Hello-

My wife and I have the honor of being entrusted with my BIL and SIL's La Pavoni Professional. He in particular was a lover of espresso.

So after watching a lot of YouTube and reading a lot on here and other sites, we tried our first pull today and while I drank every attempt, there was not beautiful shot that I see in the videos.

The biggest issue is that as soon as I get the lever in the upper fill position it immediately started pouring through the grounds. When I started pressing down, there was no resistant or any pressure being built up. No Crème, no reds, golds, just a murky dark few ounces.

I tried grinding the espresso finer to be able to have a denser puck and that helped a little, but still not what it should be.

I did pull apart the head and piston and the seals look fine. I wasn't sure if on the up stroke the cavity fills with hot water and the piston keeps it from draining down into the puck, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

Any suggestions?

Thanks, Bill

How about grinding even finer than you tried so far.

Rocky

What type of grinder and setting do you use?
For the europiccola, you need to have proper grinder, similar to one for professional machines.
And what type of machine did you use earlier? Did it have pressurized baskets? You may have used pressurized ones, but with the europiccola you use non-pressurized, where your grind settings is very important. Loog for some grinding videos too.

The grind is ultra critical with these machines. Do you know whether it is generation II or generation III? You can find pictures to determine which you have. Generation III machines were made in 2001 and onward. Generation II were made from 1974 up to 2000. I think both kinds were made in 2000? There are no generation I Professionals, just Europiccolas.

With either generation, liquid flow should not start until you apply pressure to the handle. If it do so, you need finer grind. If you get it ground so finely that you cannot pull the handle without being a gorilla, let the machine cool down, and take off the portafilter, gorilla pulls can seriously damage the machine.

It takes a decent grinder to grind fine enough for espresso. It also must be ground just before making the shot, so pre ground is not an option. (I prefer large hand grinders, but others like electric ones.)

Thanks for the replies.

I am using a Pavoni PGB grinder that came with the Pro. I left it at just over 2 setting which is where it was when received.

I will try a finer setting.

We also don't have a proper tamper, so making do with a glass base that fits well. Not putting a lot of pressure per many vids I have watched.

Any suggestion on a decent tamper ? I have the 51 mm basket.

Thanks

What coffee are you using? In my experience the La Pavoni needs fresh coffee. I know the coffee is getting old when I have to grind finer, and up my dosage just to get the pressure needed. If it gets to 2 weeks past roast date I start to notice.

So, now you have fresh coffee...

I can't say about your grinder from experience, but based on reviews here it sounds like it should do the trick. Try grinding finer until you almost choke the espresso machine. Then back off.

I'm guessing that you aren't weighing you coffee, so how are you dosing? Are you filling the basket, leveling, and tamping? If so, how much space is there between the rim of the basket and the top of the puck after tamping?

jtrops-

No, not weighing. After tamping I am about 1/4" below the lip in the double basket.

Also, After disassembling, descaling and cleaning the machine, the lever handle without any coffee or water is pretty easy to push down. I guess I expected a tighter fit, but then there was no back pressure on the bottom, it was open to air. Maybe its just very well machined and fine tolerances with the rubber rings and cylinder body.

Any comments on expected resistance without a puck in place ?

With everything clean, and lubed you shouldn't feel much resistance at all. When you raise the lever and release it it should just fall down. It might not go fast, but it should drop on its own.

I haven't read anything in your descriptions that leads me to believe there is a problem with the machine. From everything you have said so far I think it comes down to: Coffee, Grind, Dose, and maybe Distribution.

It is possible that you have channeling in the puck that is letting water flow through without much resistance. You could try the Weiss Distriubution Technique (WDT) which is simply stirring the grounds in the basket before leveling, and tamping. This breaks up any clumps that might be there from grinding.

Get some quality fresh coffee beans and try again.