I picked up the Lusso single group today from Charles. While there we talked espresso and compared the Lusso to the Elektra Microcasa Leva. Since Charles has used the machine for a few weeks I let him pull the shots while I watched the maestro at work.


I will reserve my opinion of the machine for later writing, but I will say that I was pleased with all the espresso that was served to me. We used single origin African beans, Sidamo and Yirgacheffe, both of which I have a fondness of. The grinder of the day was a Doge 63, a very competent grinder and on par with the Mazzer Super Jolly. As the afternoon progressed we even pulled out the hand mill just for fun.


Over the next two hours we consumed around a half pound of espresso from both the Lusso and Elektra. Thanks to Charles tutelage, my learning curve on the Lusso should be abbreviated.

Seattle, Portland and the Durham, North Carolina areas are well-known for espresso. Southwest Ohio is the real secret Espresso Mecca. At least Dave and I thought so after so much espresso today. We had more shots from the Lusso and the Microcasa a leva than we should have had. A few were on spot.

Dave is quite right about the Doge 63. The Titan Grinder Project persuaded me that I had to have a big flat burr grinder. I was one click away from finalizing the ordering of a Super Jolly when one of my gremlins spoke up and said, "Get something different!" and before I could really assess the decision I had ordered the Doge 63. I have been very pleased with it ever since.

And we did try an old DeVe hand grinder I got from peacecup.

I told Dave today that I will miss the Lusso. It grew on me.

Tonight three shots from my Cremina just returned with all new seals. After 15 years it seemed time. It feels like a new machine and I now have to concentrate on "learning it again, for the first time."

KS

Once home my first order of business was to take the machine apart. That must be the mechanic in me but I like to know how things are put together. You would be surprised what you can learn by looking under the covers.

The Lusso single group ships with a single basket, double basket, one double spouted portafilter, a stainless steel coffee spoon and a useless plastic tamper. The users manual is rudimentary at best but that is commonplace, a funnel is also provided for filling the boiler. You will need to order a proper tamper with the machine.

The Lusso single group is a relatively compact machine. Unlike many of the popular lever machines, the boiler in the Lusso sits horizontal in the frame. The boiler is also quite large holding 3 liters of water. The owner's manual lists the dimensions as 36cm wide, 23cm high and 28cm deep. That gives the machine a short but wide footprint which makes it very stable. The case is a dark charcoal gray with fine metal flake to add a little bling to the appearance.

On the front of the machine, in the upper left face is the amber heating element light. Below the light is a matching amber illumined rocker switch and under that is a water low light. Dominating the front center of the machine is the spring assisted, actively heated lever group. Yes, I said actively heated. There is a mini thermosyphon system in the group. To the right of the group is the boiler pressure gauge and boiler level sight glass. The sight glass has a red backing stripe in it to make the water level easier to read.



The drip tray cover is a sheet of perforated stainless steel with a very small recess. The holes in the drip tray are relatively small with large spacing between each hole. My limited time with the machine has already shown me that it will hold a lot of water. That drip tray cover lifts off by the front. There is a recessed lip that goes behind the stainless steel backsplash. That prevents water from running out the back of the drip tray and into the internals of the machine.


Under the cover is the removable stainless steel drip tray basin. The basin lifts out of the frame for easy emptying. There is a good half inch clearance between the bottom of the drip basin and the table top. If you were so inclined, it would be easy to drill a small hole and retrofit a small drain line in the basin. The basin holds 16 ounces filled to the very top. If you wish to empty the drip tray without spilling you would be advised not to exceed 10-12 ounces.


The Lusso does have a cup warmer. While limited on space it will easily accommodate two rows of 4 Illy demitasse cups or 4 demi and two 5 ounce cappuccino cups. However, to refill the boiler you must remove the cup warmer. Since there are no handles on the warmer so you must remove any cups before removing the cover to fill the boiler.


Once the cup warmer is removed you have access to the top of the boiler. The boiler fill opening is a short raised tube that is caped with a black plastic screw on cover. The Lusso is supplied with a small funnel that fits into the boiler fill tube. That makes filling the boiler much easier.


To the left of the boiler fill is the emergency pressure release valve and to the left of that is the steam wand fitting. To the right of the boiler fill is the water tap fitting. The control knobs for both the steam and water tap are located on their respective side of the frame. They are basic but effective; both are attached to the control stem with a recessed slotted screw. Make note, there is no vacuum breaker on the boiler. False pressure must be bled off as well as the vacuum released once the boiler cools. This makes the machine less suited to operation on a timer.



