I was very lucky to come upon a pristine 1992 Pavoni Professional that I'm told was only used a couple of times and then became a countertop conversation piece. I'm a newbie to levers and am looking for some guidance in setting it up. I've visited Pavoni Express and read Daniel Ho's helpful primer.

It looks to me that they never emptied the boiler after their couple of attempts. I descaled with Cleancaf with it a 20 minute soak and then drew the fluid through the head. The first cup I drew was fairly dirty, but the next ones came out clean Now when I look in the boiler it looks good but I see bunches of smallish white splotches of scale. I'm thinking I should fill the boiler to the top with Cleancaf and just let it sit. But don't know for how long.

The portafilter locks but there's not much travel. Clearly the head gasket is stiff. I've ordered a seal and gasket set.

After bleeding (false pressure), the temperature/pressure is at about 1.1 bar when the boiler is ¾ full. I've seen on the forums that people set them at about 8 - 8.5 bar. Any suggestions?

Any other suggestions other than experiment and enjoy?

Peter

Peter,

Your descale procedure should work although I would use the hottest water you can safely handle for the mixture. 30 minutes should do it. Most home levers run about .8 - 1.1 bar. Setting towards the higher end gives more steam but overheats the group head faster.

Bill