It took me a while, but I finally started getting great shots out of my 1984 La Pavoni Professional, and just wanted to thank everyone for all the information on this site that helped me get there. Specifically the detailed posts by drgary and rpavlis were of great help to me - I like detailed analysis even if the details are sometimes superfluous to obtaining great pulls.

I started my espresso learning with a NS Oscar semi-auto, and with the help of some email exchanges and lots of reading was able to pull shot after shot of great espresso, lots of beautiful crema and had a baseline knowledge of what I wanted. (I'm generally too cheap to pay $4/shot for great espresso at a bar, so I'll pay $400-$500 for a machine instead and do my own. Hard to figure out those economics, but I like making it myself.)

Keeping an eye on the local craigslist I snagged the 1984 La Pavoni Pro for $250. As with all used items of that age there were problems that needed to be addressed: thick scale, new seals, broken portafilter handle w/ rust bound stud, steam leak underneath with superficial rust, broken plastic base and missing tray, etc.
Initial testing showed the system to be operational, although seals were old and leaking.
Unit was descaled, fully disassembled and cleaned throughout. Pressurestat is operational, although a little sticky sometimes in the off position until warmed up and cycled twice - not a problem as it sticks off not on.
New seals for everything except the boiler connection for sight glass and steam port. Hand cut teflon seal for the boiler; didn't like the one I ordered, so cut one myself. Parts repaired or replaced as necessary.
Taking queues from drgary I put temp monitoring on the system with a dual temp probe monitoring sight glass mount (boiler relative temp) and portafilter bell temps. Using thermo monitoring of the system gave me a number rather than a feel for the heat and status of the unit for learning. Pressure gauge isn't terribly accurate, and I find the digital more precise.

After that the hardest problem for me was finding the proper grind. Some people recommend extremely fine grinds for the Pavoni, others recommend extremely coarse grinds, and then there's everything in between. I'm a 3-4 shot a day person max, and mentioned I'm cheap, so it's hard to put into the sink anything that is drinkable so it takes longer for me to dial this in than a smarter person!
Anyway, I started with the same grind on my Baratza Vario as I used on the NS Oscar, and experimented both finer and coarser. My shots were drinkable with milk, but not good enough for straight espresso.
I experimented with cooling the group, portafilter, heating them up, all kinds of things, but didn't really hit the sweet spot.

Over the course of a couple months I finally found that if I start the grind too coarse so that the espresso comes out thin and watery and then start making the grind finer from there it's easier to dial in. Just on the finer side of thin espresso I get a nice, thick, creamy espresso. (Still want more crema, but that's just an aside and I don't have a bottomless portafilter right now.)

Dealing with temps was a major problem, but finally I learned that "dealing" with them was most of the problem. When my group bell hits about 95c I have no problems pulling great shots, and it seems to hit that temp quite easily without much intervention on my part at all. My cooling, warming, and all those other orchestrations were just making my life harder. Let the system come up to full temp with the portafilter locked in loosely, lift the lever to run a small spray through the group and portafilter to warm up, maybe a couple pumps to bring it close to 95c and it's ready for use.

About 12.8g of beans ground on the Baratza Vario at 4-O (+- few notches) seems to be working quite well for my medium roast beans in the original La Pavoni double basket. (49mm La Pavoni double basket)

Per forum recommendations by rpavlis I learned to lift the lever for a quick spritz of hot water through the group followed by a quick lock in of the PF with the lever poised ready to open fully works best for me in reducing the spongy lever issue. For the lever action I find about a 10 second pre-infuse works good: wait 4 seconds with the lever fully up and give a mini-pull to wet the puck returning the lever to the full upright position, another 4 seconds later another mini-pull followed by lever up, watch for the drips which quickly cease and then start the real pull. Generally it's not that hard of a pull, probably less than 30 pounds of pull most of the time, and about 15-20 seconds of actual pull time on average. Regarding the "pull" I find it more stable to have the machine on a slightly lower counter and make it more of a push - the action is far more stable this way than on a higher counter.

Results are great. Espresso is drinkable straight, no sugar, no milk, just great espresso straight. Depending on the beans and pre-infuse timing I can now go for the deeper flavors of the coffee or pull mostly for the brighter, fruity side of the espresso. If temps are higher I pull faster, and if temps are lower I pull slower, or as needed for the flavor profile I want in the cup. Until now I've not had many espressos that I wanted to drink straight, but I'm making them time after time with the La Pavoni now.

Just as I figured out the operation of the machine I was away from home for 2 weeks, and wondered if my success would continue once I got back. I pulled the beans out of the freezer yesterday and let them come to room temp overnight, weighed out a dose, pulled my first shot of the morning and it was heaven. Back to back shots were terrific!

Thanks to all that post here, as you've contributed greatly to the learning process for this machine. I think it's a keeper!

edit: Corrected lever pull pressure

Dan, glad we could help.

