Just came across a production year Sept 1960 E61 lever machine. Looks to be in good shape so i bought it on the spot without doing any homework on it first. So i have questions on this machine in which i hope can be answered so i dont have to turn it on blind..

First i noticed it has a gas burner under the boiler, will this operate the machine alone or do i need power? The unit is fitted with a 220 plug, i really cant see any coils or heating elements. When i open the top lid i can see the boiler, a switch on the right side with three positions and a grey box which some wires run to. The front of the machine has the two steamers and the hot water dispenser which i am sure once i turn it on i will figure out which dial operates each one.

So if anyone can lead me in the correct direction on how to setup and use this beautiful machine, or if any manuals parts and users are around it would help also..

Cheers.

Joe, welcome to H-B!

Can you show us photos of your machine? An E61 should have been made in 1961. The E61 is a pump machine, not a lever machine, so I'm confused.

Posting images on HB

Hi Gary, here are some pics, hope you can tell me also exactly, i am just going by what i see..

It looks like a badged 1960.

Also it has an E61 panel in the back, but that is probably a replacement. It looks more like a Faema President or something similar. If that were my machine I would be happy it's a classic vintage lever. It looks to be in great shape.

An E61 would look like this in front. It is famous for the brew group you see, which is still being used on many machines today.



This is a Faema President in front. It is exactly like yours.



And in the back the panel would look like this:

The patent on the "E-61" group was filed September 25, 1961. The boiler in this machine seems to have a date of September 12, 1960 ("12.9.1960"). The "E" in the "E-61" from everything I have read was used as there was a solar eclipse in 1961. Now, historically speaking, my questions would be:
- Did Faema use the "E-61" badging on manual lever machines?
- Did they produce so many of these boilers that they had them for the later introduced E-61 machines?
- Were they producing the "E-61" grouped machines before the patent was filed, and if so, when?
So my wonderment typed above leads to the question, is this an original machine or one put together from parts?

There seems to have been a lot of cross pollination between machines at the FAEMA factory, with parts from various machines being interchanged. Especially during the period where they changed over to pump machines. The boilers for both the president and E61 are identical as is most of the body work.
Having said all that I would say this is most likely a Faema president that has had the front glass replaced with an E61 glass.
They are a great machine and the FAEMA Zodiac groups are great and all parts are still widely available. Id say you have really scored.

Looks to be a re-badged President Zodiaco. The gas systems were usually used to supplement the electrical heating element (in lever models mostly), which in some cases were lower wattage that the ones' used in models where electricity was the primary source for heating.

On a side note: what's going on with that single knob in the middle? Is it for controlling both the left and the right valves?

My gueaa is its a first series president. You can tell by the exterior levelglass and pressure gauge, central steam knob, also the old style feet as seen on urania (ao) and some smaller details.

The glass plate is indeed not the original, great photo's and info are to be found in the Faema book, written by collector Enrico Maltoni. A good read with some great pictures for anyone interested in (the history of) faema machines.

Later models president are almost the same as the e61, but with only 1 manometer (no need for pump pressure) and often with two extra tubes feeding the groups thermosyphon (dipper style) added to the boiler.
Early -post e61- pump machines had a very rare group configuration of which I can't recall the name, there are only a few collectors that have one. I one heared Valente's brother actually built that machine but thats just one of many stories.

See machine in bottom centre of attached image

I love all of the knowledge of the users of this forum!