Hi, I recently discovered this site, and was excited to see I am not the only one with a Bezzera family lever machine. I have had this machine for five years and have been kind of "self taught" by trial and error how to get a decent espresso from it. while i am fairly happy with my level of competence now I am sure I am still doing a few things wrong or at least not optimally and was wondering if anyone out there could give me a few pointers. My general run through is i turn the machine on and let it heat for about 15 mins then open the steam valve and release the pressure and allow it to heat again for 5 mins until the pressurestat turns off again.
then i pull my first shot, then i pull the second one, which is normally a bit better than the first. However, one hing i find annoying id that often the Crema seems to get stuck in the portafilter and it takes two or three mini pulls to get it to come out. Has anyone else experienced this? I was thinking maybe it is the design of the portafiltre, its pretty rough cast brass inside with a rectangular slot in the bottom and two holes, maybe a single center hole would allow it to drain more easily?
any suggestins would be appreciated
Aaron

Howdy,
Got a Bezzera Family as well. Two things come to mind.
First: the group is fairly big so since your first shot is not as good as the second - I have to think the group is still not completely warmed up- Would you you say the first shot is "more sour?" I would pull at least one more water shot to add more heat.

Second- My pucks tend to be wetter than any other lever machine I have had - but no crema left in the basket- you piston seals might be worn badly . Does your lever ever keep rising after you have pulled it down and no espresso is coming out of your PF?

I have brand new seals, and since there replacement, the lever is very very stiff to pull down when the unit is cold and gets somewhat looser when it gets hot. but even when its hot the lever does not spring back really quick anymore, even if i let it go an there's no coffee in the basket. I guess there's just a lot more friction with the new seals. I also had a new spring put in as the old one was badly rusted.
I will post a couple of pictures of the portafilter when i get home

oh and another thing, my spent coffee is quite dry and tightly compressed into a hard puck once i have pulled a shot.

aaronmaestri wrote:... excited to see I am not the only one with a Bezzera family lever machine ... My general run through is i turn the machine on and let it heat for about 15 mins then open the steam valve and release the pressure and allow it to heat again for 5 mins until the pressurestat turns off again.
then i pull my first shot, then i pull the second one, which is normally a bit better than the first.

On the Ponte Vecchio Lusso, which is very similar to the Bezzera, I add one thing to the startup regimen:

Turn machine on. When pressurestat turns off for the first time, purge false pressure using the steam wand.
When pressurestat turns off for the second time, pull a warming flush and wait a few minutes. Then it is ready to go.

Why the warming flush at this point? On the Lusso, air gets trapped in the thermosyphon and prevents the convection that warms the group. Without this warming flush to purge the air, the group stays cool forever and the first shot would be sour. With the warming flush, the group heats up and, because of the convection, stays heated.

aaronmaestri wrote: ... often the Crema seems to get stuck in the portafilter and it takes two or three mini pulls to get it to come out. Has anyone else experienced this? I was thinking maybe it is the design of the portafiltre, its pretty rough cast brass inside with a rectangular slot in the bottom and two holes, maybe a single center hole would allow it to drain more easily?
any suggestins would be appreciated

A light tamp and moderate dose yield a copious, syrupy flow on a machine with about 6 bars of brew pressure and a vintage water-draw (e.g. two pulls on the Lusso yields ~40ml of espresso in the cup.) Yours might have a larger piston bore and greater water draw, but it probably has about the same brew pressure. Try refining the grind and moderating the dose so that with a very light tamp a single pull takes about 10-15 seconds to flow through the dosed double basket.

Regards
Timo

Thanks, I will give this a go,
Unfortunately my machine is currently not working, I think the pipe from the boiler to the group is blocked with some crap as when i pull the lever down i'm not getting very much water through.
when i first noticed this I rinsed the boiler out and noticed that there was a lot of quite fine black scale coming out of the boiler, and i think some of this has got stuck in the intake pipe. I tried washing it out with vinegar in case it was calcium scale, but this hasnt helped.
So unfortunately its off to the mechanic as now that it has the new seals on it i cant pull the piston out of the cylinder myself as it is a VERY tight fit.

The other thing i just remembered is that often after i have finished pulling the shot and the lever is fully up and the portafilter has stopped dripping and i have removed the cup and walked away there will be a secondary release of crema, I'm never sure when this occurs a its always when i have left the room, but it would have to be about 5 minutes or more after i have pulled the shot. Its very frustrating to have had an espresso with a small amout of crema and come back to see it all sitting on the drip tray.

I am scratching my head...... ?

-Stumped in Seattle

Lack of pressure = lack of crema. New piston seals and cleaning the intake will help. Then a little experimenting with the grind and tamp.

Also OLD COFFEE = NO CREMA.

PC

aaronmaestri wrote:I have brand new seals, and since there replacement, the lever is very very stiff to pull down when the unit is cold and gets somewhat looser when it gets hot. but even when its hot the lever does not spring back really quick anymore, even if i let it go an there's no coffee in the basket. I guess there's just a lot more friction with the new seals. I also had a new spring put in as the old one was badly rusted.
I will post a couple of pictures of the portafilter when i get home

Something seems wrong with your machine. If the Lusso and the Bezzera are alike in this regard, the lever should spring back instantly with no coffee in the basket. You might want to find out what, if any, lubricant was used on the piston seals, and get the precise specifications of the piston seals that have been installed.

On the Lusso one sees a strong shower of water when the lever is pressed down all the way and the pressure gauge is showing 1.0 or higher:



Regards
Timo

DO NOT OPERATE THE LEVER UNTIL THE BOILER IS UP TO PRESSURE. THIS ENSURES THAT WATER WILL ENTER THE GROUP AND LUBRICATE THE SEALS TO AVOID DAMAGE

Unless, of course, the siphon is clogged, which would keep water from entering the group, making the piston sticky.

PC