For more crema try updosing a touch and pull with a little more force, maybe about 30 lbs worth. The pull may take you a little longer, too.

Other than that it looks like you're here, which is a very nice place to be.

Breaking Through to Fine Espresso at Home

drgary wrote:Dan, glad we could help.

For more crema try updosing a touch and pull with a little more force, maybe about 30 lbs worth. The pull may take you a little longer, too.

I revisited my pulls over the last couple of days. Updosed to 13g for starters. Ran same to coarser grinds. Longer infusion, shorter infusion, etc. The result was a sore shoulder and bitter espresso.

I broke out the bathroom scale, which is digital and very difficult to measure relative pressures with, slapped it on the counter and started testing my standard pull pressure. My standard load and pull yields 20-30 pounds in pressure, generally around 25 pounds once adjusting for the weight of the machine on the scale. I modified my post above to reflect this. I never know my own strength...

Of course I'll continue to tweak parameters to get even better espresso, but doesn't seem to be a need to use 50-60 pounds of pressure on that lever!!! I'm sure the machine will appreciate it too.

Updosing looks like it will yield crema with longer staying power, but the portafilter, being quite pitted, is likely destroying most of it. Don't want to chop this to bottomless until I have another portafilter in hand for backup.

A pitted portafilter won't destroy crema, but that's odd. Can you post a picture?

Also, yes, please experiment if you want more crema. Of course fresh-roasted coffee is essential. What coffee are you using?

Right now I'm using a locally in-store roasted Whole Foods bean. Yeah, I know people dog on them, but this one really does well in my NS Oscar for crema although I haven't pulled out the Oscar to check this particular batch - compares well to Ingelligensia's Black Cat espresso crema purchased fresh at Intelligentsia in Pasadena (2-3 days old from roast). I purchase the Whole Foods beans on roast days when the beans are still warm, but they did recently change the guy in charge of the roaster there... It's a medium roast bean.

Now that I'm getting better espresso I'll probably spring for some other varieties to be shipped. Perhaps I'll just make a trip to Intelligentsia this weekend to get some fresh beans from them for comparison. (Get good beans and verify: test, test, test)

It's not that I've got no crema at all. I always have at least 5mm of crema on a shot, and the texture is good. Could be that these beans are a little old though (I didn't label the roast date this time as it was just before vacation), and of course that makes alot of difference. Beans were stored in the freezer for 2 weeks and pulled out again Sunday night.

Heating up the Pavoni now, freshly scrubbed and Urnex'd PF/basket. We'll see what happens with the beans on hand and see if I can remember to take photos.

Results were same as always. Updosed by 4 beans to get the right pull feel, but taste tells me I need a coarser grind or slightly lower pull temp - edge of bitter. Made for a tasty cappuccino though. (My milk steaming on the Pavoni is a skill still being learned too, but even with the stock tip I'm getting decent enough results although not consistent yet.)

About 4mm of crema on top in a 4oz "shot" glass. So I have more study and practice to go through. If I lived in drgary's neck of the woods I'd bribe him with some beans and have him show me how it's done!

It's highly likely that the real problem is beans that are a little stale now - found the package labeled 9/10 for roast date, they were in the freezer on 9/14 and out again on 9/29. I'm seeing less crema today than 2 days ago when I was pulling with similar settings. Updosing and harder/longer pulls yield darker crema, but no more volume to speak of.

Once I get some fresher beans I'll take pics and post the results for critique.
Thanks!

I've only purchased beans at Whole Foods once and was thoroughly disappointed. Couldn't produce anything drinkable. I think they had kids doing the roast. I would try different beans from a reputable roaster. I don't have a single basket, and generally I don't like them. I just pulled an excellent shot with my LP, sticking religiously with 16.5 grams, given the beans I use. With monitoring group temps, thanks in part to Gary's threads, it's almost impossible to pull a bad shot now.

Yeah, I know the Whole Foods beans are generally not very good. There is only 1 variety that I will get there, they used to call it the Zapos Collective or something like that, but the name has changed. Single origin bean I think through one of those farmer collective groups. Their PLU is 24191, and that's what I look for. Works great on my NS Oscar with lots of crema, and depending on how I dial it in I can get rich mocha like flavors or black cherry like if I edge toward lighter/acidic side of extraction. New store roasting guy might not be doing the beans right though, or perhaps he's blending the old with the new - sure to ruin your cup.

I do have a single basket, but don't currently use it. There's no way 16.5 grams will fit in my original La Pavoni basket and the portafilter won't handle larger baskets without going bottomless. About 13.5g is the max that I can get in without a really heavy handed tamp and that locks up the machine. Running 13.2g tests today were barely fitting in the group, puck was right up against the screen.

Hmm, I thought our portafilters would be the same. Maybe your basket design is different. I can easily fit 17 grams. My basket is roughly 26mm in depth.

Pre-M portafilters can differ. Some won't take the Elektra double basket. Still, with the stock double basket you can get fine shots. Looks like it's time to get better coffee.