Read about this from a vague listing on Coffeegeek. I was born in 1978, so it makes it more interesting to me, but I haven't found a year stamped anywhere yet. I've always dreamed of owning one of these large vintage levers that have the large domed eagle. This came all the way from Connecticut. I only had photos and one video to go from, but the seller seemed knowledgable about it.

The sheer size of this thing is stunning. Look how it dwarfs the Ditting 1203! I just got it set up on the coffee bar minutes ago, not plumbed in yet. Definitely needs some TLC, cleaning, but according to the seller, it works well, has 2 new heating elements and Sirai pressurestat (or rheostat?) and gaskets. It was plumbed in to a well monitored water softener system. Most of the work ahead of me appears to be primarily cosmetic. I will carefully clean and polish as much of it as I can, and likely check into having the brass clear coated for better protection and shine, the original clear coat is worn in a lot of areas.

Should be fun to tackle. If it proves too difficult to keep in my small apartment, I'm sure I can find it a new home. I have to carefully go over it. I haven't even been able to find where the water line is yet.

Sexy Lady!
DO post your progress!

My 1978 story goes like this, High School Graduation, enlistment in the Navy, returned to home town on recruiters aide program and bought my first new car - a Fiat X1/9. Gee I miss that car... Yes, yes, more pics as you go!

Some random shots. It took me about 30 seconds to find the water line. I'll head over to the hardware store in a few to see if I can find the proper fitting. Does anyone know if I can get away with feeding this thing off a standard 1/4" John Guest line? I'm not sure if I'd need a wider diameter.


The pressure gauge looks ok, most of the surface blemishes on the case are minor.


If everything works well, it will end up getting new knobs and lever handle from Dave hopefully. The knob for the steam is pretty beat up.


I'm in no major hurry to use it on a daily basis, so I should be able to take my time cleaning up the finish. I might need a bigger polisher than my dremel tool. I don't want to screw anything up.


More of the finish.



Beautiful eagle top.

I miswrote earlier, the water line is 3/8's not 1/4. I remember when I bought it I wanted the larger diameter. Oddly on the tubing itself it writes 0.250 so maybe that's the internal diameter.

Either way, it's plumbed in and starting to warm up. No leaks yet. I'm stuck with two questions, there's an odd lever catch that locks the lever in the down position. I wonder if it is necessary to routinely cock the lever down each time to release it before raising it up?



Also, I'm looking at the massive group and the group screen seems odd. I'm wondering if this is how they look when stock? Or if its actually missing a dispersion screen.



I haven't plumbed in the drain yet, and likely wont, so I'll need to use some a bowl to catch drips. I might eventually just run some tubing into a 5 gallon bucket, but I wont be able to hide it.

TomC wrote: Also, I'm looking at the massive group and the group screen seems odd. I'm wondering if this is how they look when stock? Or if its actually missing a dispersion screen.

Yep, thats the standard shower screen, its attached to the piston, with a tricky little one way valve behind it

To release the locking cam, press down on the lever from locked position, this then allows the lever to return to normal position

Thanks Mike. I did that. I had to turn the whole thing off. I have a slow leak out of the hot water tap. The seller mentioned the OPV would likely need to be replaced, since it hisses. there's also a constant sputtering, I think it's associated with the hot water leak.

The frustrating thing is I cant get any water out of the group at all. Can't flush anything out of it. I got a few drips early on as it was coming up to temp when I raised the lever, but at 1.2bar with a temp of 198, I can't get flow thru the group.

Hi Tom, hard to diagnose from afar, without knowing what set-up they have in the group (old original seal set-up, or new 4 seal set-up) Starting from the boiler it could be;

-blocked dipper tube
-mis-adjusted or stuck flow adjustor
-mis-aligned piston or blocked piston holes, holes may not be lined up with intake holes when lever is lowered
-blocked or stuck one-way valve in bottom of piston

Dang, I was hoping there was something simple I was overlooking. I've been going back and forth with the seller about it. He tested everything before it shipped. He was using it up to a month ago. I know he said he flushed it and inspected it before it shipped, maybe something got jammed up.

kitt wrote:Yep, thats the standard shower screen, its attached to the piston, with a tricky little one way valve behind it

To release the locking cam, press down on the lever from locked position, this then allows the lever to return to normal position

are you saying there is some kind of one way valve that prevents water from traveling up into the piston chamber?

I am confused as it seems to me that when the lever is lowered (and the piston raised)- the coffee in the basket is just sitting there with the water filling the piston chamber- and nothing in between? If so that is very odd... and what is the tricky little one way valve for? Does the piston chamber fill through this valve rather than through a small hole in the piston wall at the top of the stroke?

Man, you don't fool around!

You've got what looks like an Orione with all the trimmings. It must have been a chore to get that up the stairs.

It's a Sirai pressurestat (pressure switch), a good commercial unit that when new has a small deadband (0.2 bar). I just installed one and really like it. Steam presses against a diaphragm that compresses a spring, so it goes on and off and keeps you in the zone. Over time the deadband widens and you can rebuild them. A new one isn't high replacement cost, about $60 I think.

The lever locks in cocked position to allow a long pre-infusion. My Duchessa and Prestina both do that. A nice feature to have.

When you've got it working right I'll be interested in sampling what kinds of shots it puts out. That's one of the great classic groups.

I hope it's only a small glitch to get water flowing through. Hopefully yes if it was recently working.

Congratulations, Tom!