Lelit Elizabeth Owner Experience - Page 32

Need help with equipment usage or want to share your latest discovery?
drdre89
Posts: 4
Joined: 2 years ago

#311: Post by drdre89 »

andrewjames wrote:Are you sure it's glued on? I haven't touched the OPV on my machine but when doing other maintenance when I've shipped the machine across the country I was able to disconnect all the tubing by pushing the little metal rings at the connectors into the connection point, which frees the tubing and allows it to be pulled out. Sorry, I have no idea what these are actually called, but you might want to check if that's the case going into the OPV, since I don't think it's using glue most likely.
It's all good. Because the machine was brand new they sent out a tech and he fixed the tube. The tech said the tube was extremely difficult to come off.

orangetikibird
Posts: 7
Joined: 2 years ago

#312: Post by orangetikibird »

Thanks for all the great info on this thread. After talking with Clive Coffee about the other options in my price range and the trade-off, I bought the Elizabeth too. Looking forward to setting it up tomorrow. I'm planning on using the pavlis water method so I hope to never descale.

Prior to this, I had a Crossland CC1 that finally bit the dust over a year ago. I'm still going to use my current Baratza Precisco grinder and maybe I'll upgrade that within a year. My other half can only take so much spending and I needed to get a somewhat push button machine for him. He wouldn't say it, but he'd be happy with a super-auto or maybe a nespresso machine.

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DreamBean
Posts: 2
Joined: 2 years ago

#313: Post by DreamBean »

Hi everyone, good morning from CALIFORNIA!

Recently purchase the Lelit Elizabeth V3/ Atom Grinder 75 with extra stuff. ECM bottomless angled portafilter, comes with a basket. extra basket I pruchased is a IMS Comp. 16/18 Basket my daily driver.

Love this machine and grinder combo and the quality of the espresso+ Grind that is produced.

Interesting story, when I was purchasing the machine this late November 2021 the shop owner had me try out the Lelit Bianca before I commited to the Elizabeth. He compared the machines and made shots, I did not taste a difference, same coffee beans and same level of attention while making the shots. Both shots tasted exactly alike, could not tell the difference in the cup. I will say the more expensive machine has more of that Italian espresso expensive look to it so I thought oh wow this should be much better especially for the greater price, but it was not. Needless to say I went home with the Elizabeth and it's rocking every morning!

Personally, I believe it comes down to quality coffee beans, good grinder and attention to the process.
Although I'm a rookie beginner I have been producing amazing espresso shots and drinks that are just as good if not better as what I have tasted and some of the top cafes in my area and in my travels example Seattle, San Francisco, Berkeley etc. However, on the downside you really learn what a bad espresso shot is at a cafe and unfortunately you come away with that feeling I just spent money on a mediocre drink, LOL.


As many others have said I don't know if you can scientifically prove spending an extra 2000 to 3,000 on a machine is a parallel correlation to great espresso and besides it's very subjective. By no means am I saying don't buy a expensive machine knock yourself out, your money, your choice.
I would really like to see someone with no biases toward a machine with good skills make a shot on a very expensive machine and a mid-level machine with a proper control study group and see if they're much more expensive machine really produces espresso that is parallel with the cost. I think it might rattle some nerves ;)

Anyways looking forward to learning from everyone here and if anyone has any questions I'm more than happy to answer however I'm a rookie as in a few weeks in and therefore might lead you down a bad path LOL.

Oh I forgot to mention I have not made any advance changes to the menu it's basically stock with the temperature set at 198 Fahrenheit. Button 1: no preinfusion. Button 2: Preinfusion/3 secs.

I like button one with the below coffee beans

Medium-Dark, full bodied silky mouth feel espresso with chocolate, nutty, Marshmello notes. We make Capps, and shots depending on mood.

Fortunately we have amazing coffee roasters all around is in NorCal.

drdre89
Posts: 4
Joined: 2 years ago

#314: Post by drdre89 »

I've noticed that on my first shot of the day , after a 25 minute startup , the pressure spikes up to 10 bars then reverts straight away down to 9 bars (where I have tuned the OPV to) ... It's very strange as only on 1st shot of the day.