To access the pressurestat, level box, level probe, heating element, and high temperature limit breaker, you must remove the outer shell. To remove the shell you must remove both the steam and water tap knobs. Once removed you can tip the machine up on its back for easy access to the bottom mount bolts. The outer two 10mm bolts hold the shell to the frame, the inner two bolts hold the boiler to the frame. Once the two bolts are unscrewed the shell can be removed from the frame.


Once removed, the pressurestat can easily be accessed and adjusted. If you trip the high limit breaker you may need to remove the shell to reset it as well. If you have small bony fingers you may be able to press it from above with the shell on. If you have short ham hock sized hands like me, you will need to remove it.

The Lusso has a level probe and level box, a feature normally found on commercial machines. There is a level probe in the boiler and a rudimentary level control box. If the water level drops to low, the machine will illuminate a low water light and power off the heating element. It would be nice if other manufacturers included a level cutoff. If I had a dollar every time I read a post where someone let the boiler get low and blew a heating element I would have a cabinet full of coffee. That is not an issue with the Lusso. The heating element is mounted at the lowest point in the boiler. The owner's manual shows the element rated at 1000 watts, the sticker on the bottom of the frame lists 1200 watts.


The group is on the Lusso is small. The 45mm portafilter makes the group skinny. I am not sure how the spring and piston are removed from the group. The piston chamber is solid on top so the piston and spring must get removed through the base of the group. The shower screen is not screwed in so it must pry out. There must be some kind of retaining collar above the shower screen. One of the unique features of the Lusso is a small thermosiphon. The group is actively heated via a thermosiphon. The group is not bolted to the boiler but to the front frame of the machine. That prevents the Lusso from overheating like other boiler attached groups. That is also responsible for the extended warm-up time, you must allow the thermosiphon time to do its job and heat the group to operating temperature.


The lever hinge assembly looks a lot like that of the Elektra Microcasa Leva. There is fixed hinge point on the piston shaft and a roller pin that moves as the lever is pulled. The lever is the same length as the Microcasa Leva but appears to be slightly thicker. The lever also feels easier to pull. I have no way of measuring the spring tension, but the lever on the Lusso is noticeably easier to pull than the lever of the Microcasa Leva.

The basket on the Lusso is tiny! The double basket will drop inside the double basket of the Microcasa which will drop inside the double basket of the millennium group LaPavoni, which will drop inside a Faema style 58mm basket. The size is very apparent when you put the tiny little tamper beside a 58mm tamper.


I think that covers the physical build and design of the machine. Tomorrow I start pulling shots.



One last note, the power cord on the Lusso is long, I mean real long. So you want to put the machine on the countertop but the electrical outlet is 6 feet away. The only problem you will have is where to coil the extra power cord. I have to measure it but has to be 8 feet long.

cannonfodder wrote:One of the unique features of the Lusso is a small thermosiphon. The group is actively heated via a thermosiphon. The group is not bolted to the boiler but to the front frame of the machine. That prevents the Lusso from overheating like other boiler attached groups. That is also responsible for the extended warm-up time, you must allow the thermosiphon time to do its job and heat the group to operating temperature.

The Lusso is actually ready to make espresso in 10-12 minutes (so no need for a timer). On the model that I had use of for several months, vapor lock in the thermosyphon prevented the group from coming to temperature no matter how long the machine stayed on; however, that problem was easily addressed. After purging the false pressure about (8 minutes into the warmup), flushing a small amount of water (~ 1 ounce) would purge the vapor, and in three or four more minutes, the Lusso was up to temperature and would stay there all day if you left the machine on, and would not overheat.

Regards
Timo

I have had my test box on for two days now but will need to power it down tomorrow to refill the boiler.

Your warmup time is interesting. My time with the machine is limited so I have no real opinion yet, but while the initial heatup is around 10 minutes, a quick purge, another 3 and the boiler is at temperature. My group takes around a half hour to get warm, an hour is even better. But as I said, I have only had it on the bench for a couple of days.

Timo & Dave. What are your boiler pstat set at? Could your difference in warm up be due to different pstat settings? I have the two group Lusso with the pstat set at 1.0 +/- 0.05 bars. After couple months of almost daily use have settled on ~10mins after bleeding false pressure and purging the groupheads to deal with any vapor lock allowing the thermosyphon to function.

I insulated the boiler with two layers of Thermoguard foiled faced insulation. After about 30 minutes of being powered up the cycling time of the heating element even with the relatively tight pstat increases to few minutes. Guessing that is time the machine has reached thermoequilibrium.

Has anyone tried to add a vacuum breaker to the boiler? Was wondering if you could drill & tap a hole to insert a fitting that would then accept breaker?

narc wrote:Timo & Dave. What are your boiler pstat set at? Could your difference in warm up be due to different pstat settings?

