Are there any multiple head manual lever machines? I guess more consistency might be possible with spring levers and it takes less hands on time. Any other thoughts?

farmroast wrote:Are there any multiple head manual lever machines? I guess more consistency might be possible with spring levers and it takes less hands on time. Any other thoughts?

Much less hands-on time. Barista can be steaming milk during the extraction, or preparing other drinks.

P.S. Brilliant, Bluecold.

Wow Bluecloud. great video thanks for sharing, that Barista is really cranking out the shots!

I suppose its also the fact that a commercial-size lever group brews under as much pressure as is desirable, so a manual lever would not present any advantage. At least the some of the Conti levers have coupled mechanisms that allow a manual increase in pressure by pushing up on the lever.

My miniGaggia has the same type of coupled mechanism, and it is a nice feature. Almost nice enough, among its many other nice features, for me to keep it. But I'm selling it to a coffee friend here in Sweden. "Parting is such sweet sorrow"

PC

peacecup wrote:At least the some of the Conti levers have coupled mechanisms that allow a manual increase in pressure by pushing up on the lever.

PC,

Why can you not push up a little on your PV to increase the pressure over the normal spring tension? I always assumed this would be a possibility on any spring lever. I hope you or others can clarify why your PV is different than say a Conti.

Thanks.

fantastic video! wow.

Re Merle's question on pushing up spring levers like the PV: on a lot of home levers, the fulcrum is exposed & rests atop the group head. Therefore it can't give leverage in both directions, only on the downstroke.

BTW, that video was a perfect answer for the OP's query - and demonstrates why I'd rather not turn pro!

Ciao,
Wayne

The lever on la Cimbali spring lever machines uses a cam to push the piston down. You can lift the lever to the vertical position with zero resistance.

Rob

Yes, its the design of the cam, but I don't know the terms. On the PV you can't push the piston down by pushing up on the lever - there is no linkage. The linkage only works to pull the piston up by pulling the lever down (ie its one-way).

On the MiniGaggia it is linked, so it can work both ways. As I said, I keep having second thoughts about letting that baby out of my hands....