Camping in Carmel Valley this week...

Entered the lever fray, summer 2012, when I won an ebay auction juuust before heading off to France (our favorite Riviera haunt, Beaulieu Sur Mer, a few klicks east of Nice), for a quick vacation. Never in the dozens of times I've been to France, have I been so eager to leave, (to start digging into my new Europiccola).

First, the setup. Of the many cars we own, (we're not rich, I'm just handy with repair, and we keep our old cars and hand-me-downs, running), almost all are... manuals... And certainly, any new cars or cars I've ever bought were/are manuals, if that gives you any idea how that links to my thoughts on espresso. In my pre-lever era, which began a couple of years before I joined CG in 2004. I quickly came to weighing my doses and extractions, manually, on my own scale. I've been pretty vocal on the new Baratza Sette thread and previously on various Vario threads, about not wanting or liking the versions that do the weighing for you, preferring to weigh myself... manually. When I use my whizz bang tech, fabulously accurate (temperature-wise), pump machine, I use it in full manual mode, starting and stopping the extraction manually, and totally eschewing the volumetric dispensing capability. Same with my Vario grinder... It's not the weighing model, it's the the timer or full manual model, and I don't even use the timer... full manual for me. And of course, I have a hand cranked HG-1... Doesn't get any more manual than that.

So it was just a natural for me, when I came over here to HB, back in 2009 and started discovering levers. And reading and reading and reading about them. It seems like the machines with the largest body of knowledge are the Pavoni Europiccola/Pro siblings, so naturally I gravitated that way. And even before I bought my first one at auction, back in summer 2012, I had been watching the ebb and flow of auction prices. Despite what I had read about desirability, for some reason, Millenniums were still going for double or more, the price of the PreM's. Based on advice given here, I decided my first Pavoni ought to be a PreM. After a constant vigil, I found something that looked like it could be a "good find", so I bellied up and tossed in an offer for a later/latest PreM that had the boiler slightly out of clock with respect to the base, and was advertised as "leaking". It had Pre-M group, but with single power switch and pressurestat. Somehow, the chips fell my way and I won it for $218. It is a 2000 model, in perfect condition save for the boiler which had rotated. The gaskets were well worn, but not leaking, the base totally rust-free, which was a gamble, because there were no pictures of the inside of the base. It did have the plastic piston, which had rotated down the shaft a little, just exactly like I read here that it would, so I spun it back up. That stopped the dripping. I knew that the piston could very well start working it's way down again, but by then, I was confident with disassembly, so I would have been ok re-tightening it periodically. I also ordered a new gasket and seal kit from Doug and Barb at OE, a new brass piston and three MCAL double baskets from Stefano, who was conveniently having a sale on the baskets... score! I used it that way for a year, before I decided to re-gasket and put in the brass piston. I added thermometry, using a Taylor fast read, using mount of my own design, that if I do say so myself is the cleanest and least obtrusive of any I have seen to date, for mounting a digital thermometer. The bead is held to the top of the flare in the bell by an O-ring (thanks to Dr. Gary for that one).

The PreM as purchased:


The PreM now, with thermometry and longer, stainless Allen head screws (M6/1 for the curiuos), for the group head:


