I thought it might be as helpful idea to get all the lever machine pressurestat setting info in one place, considering it is often set high at the factory or goes off in transit and the big difference this single setting makes to lever machine performance both in general and for different types of beans.

So to get the ball rolling:

Elektra Microcasa a Leva: 0.8-1.00 bar (I sometimes shift this up to 1.00-1.2 bar for certain very fruity SOs)
La Pavoni Pro: 0.8-1.00 bar (assuming your pressure stat hasn't been factory glued in place)
Olympia Cremina 2008: 0.7-08 bar


Any comments on higher or lower settings would be useful as well as recommendations for other machines, such as the Ponte Vecchios etc.

Cheers

Mike

I set my Ponte Vecchio Lusso pressurestat at .5-.8. This makes a good heat setting for my espresso, but the pressure is low enough that it is important to start the shot at .7 to .8, to insure sufficient pressure to get plenty of water into the group. If it is around .5 I just let out a little steam to get the boiler to kick on, which brings the pressure back to the top. I don't steam more than once a day, but .8 provides plenty of pressure for me, and the boiler can stay ahead of the pressure drop.

After a repair during final testing I normally adjust them both ( la pav and MC)
to 0.9
however some customers used to the 1,1 factory setting ( which is my opinion is way too high) will complain especially on la pavoni that there is (of course) less pressure

0.9 is my choice

Thanks, Stefano. Is 0.9 where you set the pressurestat to kick in where you set it to switch off?

stefano65 wrote:0.9 is my choice

I just had a bit of a discussion about the lack of steam pressure on my Factory 16. It's pretty anemic, and I can barely get enough milk steamed to adequately paint a five ounce cup, much less a second cappa...
I've been playing with changing the pressure from it's present .7 to .9 Bar range, to boost the steam pressure a bit. I've had to abandon the three hole tip in favor of a one hole so that all the steam wouldn't burst into the cup at once.
The question is, would only filling the boiler halfway be an advantage, i.e., more steam? My intuitive grasp of physics says yes, but it sometimes leads my reasonable and analytical grasp down a primrose path with its wishful diagnostics.
I'm gonna try it myself, of course, but I'm away from the machine at the moment and won't get to it for a coupla days.

With my Elektra set to 0.8-1.0 steaming suffers compared to the factory settings but not much - I can still overheat the milk quite quickly if I put my mind to it.

I find that with both the elektra and Pav Pro, more than 3/4 full and the steaming suffers (it gets "wet"). Likewise with less than 1/4 full (the pressure drops off faster), so I guess 1/2 would be OK. How far do you fill it now?

Obviously higher pressures a better for steaming but they're lethal for rich chocolatey beans, which come out much sweeter at lower pressures (temperatures).

Orphan Espresso Doug's mod for the PVL sounds great in terms of allowing easy on the fly changes from bean to bean.

Cheers

Mike

michaelbenis wrote: more than 3/4 full and the steaming suffers (it gets "wet"). Likewise with less than 1/4 full (the pressure drops off faster), so I guess 1/2 would be OK. How far do you fill it now?

I usually fill it, and take a handful of shots at it over the course of a week (it's my survival kit at the GF's house), so I wasn't having a whole lot of input back-to-back. I payed attention this morning, and about two thirds full was far easier than the full machine I used last I wrote about him.

My biggest issue now is that the beans I'm using are right between settings on the Rocky. Looking for plastic tubing as we speak...

Each of my two otherwise seemingly identical Gaggia Factory 106 16 cup machines seems to have arrived with very different factory pstat settings. I've not opened up either one to attempt a change...

The first one cycles off when it hits ~1 bar and back on again when it drops to ~.85 bar. The second one cycles off when it hits ~.75 bar and back on again when it drops to ~0.5 bar.

Each one has been very steady, cycling off and on again at its respective settings without ever showing any instances of material variation from those cycling off and on again settings.

Frankly, I haven't noticed that it makes all that much difference in performance - at least not that I can perceive.

Hi r-g

I think different beans respond differently, but with quite a few lever machines it's not just the flavour, it's also how quick it takes the machine to overheat after a few shots (or a longer wait than planned because the phone rings or whatever) and whether the coffee is too hot to start sipping pretty much straight after the shot.

You're also in the fortunate position of having both of your machines cycle at reasonable temps. Some people get lever machines that - whether due to lazy factory setting or a bumpy journey knocking the setting off - cycle at around 1.5

If you read the great lever knockdown, you'll find that several testers turned the stats down (a welcome change from people just going on about the overheating) and many practised uses do this, as does Stefano - who knows more about this than I'm likely to figure out in a lifetime.

So, it could be interesting to hear out what others have settled upon after trial and error.

After Stefano's post, I may try turning the Elektra down a tad furher....

Cheers

Mike

PS: Psyd, glad to hear the steaming worked better now you're not filling it to max and good luck with the Rocky mod.