Lapera DS second edition update - Page 2

A haven dedicated to manual espresso machine aficionados.
User avatar
baldheadracing (original poster)
Team HB
Posts: 6225
Joined: 9 years ago

#11: Post by baldheadracing (original poster) »

FotonDrv wrote:Thank you, that is very little flex, only visible with a dial indicator! Thank you Baldheadracing.

Another question; are there rollers on the group head lever to piston rod interaction?
I'm not sure if this answers your question, but Thomas posted this video on IG a couple months ago. The video shows the current group top; I have a slightly different version which I believe is mechanically identical.
- from:

Also, note that the piston floats with respect to the piston rod: https://lapera.ca/tag/group/
-"Good quality brings happiness as you use it" - Nobuho Miya, Kamasada

austted
Posts: 54
Joined: 13 years ago

#12: Post by austted »

I read the original thread Building a lever machine.... from scratch
with great interest. Apart from a detailed discussion of the Brugnetti Aurora lever design it covered just about every aspect involved in designing and building a lever espresso machine.

Curiously Thomas modified his design of his wood steam and Hw knobs to match what I understand to those used by Pavoni. I believe they are identical (not the wood ones) to those in my BFC / Vallelunga Leva Royal Vallelunga Leva I believe these are common to all current BFC/ Royal machines. Now I will have to see if I can follow Thomas and make some wooden ones when time permits. Will also have to make matching lever and PF handles.

User avatar
FotonDrv
Supporter ♡
Posts: 3748
Joined: 11 years ago

#13: Post by FotonDrv »

baldheadracing wrote:I'm not sure if this answers your question, but Thomas posted this video on IG a couple months ago. The video shows the current group top; I have a slightly different version which I believe is mechanically identical.
video
- from:

Also, note that the piston floats with respect to the piston rod: https://lapera.ca/tag/group/
Perfect! that shows the rollers I was thinking it might have. It is nice to see those fitted since I believe there will be less sideways pressure exerted on the piston rod.
That Light at the End of the Tunnel is actually a train

User avatar
spressomon
Posts: 1904
Joined: 12 years ago

#14: Post by spressomon »

Stephen, I can't wait to hear how you like your new Lapera :lol:
No Espresso = Depresso

User avatar
FotonDrv
Supporter ♡
Posts: 3748
Joined: 11 years ago

#15: Post by FotonDrv replying to spressomon »

:D It might be a while, but it sure is a nice machine.
That Light at the End of the Tunnel is actually a train

User avatar
FotonDrv
Supporter ♡
Posts: 3748
Joined: 11 years ago

#16: Post by FotonDrv »

After reading on the Lapera website about this nicely built machine i have another question. It clearly explains how the PID works and where it is located BUT it does NOT show or explain where the electronic circuit board with all the semiconductors is actually located.
I know that Slayer recognized what kills integrated circuits quicker than anything else, except a power surge, is HEAT. Slayer put heat shields between the boiler and the circuit board and located that board behind the boilers just inside the back panel. Where does Lapera put their circuit board? Hopefully not above the boiler.
Does anyone have photos of the PID and the video of how its accessed and moved into view and also where the circuit board is located?
That Light at the End of the Tunnel is actually a train

User avatar
baldheadracing (original poster)
Team HB
Posts: 6225
Joined: 9 years ago

#17: Post by baldheadracing (original poster) »

I'm not turning my machine upside down for photos :lol:, and no doubt some things have changed, so I'll borrow some from Thomas' blog/IG:

1. There's a box at the bottom right corner of the frame that the mains plugs into and has the main on/off switch. I don't know if there are any electronics in there.

2. The main electronics box is mostly underneath the drip tray - in the foreground machine, the box is labelled Lapera with the square of blue painter's tape on top. The little white splotch is a USB connector.



3. In this top-down photo, the control panel for the machine is under the (removed) top cover to one side. (This little box is visible in previous picture as well; it is on a swivel mount.) On the other side, there is some bare Aluminium visible. This is the SSR's heat sink; the SSR is at the bottom of that "box" (which is open on the side facing the case).

-"Good quality brings happiness as you use it" - Nobuho Miya, Kamasada

User avatar
FotonDrv
Supporter ♡
Posts: 3748
Joined: 11 years ago

#18: Post by FotonDrv »

Thank you for the photos. At least there are not electronics above the boiler.

Where does the drip tray exit to a drain? Straight back? Straight down? Photos of the tray?

I did not se the PID in those photos so I am not sure what "swing out" (i believe that what is referenced in the Blog) actually means. Swing where from where?
That Light at the End of the Tunnel is actually a train

User avatar
baldheadracing (original poster)
Team HB
Posts: 6225
Joined: 9 years ago

#19: Post by baldheadracing (original poster) replying to FotonDrv »

You can see the drip tray drain box beside the electronics box in the first photo above. It looks like, and may well be, an off-the-shelf machine drain box. The barbed drain hose connection from the drain box aims toward the rear horizontally and takes the usual drain hose. The drain hose connection isn't visible as it is underneath the silvery/blue reflected boiler drain fitting in the pic (hard to see in the pic, but that fitting is a valve). As an aside, the other copper line to the drain is for an over-pressure valve at the HX input that protects the HX from excessive pressure like a line pressure spike, and the clear silicone hose elbowed into the box is from the vacuum breaker.

The drip tray is visible on the white machine beside the open machine in the pic. The tray has a bottom that is angled towards a hole in the middle that is above the drip tray drain box. (The machine does not have a drip tray that holds water.)

I believe that the "swing out" refers to the little PID control box/display (#3 in my previous post). Normally it lies horizontally under the cup warming tray. With the tray removed, you can swivel the control box upwards so that the display is more easily seen and controlled from the front of the machine.

The PID microcontroller itself is in the main electronics box (#2 in my previous post).
-"Good quality brings happiness as you use it" - Nobuho Miya, Kamasada

User avatar
FotonDrv
Supporter ♡
Posts: 3748
Joined: 11 years ago

#20: Post by FotonDrv »

So underneath that polished drip tray grate there is a collection tray that funnels everything into that small collection box and then exits the machine to the rear. I think I understand it now, thank you.

I assume all that blue is tape covering the paint also covers a shot mirror?

Thank you.
That Light at the End of the Tunnel is actually a train