I was in lever bliss for nearly four years, but you know how these things go, you start wanting have a collections, so I started wishing I had a Millennium just to add to my "collection", but for some reason, they have just always been insanely expensive, even used. It's as if everybody in the ebay world is mad for ME's, except the good folks right here at HB, and there was no way, I was going to pay $450- $550 for a used Millenium. So one day in January of this year, (2016) I was just looking around at them as usual, and threw down a lowball offer on one that looked a little dirty, but mechanically sound, $225 I think was my offer, knowing it could never be a winner. I did this just before I left the house on a 3-day trip. I didn't even bother to follow up to see how the auction went, because this one was going to go for $425 at least. When I got home, my beautiful wife, who shares the same ebay account with me, said that I had won an espresso machine. I couldn't believe it. "Not possible, I said. I threw down a lowball offer mostly as a joke". Turns out, she did run up my bid a bit, but not by much. I won it for about $250. I was floored... And I posted about it here. Near as I can tell, maybe "the market" was still smarting a bit from Christmas expenses, and experienced a momentary lull in frantic bidding on Millennium Euro's? In any event, it did have rust under the base. It looked like surface rust only, so I took the black cover off the base and started using it. Also no leaks. Including thankfully, no small leaks under the boiler where it meets the base. But I bought some new gaskets and a new sleeve from Stefano anyway, just in case. As a matter of utter coincidence, I was in Italy when I placed my order with Stefano. He got a kick out of that fact. When I took it apart, for inspection, I was pleased to find that the piston is brass, although it was so coated in coffee oil, it was hard to tell at first. Sticker said it was a 2004 model. So everything came apart. Thankfully, easily. Everything that touches coffee, soaked in Cafiza. It was also scaled up pretty badly, so the boiler and elements pickled in vinegar till they were clean. Then I took it ALL apart, stripping the base of all parts, and whizzed off the surface rust with a wire wheel on a drill. It all came off without chemical treatment. It should be no surprise that every nut and bolt was metric... except one... Kudos to the right answer. In the spirit of the thread about rust preventive coating the undersides of the base, I got some POR15, and applied it to the inside of the now completely clean and stripped base. Thermal management has been a whole different challenge on the ME in comparison to the PreM, in that the challenge is in getting it hot enough, versus the PreM, where you are in a race against time before it becomes too hot. I will definitely have to learn a routine for the M. The PreM, I know well after 4 1/2 years.

The $250 Millennium, as it arrived from ebay. It actually looked much dirtier in the ebay photos. Not bad, eh?:


Oh yeah, at first, the ME dripped out the steam wand when up at pressure. Then later it seemed to mostly stop... Mostly. I have no idea why. But I still ordered a set of those powdercoating screw "caps" that seem to work so well, according the the seminal thread on the leaky steam wand.

Well, that's it for now. It's been tons of fun so far playing with these two visually similar, but so very different handling machines. And I love it now that pressure profiling is the "it" thing in the pump world, that we have been doing it all along here in the lever world.

-Peter

Hi Pete,

If you're going to join the rollcall, please click the link at the top of the page for your LMWDP number.

To get a Millennium up to temperature use half pumps and a group thermometer to know when you're there.

As aforesaid, unless you drive a stick shift you really do not completely comprehend what is going on with an automatic.

Unfortunately, I am still working out the fits and starts but remain motivated to improve. The journey so far has been the most interesting.

I learned one thing quickly: levers are never boring.

Here is a quick test video and perhap a few months from now I'll have an improved version--the technical logistics of filming interferes with accurately demonstrating technique. But, for what it's worth.
-MB

My Caravel is what really got me in to home espresso, everything worked so much smoother than the entry level pump I had before. Using a Strietman CT1 virtually every day now and can't see myself leaving the manual lever crowd.

I still keep the Caravel around too.

EDIT: Haha, yes, timed it to get 555!

I have had my Ponte Vecchio Lusso for more than two years. I started six years ago with a Gaggia Classic, added a PID after a year. To me, the PVL is an incredibly forgiving machine. The review here at HB definitely sold me on it. My wife is a latte lover, and she really appreciates our PVL too.

Welcome! I've been in love with my Lusso for a few years now, after using an Export for a few years first. The Export is perfect for the office, where 1-2 shots at a time is the rule. But the Lusso is the heart of our kitchen, as you say incredibly forgiving, yet capable of sublime espresso, and with the capacity for large family or small gathering.

I think one reason we don't read so much about pulling shots on the Lusso is that there isn't much need for discussion - no major issues with temperature management, technique, etc. Once one develops a simple routine the espresso quality is so consistently good - fill the basket, pull the shot, enjoy. Repeat as necessary.

I have enjoyed a good espresso for many years, but until about 6-7 years ago those were only purchased from cafes. At that point I began the home espresso 'hobby' with a Silvano and B Vario, and opened the rabbit hole. Since then I have enjoyed finding new ways to explore all the variability and goodness coffee has to offer. Adding along the way home roasting on a popper, then hottop, Quest M3, and now a USRC sample roaster. Now my latest and hopefully last, at least for a little while, tool to explore the coffee world the Londinium I.

Beautiful machine. Congrats!

Nice machine Nate. Like to know how this compares to your Vetrano 2B Evo in the cup.