I have an old, pre-2000 two switch Europiccola. Does anyone know whether the La Pavoni gauge which fits on the new Professional model (a part which is readily available from a lot of on-line sellers) will fit on the old Europiccola? I know the old gauge fitted, but no one seems to sell that anymore, and I'm not sure whether the new gauge will fit.

cheers,

Ritske

I am also interested in this. I am thinking of buying the Europiccola NE with black foot, i don't think you can get the pro model with other than chrome now. I also really want a gauge.

Ritske wrote:I have an old, pre-2000 two switch Europiccola. Does anyone know whether the LaPavoni gauge which fits on the new Professional model (a part which is readily available from a lot of on-line sellers) will fit on the old Europiccola? I know the old gauge fitted, but no one seems to sell that anymore, and I'm not sure whether the new gauge will fit.
cheers,
Ritske

Hello Ritske,
Here is my "La Pav Newby" one cents worth;
I have an older ( one switch, three position) machine. It has the safety valve on the top. The older machines do not have a pressurestat / thermostat. That could be a recipe for trouble due to over- pressure.

With the original safety in place, you would know at what point the safety starts bouncing and know that its indicated pressure is well above what you wish to pull at. That could be at a quite high water temperature because they do steam well. So, it might work! There is a co-ordination between pressure and temperature. I pull at the first mist from the steam wand.

I shall watch this site for rebuttals and work arounds as I think a gauge would be cool and usefull addition to mine also.
Sincerely
Espressme

G'day Ritske, niad, and espressme,

Many reviewers and some users claim the pressure gauge is nothing more than a piece of extraneous decoration, but my experience leads me to disagree. As long as my shot pulling procedures are consistent, the results in the cup are consistent, and the gauge is instrumental in attaining that consistency. Through many hours of trial and error, I've been able to pinpoint the best temp./pressure for each type of single origin bean or blend I enjoy. I don't measure temps, but rather reading the gauge lets me know when to pull the lever, and I judge by taste alone. Certainly not as accurate as a dual boiler machine that allows you to set an exact temp, but I do feel this is as precise as the pressure stat controlled HX machine which I used to own. Others before me have noted that the lowest pressure possible for pulling water into the grouphead is at .5 bar, and I also agree.

Another benefit the gauge offers is an element of safety. If the pressure stat should ever go pear shaped and the overpressure valve fail, I'll have a visual confirmation that the pressure is too high and the machine must be shut off. I have a Gaggia Factory, an almost exact copy of the La Pavoni Romantica, and the boiler cap audibly releases "false pressure". After the false pressure is released, the gauge begins to register building pressure. These two elements in concert also provide confirmation that things are operating as they should be.

So, I definitely recommend the gauge as a useful device, rather than just a piece of visual stimulation. I believe you can add the new gauge to your machine, but you'll have to do a bit more research. If you look on this page:

http://www.espressoparts.com/cate...i.lapavonipagetwo/

and look at part P59, the upper sight glass assembly, you'll see what is needed to fit the gauge. As long as the sight glass assembly fits your boiler and has adequate clearance for the gauge (the gauge is wider than the assembly and may be blocked by the boiler wall), you should be fine.

I would recommend ringing them and speaking to their parts guy Devon. He's been very helpful for me when I've needed parts and advice, and should be able to tell you if this will work and any other parts you may need. Niklas, I'm not sure who would be best to contact in Europe, but I would reconsider your options before making a purchase. You may be able to find a decently priced, used Pavoni Professional, and would avoid having to take apart and add more cost to a new, blackfooted Europiccola. I know some of my relatives and mates in the Netherlands have had great luck going that route.

Best of luck to all of you,

Hogfire

When i look at the price for the gauge i see that i can buy a Pro instead, the gauge and the Europiccola adds up to a pro anyway.

