Hi Bob,

I posted that pic for the removable wand question. Doug had asked me to post a pic to show it. The one on the left is the 49 mm. It is the one I plan on keeping. Other than the safety valve I love it!
The basket that came with the pre 2000 is a POC so I don't think I would have a tamper fitted to it. The 51 will not fit in the pre 2000 but the 49 seems to fit in the newer machine. I haven't pulled a shot that way though. The 51 basket seems to be of higher quality in regards to manufacture.

To be clear, I am not having any equipment issues right now. I am in espresso heaven!

Cheers,

Jeff

Well that is good news to be sure! AHH ESPRESSO HEAVEN... Yep, there are many here that take it for granted! Right you 'old timers'!? I don't count myself in that class... yet.

Lockman wrote:Okie dokie,

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I noticed the angle of the arms is different when on the machines. You can see the baskets are a different size as well. The other way around it fits right inside of the other.

Nice picture Jeff . The pre you have is referred to as an in-between model manufactured in 1999. There aren't that many, so it may become a collectors item. I'd keep it. Almost all of your machine is Millennium with the exception of the double switch, the heating element and the group head.

The existence of this model contradicts the double switch, removable steam wand distinction between the pre and the Millennium. If these differences are used as a guide line, you will still be right 90+% of the time.

SWEET!

Thanks Doug!

Hello guys, it's my first post here. I just wanted to add some more confusion to the pre/post millenium saga. I recently bought a professional that has a single green switch, removable steam wand, single coil two-post heating element, and a 49mm group head. When I bought the machine on-line, I figured it was a post millenium due to the single green switch (I couldn't quite make out the shape of the group head in the pictures), and I purchased a post millenium filter holder to use with it. When the machine got delivered, I realized that it was a pre-millenium, so I grinded down the filter holder to fit it. I ended up having to take ~1mm off each ear, and about 2mm off the diameter of the holder itself. Fits like a glove now, though. Anyways, I called European Gifts to find out when the post millenium began production (because mine had a build date of April 2001) and he told me the only surefire way to tell a the two apart is to look in the boiler where the brass tube enters the group head and see if there is a plastic disc there. The pre's do not have a disc and the post's do. Hope this helps anyone else who may be wondering.

Interesting. So which is yours?

Good question .

I was kinda surprised to find out that the pre was still being manufactured in april 2001. I just remembered that I also have a plastic piston instead of a brass one, which is usually another sign of an early post millenium model, I think.

bbjr wrote:(because mine had a build date of April 2001)

I'm unable to locate a build date on any of my Europiccolas. Where did you see it on the machine?

bbjr wrote:...the only surefire way to tell a the two apart

I not sure what would be meant by "tell the two apart" considering Jeff's machine is clearly a combination of pre and post.

Mine also has the resettable circuit breaker in the bottom (bottom held on by PH screw). Also the steam wand goes down much further (points almost straight down (6 a clock) vs about 8 a clock on the newer one. After the breaker went on the pre, I switched to the post and I am pulling better shots . Go figure...