Londinium owners in Toronto. - Page 3

A haven dedicated to manual espresso machine aficionados.
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baldheadracing
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#21: Post by baldheadracing »

FWIW, as a PSA to Canadians: if you're going to be buying an L1 new, then get a Chase Amazon VISA. It is about the only "free" card that I know of that has a 0% surcharge on foreign exchange ('normal' cards in Canada have a 2.5% surcharge). It also has 1% cash back on non-Amazon purchases (2% at Amazon.ca), plus a $20 signup bonus - so that's about a $155 total 'savings' on an L1 for five minutes filling out an online application ...
-"Good quality brings happiness as you use it" - Nobuho Miya, Kamasada

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JohnB.
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#22: Post by JohnB. »

mathof wrote:My thought is that if you use typical Italian doses - 7g singles 14g doubles - you would have no need for the higher pressure pre-infusion available on the L1-P. But if you go in for 20g baskets, I expect the boiler pressure on the L1 would not be sufficient to wet the puck right through.

Matt

I use nothing but 18g & 20g doses with my Bosco with the P'stat set to 1.2 bar. If you want to see drips after 6-8 seconds of P/I just grind coarse enough. I don't really care for those shots & seldom leave the lever down for more then 3-5 seconds. No drips until the lever engages.
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FotonDrv
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#23: Post by FotonDrv »

Nick:

The "110V" or "120V" machines, whatever you want to call them had a power on/off switch that is rated at 15A. I would go by what is stamped on the side of the switch and not what the manufacturer might tell you about how the inside of the switch "Will take the extra load" or any such nonsense.

The First Gen L-I's were burning switches/connectors and I went round and round with Reiss/Londinium about what to do about it. The loads I was getting from my 120V kitchen circuits (which actually measured 121+V) are a USA standard since there is about a 3% variance in voltages allowed by the power companies. It put the turn on load about 16A and idle load just above 15A. For a 15A rated switch that is not good.

All the people who apparently were trying to cover for Londinium were saying that it was normal for discloloration of the connectors when I first spotted it after one year operation. That is really NOT the case; they should NOT discolor and then other folks emailed me when I Posted my findings and sent photos of their switches which horrified me. I spent my entire life working in the electrical field and that stuff is NOT acceptable.

Mine after a year or less.


https://vimeo.com/139100177

https://vimeo.com/139093724

Old switch and new switch (replacement from Londinium)








Someone with a better education of the situation might be able to tell the difference between these 2 switches and why one would be able to take more than 15A and not the other.


Other owners switches after a bit longer period of time.




I changed the switch in mine to one that was rated for 20A and never had any problems with it after that. I sold the machine to a fellow who continues to operated it just fine and has no complaints about my electrical modification. BTW, the heating element in the 1st Gen L-I that I had was rated at 100V so it was being driven pretty hard to get the performance that I got (which was good performance). I calculated it once at 1900+watts. The 240V models are rated at 2400 watt aren't they?
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Séb
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#24: Post by Séb »

mathof wrote:My thought is that if you use typical Italian doses - 7g singles 14g doubles - you would have no need for the higher pressure pre-infusion available on the L1-P. But if you go in for 20g baskets, I expect the boiler pressure on the L1 would not be sufficient to wet the puck right through.

Matt
I do not agree with that. Everytime i do a 14g double shot on the L2 i have more shot volume, more body, more crema and a little bit more sweetness to it then with the L1. That is with the exact same espresso blend and with the "same" grinder (K30 and K30 twin). So even for smaller dose i think that the L1-P is an improvement. But an L1 is quite a nice espresso machine, i just like even more the shot i get on the L2 but that might just be my own personal taste.

There is also the Salvatore compact spring lever that is an other option. Hand made in California, $2300usd plus shipping. I got this one mostly because of the smaller footprint compare to an L1 (didn't had enough space) and the only negative comment i have after 5 months is the double spring that require much more strength. Otherwise it is as good as the L1.

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baldheadracing
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#25: Post by baldheadracing »

Stephen, which standards organization tested/certified your L1 for the USA (and one hopes, North America)? There was one place that was de-certified a little while ago, but anyone else ...
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FotonDrv
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#26: Post by FotonDrv replying to baldheadracing »

I do not know if it ever was. "CE" rated was what was quoted and I believe labeled on the from, same as my L1-P. No UL ratings.

I added a couple of photos of the switch in question in the previous Posting.
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baldheadracing
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#27: Post by baldheadracing replying to FotonDrv »

Ah. That makes sense. Unlike (most) North American standards, there is no independent testing required for (most) CE marking. The manufacturer essentially says, yup, what I am making meets CE, and can put the CE marking on. At the risk of stating the obvious, CE is for the EU and doesn't necessarily apply to North America.

I suspect that the appropriate certifications are more of an issue for commercial food service use.
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Nonineto (original poster)
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#28: Post by Nonineto (original poster) »

Thank you for this great info!

Now does someone in the toronto area care to show me their lovely L1?

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baldheadracing
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#29: Post by baldheadracing »

Stephen, the replacement switch is the "peak current" version (APEM part # 641SH vs. 641H). The replacement switch can handle peak currents of 150Amps and has silver cadmium oxide contacts instead of the silver/nickel alloy contacts of your original switch. http://www.datasheetarchive.com/dl/Data ... 019314.pdf

BTW, OP, have you tried posting your request on the Londiniumespresso forums?
-"Good quality brings happiness as you use it" - Nobuho Miya, Kamasada

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arcus
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#30: Post by arcus »

baldheadracing wrote:FWIW, as a PSA to Canadians: if you're going to be buying an L1 new, then get a Chase Amazon VISA. It is about the only "free" card that I know of that has a 0% surcharge on foreign exchange ('normal' cards in Canada have a 2.5% surcharge). It also has 1% cash back on non-Amazon purchases (2% at Amazon.ca), plus a $20 signup bonus - so that's about a $155 total 'savings' on an L1 for five minutes filling out an online application ...
Great info, thanks! I should be getting my new card shortly :)