Good day everyone!

I purchased a Post Millennium La Pavoni made in 2004 off eBay. It was pretty wild that the seller lived in my wife's little home town so her parents were able to pick it up. All has been well with the machine, but so wanted to upgrade to a naked portafilter and larger basket. I recently purchased all of those parts from Ferrari-Espresso but when I went to pull a shot, the basket would not fit.

I measured the original basket that came with the machine and sure enough it was 49mm not 51mm. I made the assumption that because it was made in 2004 the machine would have post mill parts so I did not measure before ordering. Now I have a portafilter and basket that I cannot use. I have a baby due any day now and just went to one income so springing for a $300 group head isn't wise I have tried to reach out to the seller, but no longer have their number.

Was it a common practice to swap out for older parts? Was there was a time when better quality internals were used? Would there have been a benefit?

Does anyone have a suggestion of what to do, my goal is to pull a larger shot. Any help is greatly appreciated.

-Tyler

While it's odd to have a pre-mill group, it's possible it was from factory and certainly possible it was an aftermarket switcharoo. That said, I wouldn't be too fussed. In fact, pre-mill is kind of a benefit as it will take an elektra double basket. On my 2001 pro, it has the pre-mill group (49mm). Using the stock portafilter with the elektra basket I can dose 16g.

With respect to output, there are a few factors, but the biggest factor is the pressure. At .8 bar, my post mill barely gets 26g/pull. At 1.2, I get 36g consistently. Try turning up the pressure on the pressurestat. Keep in mind, this will increase your temps, but for most mediums it's still within a good range.

Can you post pictures? It sounds odd to me, but it's certainly possible.

There was a machine on EBay recently advertised as post millennium that I thought was not. I messaged the seller but never got a reply. Send me a private message and I'll fill you in on the details.

As Jerry wrote, please share pictures, so that we can help you identify it.
You can also unscrew the bottom cover; the heater element shows the year of manufacture.