by jrm on Tue Dec 15, 2009 4:46 pm
I picked up an old Pavoni Europiccola a few months ago and I have had some trouble getting the group to fill completely with water at the beginning of the pull. If I keep the lever raised for about 10 seconds and just push down, the first half of the pull seems to just be pressing air, and I end up with a very small volume (about .6 oz). My solution to this point has been to raise and lower the lever about 2-3 inches multiple (5-6) times. Towards the end of this process I can feel the machine "take up the slack" so to speak, and I get a proper sized pull (slightly more than 1 oz with the double basket and around 14 g of coffee). This works alright, but it occasionally disturbs the grounds and causes side-channeling (I can see it on my naked pf), and forces a very long preinfusion. I'm just wondering if this is a mechanical issue, or if there's a better way around this. I'm filling the reservoir just shy of the top of the sightglass, I let it warm up for a good long time and make sure the safety valve is sputtering away, and if it matters I'm using the kitchenaid proline grinder (I know, not a great grinder, but a friend of mine pulled some shots with a commercial quality grinder and the problem persisted, so I doubt this is the problem). I've also taken the group apart, cleaned with JoeGlo, and checked the seals, which seem to be in good condition.
Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.