I have an old europiccola two switch and an old pavoni ambassador (professional) two switch. I put a gauge on both of these. The gauge was from Omega and went to 2 bar and costs 27.50 Canadian funds. To attach it to the Pavoni I removed the small screw above the site glass level and took this screw as well as the new gauge to Home depot and found the fittings necessary. The attachment to the Pavoni was not exact but with a bit of teflon tape it fit fine and has been operational for the last two years. A lot cheaper than the crazy prices that people are paying for the La Pavoni gauge.

http://www.omega.ca/shop/pptsc.asp?ref=PGC&Nav=preg02

happytamper wrote:I have an old europiccola two switch and an old pavoni ambassador (professional) two switch. I put a gauge on both of these. The gauge was from Omega and went to 2 bar and costs 27.50 Canadian funds. To attach it to the Pavoni I removed the small screw above the site glass level and took this screw as well as the new gauge to Home depot and found the fittings necessary. The attachment to the Pavoni was not exact but with a bit of teflon tape it fit fine and has been operational for the last two years. A lot cheaper than the crazy prices that people are paying for the La Pavoni gauge.

http://www.omega.ca/shop/pptsc.asp?ref=PGC&Nav=preg02

Hello All!
Same gauges from Omega USA ( commercial )
http://www.omega.com/ppt/pptsc.asp?ref=PGC&Nav=preg02

Here are similar OEM gauges from the US branch of Omega at a lower cost:
http://www.omega.com/ppt/pptsc.asp?ref=PGU_Series&Nav=preg02

They are not quite the same as those given. They are steel cased and glass windowed and have the same working specs.

By the way, the 2.5" dia. would appear to interfere with the fill knob on my older Europiccola. I shall let you know how I make out with the 1.5" dia.

Thanks for the information, HT.
Sincerely
Espressme

Thanks for all the replies, people. I think probably the cheapest and the easiest way is to find a non-pavoni gauge that will fit on the Europiccola.

Happytamper, could you perhaps explain in a little more detail how you fitted the gauge on the Pavoni? I can buy the gauge from omega here in the UK, so it seems like a good option. The Omega website says that it has a 1/4" NPT lower fitting. If I read your post correctly, that doesn't screw straight into the Pavoni? If no, what did you use to make it fit besides the teflon tape?

Also - isn't a gauge that big inconvenient? A quick look at the Pavoni would lead me to think that it would be almost too big to slot neatly into place. Doesn't the edge of the gauge touch the side of the boiler, or perhaps even the boiler cap, as espress me writes?

cheers,

Ritske

Ritske wrote:Thanks for all the replies, people. I think probably the cheapest and the easiest way is to find a non-pavoni gauge that will fit on the Europiccola.

Happytamper, could you perhaps explain in a little more detail how you fitted the gauge on the Pavoni? I can buy the gauge from omega here in the UK, so it seems like a good option. The Omega website says that it has a 1/4" NPT lower fitting. If I read your post correctly, that doesn't screw straight into the Pavoni? If no, what did you use to make it fit besides the teflon tape?

Also - isn't a gauge that big inconvenient? A quick look at the Pavoni would lead me to think that it would be almost too big to slot neatly into place. Doesn't the edge of the gauge touch the side of the boiler, or perhaps even the boiler cap, as espress me writes?

cheers,

Ritske

Hello Ritske,

I think that I may have given the wrong url and the smaller gauge is the one to order. I am in Toronto for the week and when I return I will post some images of the connections I made to my machine. The url for the 1 1/2 inch gauges is http://www.omega.ca/shop/pptsc.asp?ref=PGU_Series&Nav=preg02

hope nobody ordered the 2 1/2 inch gauges. As for the attachment to the machine I will take some pictures when I get back to Montreal next week.

Cheers

Hi Mitchell,

Thanks - that explains a lot! I was looking at the machine, going - how does this guy fit a 2.5 inch gauge on a Pavoni? Doesn't make sense!

Well, now it does make sense again. I was hoping you'd post some pictures - always a lot easier to see how it's done that way. Thanks, and looking forward to it.

cheers ritske