Also I have tried a blind basket as the 1st shot of the day for backflushing, and it does the same thing ... Spikes up to 10 bars then straight away reverts to 9 .. after the first few backflushes it peaks at just over 9 bars (where I set my OPV to) and works as normal.

Anyone else experiencing the same thing and if there is a remedy for this?

DreamBean
Posts: 2
Joined: 2 years ago

#315: Post by DreamBean »

Will check out my machine tomorrow and let you know if I encounter something sim.

Thanks,

chanty 77
Posts: 917
Joined: 14 years ago

#316: Post by chanty 77 »

I was pretty delinquent of cleaning out the water reservoir/tank--mainly because of the tight fitting water tank & small hole. Pretty much adding fresh water as it got lower as the tank is a pain in the BUTT to get out & put back in. Today I replaced the water softener cartridge after 6 months. This water reservoir is such a tight, tight...did I say TIGHT fit, it was very hard to remove but even worse trying to put back in. My concerns were the rubber hoses getting sliced. What an absolute poor design. Don't get me wrong. I love this machine, but for the money--they certainly could have done a much better job with this poor excuse for a water reservoir, cleaning it, removing it, putting it back in the machine...awful. Maybe it is just me trying to get the tank out & back in without a lot of trouble--but even my husband had a problem getting it in and out. I'm still debating on ordering this tank https://espressokultur.at/produkt/lelit ... -und-pl92/. I don't even care about the expenses of it. I'm just concerned that if it is a workable and better water tank--why isn't Lelit using it for their machines now?

scrane
Posts: 91
Joined: 12 years ago

#317: Post by scrane »

It looks to me that this is just a modified OEM tank with the top cut out and a stiffener rod added. Seems like an easy do it yourself mod.

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jdawg11
Posts: 3
Joined: 3 years ago

#318: Post by jdawg11 »

I totally agree. I find the tank to be a terribly designed piece, and one that the user has to interact with fairly regularly. I don't have an inherent problem with plastic, but I do have a problem with (1) the tiny opening which makes scrubbing the inside impossible, (2) the plastic tube for the float valve separated by a small space from the wall which makes another space for bacteria buildup.

If anyone has successfully replaced the OEM tank with something else, or has successfully cut the top off of the OEM reservoir without any issues, I would be very interested to hear your experiences.

chanty 77
Posts: 917
Joined: 14 years ago

#319: Post by chanty 77 replying to jdawg11 »

I'm not mechanically minded, thus am seriously thinking of buying this https://espressokultur.at/produkt/lelit ... -und-pl92/. I just want to be absolute sure it will be okay to replace the one that came with the machine. At this point, don't know if the $39.90 is German money or English. If German, English would be about $6 even more expensive.....but I am getting to the point it may be worth the money. So many of us can blow money on worse things, right? Maybe I could easily make my own, but not going to. I'm bad.
When I cleaned it & changed out the water softner cartridge--the vendor suggested using half white vinegar with half warm water. SInce there is no kind of brush that one can get down that small hole and actually clean the machine with the brush--just shook it & let it sit in there a bit before emptying & rinsing really well.
I really love the Elizabeth, but I find it odder than odd that Lelit wouldn't replace the water tank that they have to know is annoying beyond annoying. Such a great machine and such a crap water tank.

og_mclovin
Posts: 1
Joined: 2 years ago

#320: Post by og_mclovin »

Anyone have issues with the steam temperature window being too wide? Right now I have the steam temp set to 140, but it won't start heating again until it drops below 120.

On average it's sitting in the high 120s or low 130s after I pull a shot, and if I steam at that temp the pressure quickly drops off to where you can't even keep the milk spinning.

So right now I have to release steam to get it to drop below 120, then start steaming once it heats back up to 130 or higher. Then I get really good steam pressure since the temp is higher and the boiler is probably running the whole time I am steaming. But I feel like I'm back to temperature surfing on a single boiler machine.

I haven't changed any advanced PID settings, only upped the steam temp to 140 in the regular settings to try to improve this, but it's the same at 135. Any help would be appreciated.