While setting up my new Faema Carisma e61 I noticed the grouphead isn't lined up straight at a 90 degrees/perpendicular to the drip tray, this can be seen by looking at the bottom of the grouphead (solenoid valve?) where water goes into drip tray. See how it is very slightly to the right of the square hole on the tray?

Would this affect the espresso extraction such as cause an uneven flow of water to one side during extraction? So far I'm using the bottomless portafilter and after a while got the extraction to look pretty good but wonder if it would have been easier if the grouphead was straight? I wanted to know if the grouphead MUST be lined up or would cause problems in the future? Is this common for some machines? Thanks.

If it is actually tilted, the worst will be that if you are pulling a double as to singles into separate cups, the volume in the cups will be unequal.

I would get out a bubble level (or use my iPod's digital leveling app) and see if the group is actually tilted or if it is the drip tray that is off. If tilted, the group can likely be aligned as it is held by two bolts in back, through the face of the machine. Depending on whether you can actually reach them, I would loosen the two water pipes, then loosen and align the group, re-tighten the bolts, then tighten the water fittings. If it seems way off, you might be best off loosening both ends of the water pipes so that do not get reset under stress.

denkigroove wrote:See how it is very slightly to the right of the square hole on the tray?

Part of the "charm" of Italian espresso equipment is that no two units are exactly alike.

I know Chris's Coffee Service will pull a unit out of the box and do a full inspection and pretest. Perhaps other vendors as well. Something like this could easily be missed though.

Wow I'll say that group looks off vertical for sure, I mean looks about 88 degrees off!

I think the photo was not of the actual machine in question but the one that was sent to the International Space Station.

Sorry the image pixels were messed up. Should be fixed now.

My unit was from 1st Line which I verified with they inspected but did not pretest with a shot before shipment. Anyways it appears the espresso stream is flowing evenly with the bottomless but I wonder if the grouphead being tilted poses any other issues?