just got this a few weeks ago. its a late 80's livietta. had to do a bit of work on it, but its up and running and its a nice change from the silvia. its physically about the same size as the silvia, but has the added benefit of being an hx.



i had a fun little project with this whole thing. soon after i got the machine, brew temp was too low and i poked around and realized the pressurestat was broken (the tension spring inside it was mangled) and after searching for a replacement for a while, and being impatient (olympia would've taken an order, which is good to know) i decided to try to repair. i was able to stitch another spring onto the original one and tie it in. its pretty hacky, but after attatching a pressure gauge to the steam outlet post, i was able to adjust things to a .8 - 1 bar range, which seems to be working just fine. if anyone out there has a better idea of how to clean up my handiwork, i'd love to hear.



i had to fix the safety pressure valve as well - it was leaking. i basically just disassembled it and cleaned the silicone plug, reversed it, reassembled and it seems to be working. i adjusted it to the point of letting steam out during a normal heating cycle, then tightened it a bit more.

i descaled the boiler with citric acid (3 tbsp/1.5 ltr) and the brew path with caffinex. both were pretty nasty.

i've measured brew temp with a styrofoam cup and my steaming thermometer - i'm hitting a bit over 200 degrees . perhaps a bit hot, i don't know.

i do still have a couple of semi-issues:

1. after i pull a shot, water shoots out of the lower outlet at high velocity, kindov like a sneeze. i'm not used to seeing stuff come out at such a high velocity, leading me to think that somethings wrong. is this normal? i actually haven't checked brew pressure, which is my next mini-project.

2. i've had to adjust my rocky to grind 2 steps more coarse than what i had with the silvia, which i guess makes sense since the basket is 54 on livietta vs. 58 on silvia.

3. the taste ... i'm coming off of a silvia. i'm able to get more consistently good shots with the livietta (i really have had zero sour shots), and, like bob craig said in a different thread, they tend to be sweet, good crema. but i think i might not be getting quite the highs that i was getting with the silvia. of course, for me, i was only getting a really good shot from the silvia maybe 1:4 times (and i was surfing ala coffeegeek's video, 14g dose). but i was wondering whether this is what you'd expect from the livietta, in terms of taste - kindov a more mellow taste.

4. steaming. a lot more force than the silvia. i can't seem to get microfoam out of the 4-hole tip, which appears to be soldered on. i have read a lot of posts that suggest plugging holes of the tip to make it easier, but if its possible to learn how to use this 4-hole tip to get good microfoam, i'd like to learn. about a half gallon in, and i haven't had huge success. any suggestions? when i open the valve fully, its pretty easy to slip and suddenly i've got big bubbles. most of what i end up with is shaving cream foam on top and liquid below.

can you steam and pull at the same time? is it going to harm the taste of the shot - small boiler, temp will drop too precipitously?

anyways, any comments, advice would be welcome.

-andrew

yup, my machine's portafilter is 54mm - much like the newer maximatic models. that's good to hear that the 3-way valve sneeze is normal. i like the idea of angling the output to the drip tray.

thanks for your tips welone. a few 4-hole steaming tips that i've found:
Steaming Milk on the Olympia Cremina
Olympia Cremina Steaming Tip -- Replacement/modification suggestions?

hi mogogear, good to have more on board who have experience with these little machines.

what's the purpose of the vacuum breaker cap/valve? i noticed that my boiler cap has this screw/nut pair in it. originally, when i got the unit, the cap would leak steam/water. so, i tightened this screw/nut. i'm not sure that i should've, but the spurting is gone.