Hi guys,
As so many others have written before, I do apologize if this is too common or not really anything that goes beyond what's normal for this machine, but I have indeed tried my best to figure this out and read through this and many other forums now for weeks. I got this machine about a month ago and a few things I can't get my head around. When you raise the lever after pressure has been reached, it first splashes out water once (quite a bit before reaching the fully "up" position, and then the flow slightly halts, before dispersing more water again continually until you pull the lever down again.
It seems to me as this should only be happening in one go, right?

I have for sure had problems getting a decent shot out of the machine, and I think in general there might be something wrong with it (it is 2nd hand, and I don't know if the gaskets have ever been replaced, but the ring one sitting on/around the dispersion screen seems to be alright?), because it also seems to be running hot/overpressurized. It's mentioned everywhere that this is commonplace, and some people even turn it off for a bit after it reaches full pressure before pulling a shot, but my pressure meter goes all the way up to 1,5 bar (way up in the red zone). If I do turn it off and wait long enough for the pressure to start to fall, then there is not enough to make the water rush through into the group. So yes, two problems I suppose but the water dispersion issue seems strangest, at least to me, since I never tried one of these before. I thought, that the water was only supposed to start to flow at the very top lever position. Thanks any input is greatly appreciated and sorry for the lengthy post

Another follow up question that I forgot; In videos and from what people post, it seems that the pressure release valve by the steam wand is really noisy after the machine is up to pressure - this is certainly not the case here, mine is completely silent after heating up is "done", and I'm wondering if this is something that should be changed/opened up more manually? Or should you not mess with that...

Hi Pat,

No need to apologize for a "long post" where you're asking questions to get oriented. The design of these machines has changed over the years, so to know what you're dealing with, can you post some pictures? Here's one reason I ask. I have two of these machines that were built maybe 15 years apart. They look similar but work very differently from each other. One has a quiet overpressure release valve, the other has a noisy one. The quiet machine is the later model that has internal pressure control from a pressurestat. The noisy one is meant to be turned on and off to help regulate the temperature, and when it is up to pressure it hisses loudly and constantly. Both are functioning normally.

If you know how, maybe you can also post a YouTube video of how the machine releases water at different levels of raising the lever. This would tell some of us what might be going on.

Anyway, congratulations on your acquisition. These generally can be put into good shape and make very good espresso and cappuccinos.

Thanks a great deal Gary,
Here are some pictures hope they're sufficient in order to tell version. Also a video of the shower (quite difficult to see maybe, it was difficult without three hands)

I don't know if it's even visible in the video but there is steam leaking out and the lever wiggles quite a bit from side to side...

http://imageshack.us/clip/my-videos/197/20s.mp4/

Thanks, Pat. First, that's a very pretty machine, pre-Millennium, single switch, La Pavoni Professional, which means it has a pressurestat and larger boiler and that it came with the pressure gauge. Very nice wooden handles and boiler cap. I can only answer a bit of this as a novice but here's what I can see. Some people tighten the play in the lever handle by putting it in a vise and gently tightening, making sure you've got something soft and dense between the jaws of the vise and your chromed lever. (Added: I tried that and it didn't correct the problem. Instead I'll add some nylon washers to tighten the slop in the lever. I'm choosing nylon instead of metal to avoid wearing down the lever fork.) The full-on shower flow at the end looks like it is supposed to look. A machine with a PSTAT should not constantly hiss. If it does the overpressure valve is stuck.

I haven't taken one of these apart completely. But my initial sense is I don't see anything wrong with some steam coming out of the group. That just means it's a bit overheated. Also I don't know why there's a small amount of flow at first and am not sure that would be a problem if you're lifting the lever to the fully raised position to wet the coffee cake anyway. It tells me water is getting past the piston gaskets from above and it is doing this before you've raised the lever to fully introduce water from the boiler to the group. The small leakage may be a minor maintenance issue of needing to change out the group gaskets and clean the group and piston assembly. When you turn it off and it cools, does the lever gradually go to the raised position? If yes, the gaskets are okay and you need to clean the area around the gaskets of coffee grinds that are gunking things up. If it doesn't raise you probably need to change gaskets. Also have you checked the machine for scale?

My amateur guess is that the main issue may be how to dial down your pressurestat so it doesn't overheat the machine. Some of those are glued so they can't be easily adjusted. There are other threads on here about that. Other than that if you cool the portafilter adequately this should help you with temperature control. Some people get temperature strips they attach to the group to help monitor temperature.

Yes, 1.5 is high. Mine when purchased new never reaches 1.5 unless I leave open the steam valve to where the Pstat hasn't a reference. Factory delivered, it's slightly below 1 during normal OPs. Nor ever had to turn anything off. The lever action can be adjusted through the top two nuts on the piston rod attached to the piston. I've some food-safe 500F grease I periodically lightly skim any parts that encounter moving contact when cleaning the piston and related assembly. And be careful with measuring citric acid if cleaning the boiler. I put too much in the first time and it was tough getting it all out. Fiddling around with with the piston adjustment should get the action right. If the piston rings aren't holding water, it'll drip with a lowered arm. Lots of various FAQs and threads to be found for relatively easy and most intuitive maintenance aspects, to a complete disassembly or rebuild.

Aha I see, alright yes I have descaled it twice and alot of stuff came out, so I'm guessing there is probably also some gunk as you said in between different parts where it might be more difficult to clean. As for the lever raising by itself when the heat subsides, no that definitely doesn't happen!
And lastly as for cooling down the portafilter to keep excessive heat off, I would just generally not attach it before the time of pulling - that would also keep the heat down a bit. This might be dumb but, I don't understand why the pressurestat is set differently on different machines and might be in need of tampering with - but I will read into how it is done. Thanks a heap for the suggestions and I'm definitely feeling more enthusiastic about the project again

Thanks, good to know. I'm going for a general thorough cleaning and hopefully be able to dial down the heater

Flasherly wrote:Yes, 1.5 is high. Mine when purchased new never reaches 1.5 unless I leave open the steam valve to where the Pstat hasn't a reference. Factory delivered, it's slightly below 1 during normal OPs. Nor ever had to turn anything off. The lever action can be adjusted through the top two nuts on the piston rod attached to the piston. I've some food-safe 500F grease I periodically lightly skim any parts that encounter moving contact when cleaning the piston and related assembly. And be careful with measuring citric acid if cleaning the boiler. I put too much in the first time and it was tough getting it all out. Fiddling around with with the piston adjustment should get the action right. If the piston rings aren't holding water, it'll drip with a lowered arm. Lots of various FAQs and threads to be found for relatively easy and most intuitive maintenance aspects, to a complete disassembly or rebuild.

Oh my, it's not only the rubbergaskets, that whole piston is chipped broken right? I thought it would be made out of metal.

Good job rolling up your sleeves. Your machine was right on the cusp of the Millennium changes. Well now you get to put in a good, solid brass piston and some nice new gaskets. You'll be good to go.