Hi all!

First, thank you all for the massive amount of information on here! I've been reading, reading, reading... and reading more about how to use, fix and care for my new europiccola.

I'll be adding pictures eventually, but for now I have a couple questions regarding Brass machines.

I've been a devout coffee fan for many years. I'm lucky to have a few local roasters in my area - so pairing fresh beans with an aeropress got me started off after a year or so of instant blah coffee. I've been brewing my cups stronger over time, to the point where I now use 2 scoops of beans with an inverted aeropress (no bypass brewing). I still want more! So, I took the plunge and went for a La Pavoni on the 'bay. Already have a Baratza Encore (to start) and a small digital scale to match up with it.

I just procured a Brass Europiccola with a Copper boiler. It is a millennium model (2003) with wood knobs and handles (I was in love the moment I saw it). It is not a plated version, as it is not magnetic and the boiler has some brass sections. It needs quite a bit of TLC, as I doubt the previous owner cleaned or serviced it once.

I put dezcal descaler in it once before disassembling it. I removed the lacquer off the portafilter and spout as it was cracked and bubbling using paint stripper (thanks rpavlis!). I disassembled and polished the whole machine using Brasso. And, I have a seal rebuild kit from Orphan Espresso at the ready. My questions are as follows...

1. Should I strip the lacquer off the group head? It has started bubbling and has some corrosion beneath it at the group-boiler seam and on the "back" where it touches the boiler (which is actually really funky - I'm probably going to strip that at least, unless told otherwise). The portafilter looks 10x better after doing so, so I'm tempted to do this to the group head as well.

2. The boiler has a bit of corrosion on the outside, which upon buffing seemed to pull the brass color off (like a plated version). Is this an indicator of the "brass/chrome plate/brass plate" Pavonis?. The inside of the boiler certainly looks like brass and copper to me, so I'm not sure what to think...

3. The base is also starting to have flaking lacquer and corrosion around the bottom edge - should I strip that as well? I know I could re-lacquer it, but it's not something that's bothering me yet, and I'm antsy to pull some shots!

4. I got a full group rebuild seals kit from Orphan Espresso along with Dow111 and a boiler-base seal. Any tips? I know I can do it, but there are a lot of seals - some of which I don't want to mix up....

So, many of my questions have already been answered by research and all the information on here and various websites - I just want to run these couple of things by the group here while I have the machine apart and haven't dove in headlong into the rebuild yet.

Thanks! Can't wait to get it back together and dive in!

Scott

My brass portafilters look shiny. They have all been bare brass for a long time. After each use I simply rub them lightly with a flannel cloth that has been used to polish brass after applying Brasso or similar polish. With just a few seconds rub after each use they stay beautiful and shiny. (But if I go away for several weeks they may require a light polishing with something like Brasso.) Coatings on portafilters seem to fail quickly, so I leave them bare. Actually they look better bare! I have been threatening to subject the 1999 machine's group to stripper, it is getting increasingly ugly. I think I will leave it bare, and also go over it with the cloth each time I use it. Eventually the base will need to be stripped. I may leave it bare too.

Is your base magnetic? It will not be with brass.

You can check condition of polymer coatings with an ultraviolet lamp like used for evading scorpions and detecting counterfeit paper money.

I like the looks of brass. There are brass things all over my house.

Be careful to clean surfaces after each use. Coffee contains high concentrations of salts and can be corrosive. Be sure to service fairly frequently and to lubricate metal to metal parts. Also check to be sure that the bolts attaching the group to the boiler are long enough, some machines have short ones that can strip. (I barely avoided a difficult repair when I noticed mine was about to strip.) There have been posts about this problem.

Hey all!

Thanks RPavlis for the tips. I finally finished a complete refurb and made my first shots (if you could call them that - lot of fine tuning to go ) this morning.

It was quite a journey- which I documented with phone pics throughout.

Scale inside the group, replacing many parts, odd issues to figure out (group to boiler pickup tube thread modification!?!) and general accessory sourcing.

Very fun, challenging and rewarding. Can't wait to continue my journey into espressoland, haha. It's really a gorgeous machine that I look forward to using for the foreseeable future.

I'll update this post with pics when I have the chance. I'm sure there are many newbies (like myself) who will benefit from my experience.

Cheers!

Some points to get great shots:

1. Be sure that you have a decent grinder. The adjustment of the grinder is critical. It must not choke the machine, and espresso should not emerge until you apply pressure to the handle. It should take about 30-40 seconds with roughly the force of the mass of 10 to 15 kg to pull the shot in my opinion.

2. Be sure to bleed the group with any of the three types of La Pavoni groups. With the two switch models, when steam begins to issue from the pressure relief valve, pull the lever all the way up until some water is released, just for fraction of a second, and then slowly lower the lever. With the one switch models except the ones with a vacuum relief, you need to bleed the boiler too by opening the steam valve, and while it is still open pull the lever all the way up and slowly lower. Then close steam valve.

3. With the 1974-2000 group machines roughly three minutes must elapse after bleeding the group before the group is warm enough for a shot.

4. Others do it differently, but I leave the portafilter on the machine WITHOUT the filter basket until ready to pull the shot. I press the coffee in the basket outside the portafilter with these machines always.

5. Various ways of measuring temperatures have been devised. You can also carefully time the interval from the moment you bleed the group until the time to pull the shot. (As stated above, about 3 minutes in the 1974 to 2000 group.)

6. In order to avoid spongy shots, I follow the following procedure. For the first shot of the session when the machine is warmed up I remove the portafilter from the group and put the coffee packed filter basket into the portafilter. With my left arm I lift the group handle ALL the way for an instant until a bit of steam and water emerge. I lower the handle just enough to stop the water and steam. (I usually lose only 2 or 3 mL, I do this fast. Then with my right hand I put the portafilter on the machine. I now put the cup under the portafilter. (It would be convenient to have three hands.) Now I pull the handle down and make the shot. It should be, at minimum, quite good.


7. Be sure to clean everything right away.

8. You can make a second shot the same way, but subsequent shots are apt to be too hot on the 1974 to 2000 group machines unless you take some measures to cool the machine. (My procedure is to pull water from a ramekin into the group, others have many other techniques.)

Hey, thanks again. I've read up on a lot of tips and tricks, how to's, newbie questions, etc... I think I've got a handle on it, just a matter of (like you said) dialing my grind.

Just using a Baratza Encore, but already pulled a half decent shot this afternoon. I know people are somewhat split on this grinder, but it's what I have and I'm unwilling to put $300-600 into a grinder right now. Plus, I have a kyocera hand mill if I need a finer grind.

Cheers!

Everyone starts somewhere your taste buds will determine when you are ready to drop 200+ on a new grinder.