That's some embarrassing lack of QC.

Definitely contact your vendor. The gauge shouldn't be too hard to straighten, and the boiler mounts checked, but it's on them to get it fixed.

"Unfortunately even tho the machine was shipped on a pallet and courier the machine has taken a bounce or two.
If you still have the cover off would you try to tighten the four mounting bolts to see if it will secure the group?
The gauge can be rotated back into place." says Chris Coffee Support.

I gave all inner ones a tug (not much possible) and the lower ones outside as well - will need to get a different wrench for the upper ones which seem to have the most amount of play (mine collides with the group, makes proper application impossible) - will try tomorrow.

Would other Leva owners mind taking a quick peek at their boiler/group connection under the hood? Below is a screen shot of a Leva pic posted earlier in this thread vs mine- seems quite a difference, but I can also see how there could be differences from machine to machine.




Exploded view checked, seems that all is there, but will check again in daylight. Thanks for your input, much appreciated!

JG, that shot you are referencing is from Chris of Talk Coffee in Melbourne, Australia and I believe was from the very first Alex Leva batch ever, early 2014. It wouldn't be unusual to see some running changes in 7 years. This would be even more likely after the Covid shutdown in Italy and shortage of Italian made parts.

I think you should also check the supports as suggested by Chapcc (as well as grouphead)

Original thread:
https://coffeesnobs.com.au/forum/equipm ... -alex-leva

His photos first appear on page 3 of that thread posted by Chris.

Hard to tell from the video.
With the cover off and engaging the lever it should be a two second job finding out what's wrong.
Possibly the group is loose from the front plate.If so tighten things up.
Maybe the front plate isloose .If do tighten up
Maybe both.
If it was my machine it would already be on its way back to the dealer.
I wouldn't trust this one anymore.
You paid good money for a good machine
This one isn't good.

The gap between the group and face panel doesn't look normal. Mine has a small amount of flex at the top bolts when you pull the lever down, but there isn't a gap you can push closed like you show in that video.

Update: Tried tightening all group screws little by little from both sides as far as possible - which, as a 6'5 guy, isn't anyway near enough to get the group snug to the front plate, wiggle remains the same. My best guess is that the threading is off, and Izzo let it slide cause it's 'quasi perfetto'. As TomC pointed out QC should have caught that.
Returning this unit, Chris Nachtrieb has one more that they'll go through 'with a fine tooth comb' - fingers crossed for a happy, heavily caffeinated ending..

Thanks for everyone's input and thoughts, I'll post again when/if resolved, one way or another.

Good plan Jan.
I'm not an expert on these but it looked as if there was a bracket or reinforcing plate missing and that caused the gap.
Good luck with your new new one.

UPDATE: Bench-testing the one last machine they have in stock (the one they wanted to exchange mine for), the vendor found the same issue. Checking back with Izzo gave them the following:
"we had this kind of problem with some units due to different size of the block the frame [sic] ... The solution of the problem is to add a special washer 2.5 mm thick."
So, now waiting for DHL to ship the parts to the vendor, they'll check installation process and then on to me.

Provided this fixes the issue and if the installation of the washers is easy enough, I will do that here myself rather than shipping it back to the vendor (I was also offered a discount in return).

To be continued...

Wow. Not very reassuring for Izzo quality. Glad they're sorting it out for you.