 3962

Does anyone actually taste the flavor notes?

And the cigarettes, Italy still has a heavy espresso/smoking culture which doesn't lead to refined tastebuds. It's not just Americans, the majority of coffee drinkers worldwide take it with some form of milk and/or sweetener. Back when we had the shops we did "customer education" by tasting a flight...
by Alan Frew
April 27th, 2023, 11:14 pm
Forum: Coffee Roasting
Replies: 12
Views: 518

Insect or worm damage??

Looks like Broca (coffee bean borer) insect damage to me. Alan
by Alan Frew
March 12th, 2023, 9:26 pm
Forum: Coffee Roasting
Replies: 43
Views: 3142

Making the ROEST (100g and 3kg) [VIDEO]

There is nothing like Real Life experience to put obstacles in your path. There are many businesses in my city that have roasteries with attached coffee shops. In all cases the roasting business is run as a separate entity (with its own staff, storage, billing etc.) to the shops themselves. The mach...
by Alan Frew
February 28th, 2023, 6:15 pm
Forum: Repairs, Restorations & Mods
Replies: 49
Views: 1422

Faema Eurostar Ambassador Rebuild and Mod Journey

Lock the pf in as tight as possible. Examine the chrome group collar with a strong light, look for a horizontal crack in the body of the collar. New collar part no. is MC052. If there's no crack, you probably need a new portafilter body MC001 from a Lelit dealer. Portafilter notch is for easy flat l...
by Alan Frew
February 18th, 2023, 5:24 pm
Forum: Lever Espresso Machines
Replies: 5
Views: 161

Where to find Ascaso parts catalog?

Try {link} Alan