La Pavoni Europiccola - my first lever

#1: Post by **Will Tamper** » July 30th, 2021, 12:53 am

I thought maybe this was the forum for my first post here...well sort of. I was actually a member number of year back but haven't been on in a while and forgot my PW and the account it was tied to has been defunct for years. Apologies if this is the wrong forum.

Anyway, I'm back and I've switched to lever machines. Currently running a La Pavoni Europiccola millennium model. I picked this about maybe about a year ago and immediately took it apart and replaced all the rings and cleaned it up. It took me a little while to get the grind, tamp, and pressure dialed in. Once I did, oh man the sweet nectar that this will produce is out of this world. I've got to the point where I can consistently pull great shots with it.

I also decided to do a little personalization to it as well. The gold metallic filled sun represents the usual time of the morning when I'm pulling shots as the sun comes up. The stars are waning as the sun and caffeine come to prominence. The lever: everyone thinks it's the star of the show, but SHAZAAM!!! the portafilter is where the magic happens.

Okay, I might have gone a little overboard with creating the LP gear holder with the espresso beans on the back of it, but it goes with the rest of the theme. I just did this for myself and it makes me feel good to see it every time I brew a shot.

I just wanted to share for my first post back and I have some questions I'm going to throw out if I can't find the answers in the archives.

Keep pulling!

Will T.

#2: Post by **tompoland** » July 30th, 2021, 1:15 am

Very nice and impressive that you can pull a great shot from it consistently too. I have a La Pavoni Professional (about a month old) which I have nicknamed "Golf" because I make one great shot out of every 72 shots and one is so satisfying that I come back for more punishment the next day.

July 30th, 2021, 9:58 am

One out of 72...Ouch!

Don't get me wrong, it took a while for me to get the "feel" of this machine. I started getting fairly good consistency using beans from a semi-local roaster. Then I switched to a small local roaster, litterally just down the road from me, and my consistancy got much better. The bonus is they sell real one pound bags of beans, not the 12oz "one pounders" you see elsewhere.

WT.

July 31st, 2021, 12:56 pm

Not sure if I should bust this out into a separate thread or not. I guess I'll start here and I don't get much of a response I'll start a new thread.

A while back I ordered a full o-ring rebuild kit for my Europiccola millenium. The kit showed up in a timely manner so no issue there. Upon changing them out the last one I went to install was for the shower screen, but I discovered that the new o-ring has a flat side and a rounded side, the old one was fully rounded. I attempted to put the new one in but it would not go in and stay in. I used the portafilter to seat it but no matter how many times I tried to get it to seat it would just fall out. I ended up putting the old one back in since that wasn't where I was having an issue, and I had no issues getting that one to seat properly again. I would still like to replace it at some point but it certanly seems like it won't fit. This machine has the Millenium sticker on the bottom and uses a 51mm portafilter basket so I'm sure I ordered the right kit.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks!
WT

July 31st, 2021, 1:58 pm

Just adding one more thing...

I know these flat sided o-rings work in many machines, but this things would not seat at all. Now, I know my way around o-rings. I had a buddy who oned and ran a fastner supply business with a repair shop for tuning up and rebuilding pneumatic, gas powered, and electric nail and staple guns (all types, all brands, all sizes). I was the guy who came in, tore them down, cleaned and tuned up, and completely rebuilt them in my spare time. O-ring and sleeves abound in these things. I've also tore down and rebuilt semi-autos I've owned as well. Even so I could not get that o-ring to seat which leads me to believe it's not the proper o-ring. Unfortuneately the company I bought the kit from does not respond to emails sent to the address they tell you to use on their website - radio silent. Everyone has heard of them but no point in beating a dead horse since the horse won't reply.

WT.

#6: Post by **RobAnybody** » July 31st, 2021, 1:59 pm

interteresting that it had a round portafilter gasket,
the D-shaped gasket is typical for the millennium group.
Since you have the issue that your gasket falls out it could be your group needs the Q-gasket. (edit - or you actually recieved the q-gasket and you need the normal one)
https://www.theespressoshop.co.uk/Mobil ... -2686.aspx
this was used between 2008-2010 and is slightly broader than the standard millennium portafilter gasket.
cheers,
Rob

July 31st, 2021, 2:09 pm

Thanks!

Now, that doesn't look exactly like what's currently in the machine except there is a slight ridge running around the center. I might have taken a picture of it when I had it out. I'll have to see if I can find it.

WT

#8: Post by **tompoland** » August 1st, 2021, 5:51 am

It's more like 1 in 3 but the golf joke works better with 1 out of 72 ... "never let the facts get in the way of telling a good story"