Bezzera Milano "Family" Lever

A haven dedicated to manual espresso machine aficionados.
isaliveart
Posts: 18
Joined: 10 years ago

#1: Post by isaliveart »







I've recently acquired a spanking clean Milano and as I'm learning machine would like to offer first impressions and ask for advice. The machine is beautifully built and seems identical to the machine called "Sama Club" demoed on Orphan Espresso videos. My machine seems to cycle between .8-1.2 BAR on the gauge, and actually seems to run a little cool. Bearing in mind I learned on LP 2K. The initial shots were "comforty" and brought to mind descriptions of PV Lusso. I think this is due to coolness of the huge group. I've noticed that if I flick the steam lever, pressure drops initially then climbs to max. When I pulled here I got a brighter, more Pavoni-like shot, leading to believe the machine lends itself to temp surfing. It has been suggested that the group design might lend itself to SO's, altho I haven't yet tried. I've yet to burn a shot, even leaving it on for hours-which is a relief considering LP.

This is my first spring lever, and I must say, at least for this spring, I'm not enthralled. I find myself wanting to give the lever a little push on a slow extraction,eg. So I'm really forced to grind to where the lever likes it. So far I've had difficulty getting the rich crema and mouthfeel I love with Caravel and LP. So my appeal for advice. Can it be the spring is inadequate? (I believe Strega now has a double spring?) And the second thought is that the pressure needs to be higher overall-it now likes to hover around 1 BAR. The shots tend to be on the sour side, or when more balanced a bit boring.

User avatar
kursiv
Posts: 62
Joined: 13 years ago

#2: Post by kursiv »

What a beauty.

I had a long time with sour shots when I got my machine. Then I stuck a temperature strip to the group and realised how long time it actually took for the group to heat up. After the machine has warmed up you have to pull the lever until you feel a "click" indicating that the thermosyphon system begins to run. Then wait for 10-20 more minutes.
Every time you pull a shot the thermosyphon needs to be restarted.

I like the pstat around 0.9 bar. Noticed that some like to set it much higher.

The piston could use an extra spring and the group seems strong enough to support it. Waiting for someone to find out how to add one..

Cmtwgr
Posts: 134
Joined: 11 years ago

#3: Post by Cmtwgr »

You write

if I flick the steam lever, pressure drops initially

this could indicate THAT YOU didnt BLEED OFF FALSE PRESSURE/ AIR

It has no vacuum breaker , so at start up you heat water and the air inside the boiler , when you reach the set pressure , its the pressure of mostly hot air , and very little steam

if you steam into a glass of water, no bubbles should come out the steam wand

and as Kursiv already told , once up to TRUE pressure you need to flush to get the thermosiphon to start working

after a shot you need to re flush to start it again

espressojr
Supporter ♡
Posts: 151
Joined: 13 years ago

#4: Post by espressojr »

Laurence,

Was this the one that recently sold on ebay? I just got mine from coffeegeek... Mine is also in pristine condition. Just unpacked it yesterday and haven't had time to play with it yet so I will be following this thread. Others have mentioned the thermosiphon action and I think you can see it here in Justin's video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gcaKIC5EbA#t=58 (this is from his FS ad earlier this summer- I waited too long to jump on it. here is the original ad [SOLD] Bezzera Family Lever)... good luck- once I get some time, I'll post some photos of mine.
jim