I tried a wide range of pstat settings. I had heard it was not uncommon in Italy to have the machines set at 1.5 and so I wanted to experiment.

I think 1.5 is optimal for singles, especially for blends that do not fare well on the cool end. The water draw is so small that the extraction can be too cool if the machine's pstat were set much lower. I eventually settled on the recommendation in the Manual D'Uso E Manutenzione: 1.0 - 1.2 Kg/cm² because that seemed optimal for making several doubles in succession with steamed milk.

Note that on page 8 it reads:

'When making the first coffee, after the machine is up to pressure, lower the lever and take it on start position to allow the group to warm up. This ensures the first cup of coffee you make is really hot."

The slightly different Italo-German translation (p. 14) clarifies their intent:

... nur bis zur Halfte hoch—und dann wieder herunterzudrucken (2-3 Mal wiederholen) ...

i.e. ... down only halfway—and then let the lever up and bring it down again (repeat 2 or 3 times)


But since "down only halfway" is as far down as the lever will go, they must mean "all the way down, i.e. only halfway"; the Italian bears this out:

"... a macchina pronta, si consiglia di abbassare la leva fino in fondo e riaccompagnare in posizione di partenza..." (p. 2)


They're recommending a warming flush before the first pull of the day.

Regards
Timo

I have the pressurestat at 1.0 bar. In addition to the half hour warm-up, I also purge an ounce of water through the group before I start grinding my shot to further heat the group and my cup. I believe Charles also followed this basic routine. An extended warm-up with pre shot flushes to further warm the group and cup.

I turned off the machine today and flushed out the remaining water in the boiler so I can start fresh this evening. I will probably start putting together some initial observations/thoughts on the machine later today with an Elektra/Lusso head to head later this week or beginning of next week.

One of the benefits of its thermosyphon design is that the Lusso can be ready to make espresso in ~12 minutes. This sets it apart from other machines that do require a longer heat up. This quickness is an advantage that would interest those shopping for a bona-fide "domestic-class" machine.

Regards
Timo

There must be something unusual about my machine because it is nowhere near ready in 12 minutes. After a half hour the group may be slightly over 100F and I do understand that the group should not get blistering hot. The cooler group is needed to act like a heat sink to cool down the overheated boiler water. My experience is limited with this machine, do others behave in a similar fashion in regard to group temperature at the below stated boiler pressure?

After a half hour I can grab the group with no discomfort however I have only had the machine for a few days. I will have to look into this discrepancy further. According the boiler gauge, I am running around 0.9-1.0 bar with the deadband. I will have to pay closer attention to the gauge to get a more exact deadband but it is not wide enough for it to have caught my attention.

After a 12 minute warm up the group is not much warmer than the ambient room temperature. I could be experiencing an air lock in the thermosiphon line but I do purge and ounce of water out the group after the machine has come to temperature. I will pay particular attention to the heat up time this evening when I return home.

cannonfodder wrote:There must be something unusual about my machine because it is nowhere near ready in 12 minutes. After a half hour the group may be slightly over 100F and I do understand that the group should not get blistering hot. The cooler group is needed to act like a heat sink to cool down the overheated boiler water. My experience is limited with this machine, do others behave in a similar fashion in regard to group temperature at the below stated boiler pressure?

After a half hour I can grab the group with no discomfort however I have only had the machine for a few days. I will have to look into this discrepancy further. According the boiler gauge, I am running around 0.9-1.0 bar with the deadband. I will have to pay closer attention to the gauge to get a more exact deadband but it is not wide enough for it to have caught my attention.

After a 12 minute warm up the group is not much warmer than the ambient room temperature. I could be experiencing an air lock in the thermosiphon line but I do purge and ounce of water out the group after the machine has come to temperature. I will pay particular attention to the heat up time this evening when I return home.

As I wrote earlier, the group will remain cool to the touch no matter how long you leave the machine on, unless you pull a warming flush after it has truly come up to pressure, i.e. after the false pressure has been bled off with the steam wand. The warming flush clears a vapor lock that inhibits the thermosyphon's convection (or so I hypothesize).

On the Lusso I had, the pstat light would go off for the first time (false pressure still there) about 8 minutes after it had been turned on. Bleed the false pressure. Flush. Wait another 4 minutes. Group now very hot to the touch.

Regards
Timo

timo888 wrote:On the Lusso I had, the pstat light would go off for the first time (false pressure still there) about 8 minutes after it had been turned on. Bleed the false pressure. Flush. Wait another 4 minutes. Group now very hot to the touch.

