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.

After warmup, before loading PF, do a brief flush.

Are you bleeding out false pressure via your steam wand for a few seconds?

Yes, I'm bleeding false pressure, and I typically do a short flush. There's no problem when the pf isn't inserted, so it seems like air is getting trapped in the group. Is the air supposed to diffuse through the coffee when the water enters, or is there an exit hole that might be plugged?

Thanks for the responses.

On my Cremina, the lever would sometimes feel "spongy"on the first shot of the day. After a flush, however, that wouldn't happen; there was good solid resistance starting at the apex. But do make sure you've bled all of the false pressure off.

Do you know how old the Europiccola is?

Some of the early "Millenium models" had nylon pistons which tended to unscrew and reduced the group capacity. The solution is either to screw it back in or replace with one of the later brass pistons.

Cheers

Mike

Re: age, I'm guessing mid to late '80s based on info from previous owner, the double switch (on/off and I/II) and metal sightglass guard. I know for a fact that it has the brass piston, though, from taking apart the group to clean it.

For my EP, I would bleed for about 10ish seconds, flush for a couple of seconds, lift the lever to the top for 5 seconds, slowly pull the lever down until I feel a bit of resistance, hold for a second, lift back to the top - slowly - for another 6 or 7 seconds and then gently but consistenly pull down.

This is a version of the Fellini and whilst you might feel a little bit of sponge you should get close to an ounce. Try that to see if it improves things. It should at least introduce sufficient water without disturbing the puck. Also, tamp lighter and grind finer!

Thanks very much for the replies. I will try ziobeege_72 's protocol and report back.

Best,
Joel

The bleed/flush in quick succession seemed to help a little, but it's still taking multiple fellini moves to develop any resistance on the lever. I'm open to further suggestions, if anyone has any. Thanks again for the help!