Sorry for stating the obvious, but any espresso machine will warm up faster if you flush boiling water through the group during warmup, including an E61 HX espresso machine. They won't necessarily be temperature stable, i.e., the brew temperature profile may be an inverted "U" shape. The Lusso has a lighter group and may be able to avoid this pitfall. Once Greg has finished building a customized thermofilter for it, we can measure directly.

timo888 wrote:As I wrote earlier, the group will remain cool to the touch no matter how long you leave the machine on, unless you pull a warming flush after it has truly come up to pressure, i.e. after the false pressure has been bled off with the steam wand. The warming flush clears a vapor lock that inhibits the thermosyphon's convection (or so I hypothesize).

On the Lusso I had, the pstat light would go off for the first time (false pressure still there) about 8 minutes after it had been turned on. Bleed the false pressure. Flush. Wait another 4 minutes. Group now very hot to the touch.

Regards
Timo

I do that. I purge the steam wand for 10-20 seconds after the first heat, after the second heat I will purge more steam and pull an ounce or two through the group. 10 minutes later the group is slightly warm to the touch.

I will put a thermocouple on it this evening and see what happens. It could simply be a fluke on my part. I have only power cycled the machine a few times. I tend to turn it on and leave it on until the boiler needs filled, which is a nice change with a lever machine.

HB wrote:Sorry for stating the obvious, but any espresso machine will warm up faster if you flush boiling water through the group during warmup, including an E61 HX espresso machine. They won't necessarily be temperature stable, i.e., the brew temperature profile may be an inverted "U" shape. The Lusso has a lighter group and may be able to avoid this pitfall. Once Greg has finished building a customized thermofilter for it, we can measure directly.

But this is different, Dan. The group NEVER GETS HOT even if you leave it on for hours. A flush is required to get the thermosyphon going. I suspect a vapor lock.

Regards
Timo

P.S. This is based on my experience with just one Lusso over a period of several months. But the instructions in the manual to pull a warming flush or three makes me think the problem is intrinsic to the design.

cannonfodder wrote:I do that. I purge the steam wand for 10-20 seconds after the first heat, after the second heat I will purge more steam and pull an ounce or two through the group. 10 minutes later the group is slightly warm to the touch.

On the Lusso I had, the group would be very hot after this procedure and would stay hot for the rest of the day, but only lukewarm otherwise.

What are the kinds of things that can interfere with a thermosyphon?

Scale blockage?

I wonder if the amount of water in the boiler could have an effect upon the thermosyphon? How high are you filling it?

Since the group is not attached to the boiler metal-to-metal, the only heat it gets is by convection.

Regards
Timo

timo888 wrote:But this is different, Dan. The group NEVER GETS HOT even if you leave it on for hours. A flush is required to get the thermosyphon going. I suspect a vapor lock.

Yes, you have posted this observation before. I understand your point.

HB wrote:Yes, you have posted this observation before. I understand your point.

OK. If you insist, you can be Paul Newman and I'll be Strother Martin.

Regards
Timo

I powered up the Ponte Vecchio Lusso (PVL) 2 group as normal but did not flush the left grouphead. "Normal" is after reaching the max of 1.05bars, open steam valve to release any false pressure, let boiler reach max again, flush grouphead for couple seconds. After letting the machine sit for ~1 hour both groups felt the same to the touch.

If time allows tomorrow morning will repeat, but check the grouphead temps at 15, 30 and 45 minutes. Right now I'm guessing that flushing only speeds up heating of the grouphead. Another factor may be how low you drain the boiler. Some days during the cleaning process the water level gets low enough to kick on the low water level shut off switch. I use the residual pressure to flush out the heads. That might lead to exposing the thermosyphon system to air which probably would cause a vapor/air lock requiring group flush. Normally I flush & clean the heads with what water remains until the water level reaches the low end on the sight glass.

As I noted before on the PVL I own the water level sight glass is positioned too low. The low water switch is activated when the water level is still visible at the bottom of the glass. I usually pour in 1.75L.( one Brita pitcherful). The water level goes above the max on the water level sight glass. There is still plenty of air space in the boiler to generate dry steam.

PV advertise this machine as having an "average warm-up time" of only 10 minutes.

Something is amiss if it takes longer than 15 minutes ... allowing a few extra minutes for pstats set lower than the factory recommendation.

If one does a warming flush at ~8 minutes but then gives the machine another 4 or 5 minutes for the thermosyphon to do its thing, any spike in heat from the warming flush will have had time to dissipate, and the group will reach temperature equilibrium.

Regards
Timo

timo888 wrote:PV advertise this machine as having an "average warm-up time" of only 10 minutes.

220V versus 110V may come into play?.... Note, I haven't touched a Ponte Vecchio yet.