I just purchased a La Pavoni Professional on ebay that was mislabelled as a Europiccola so I got a pretty good deal on it. The previous owner said they bought it in Italy in 2002, but it appears to have a pre-millenium group on it. I made some espresso with it last night, and while it wasn't great the machine appears to work as designed. I have a couple of questions that I'm hoping folks can help me answer.

1) I'm assuming that the machine has never had any seals replaced, should I rebuild it or not even though it seems to work. The previous owner alluded to the fact they basically never used it. Would it make sense to only rebuilt the group?
2) I'm learning at this point and have read a lot about getting a bottomless portafilter. Is this something I should do immediately or should I get used to the machine before purchasing one. I want to speed up the learning curve as much as possible.
3) Can anyone confirm that this is in fact a pre-millenium group so that I buy the right bottomless portafilter?
4) Finally, the lever handle has some side to side wiggle in it, is this normal?

Thanks in advance!

TheHorse wrote:Would it make sense to only rebuilt the group?

Yes. And I'm not sure you necessarily need to do that right away if it's working properly. Is a good idea to order a complete seal kit so that you have them on hand. You will want to remove the shower screen periodically as part of your routine cleaning, and if the group gasket is hard and stuck (it probably will be) you'll need to replace it when you do that.

TheHorse wrote:s this something I should do immediately or should I get used to the machine before purchasing one.

No need to rush, however in some respects a bottomless can be a nice learning aid. Be sure to look into the Cafelat bottomless.

TheHorse wrote:Can anyone confirm that this is in fact a pre-millenium group

Yes, definitely a pre-Millennium group on there. You will want the seal kit for the pre-mil, and with the steam wand o-rings for the removable type steam wand.

TheHorse wrote:Finally, the lever handle has some side to side wiggle in it, is this normal?

Yes. The important point here is that the pins and bushing are kept lubricated. You don't want friction that might cause the group slot or lever yoke holes to wear.

I assume that it's 110V even though bought in Italy. If it takes forever to get up to pressure (as in over 20 minutes ) there is a possibility that it still has a 220V element and someone simply swapped to a North American plug.

You can eliminate the "side play" on the lever by replacing the stock 6mm diameter rods with retaining clips with other things. The simplest is to take 6mm threaded rod, cut it to the proper length, tap the ends with an M6 tap, and then put "acorn nuts" on the ends. You can tighten these to make it act like a precision machine. You can find several references to that by searching HB.

It makes sense to service these machines rather often. The handle should move up and down with very little effort when there is no pressure in the boiler. It is extremely easy to relubricate the group seals and clean the group internally. HB is replete with details about doing this. Follow the advise to use only "silicone" lubricants on the internal seals, but heavy grease for the external pins. When servicing watch for corrosion, and deal with it before problems become serious.

Look into the boiler frequently. Check for development of scale. Check the water you use to be sure it does not contain a lot of chloride or other pollutants.

A bottomless portafilter is a good thing. I would strongly advise against chopping one, because I would hate to have ONLY a bottomless one. There are a couple of places where you can get 49mm ones for these. (Ones made for most other 49mm machines are likely right handed, the La Pavoni is left, so it must be for La Pavoni.)

You might read some of the HB postings about bleeding this type of group, and dealing with overheating when making multiple shots.

Thanks guys, that is exactly what I was looking for. Just ordered a rebuild kit and bottomless portafilter. I would like to take the whole thing apart and clean it all at some point but I may play with it a little before then. As for cleaning and polishing the chrome when it's apart, any suggestions?

If that machine was mostly kept in storage, it may be good to go without disassembly. You might try filling it with water and starting it on a GFCI outlet. If there are no leaks, you're in luck.

Christopher Cara uses ultra fine steel wool to clean and polish the chrome. (His father opened the first shop selling home espresso machines in the U.S.) I have used Simichrome, but it has an abrasive that can wear away the chrome. Steel wool is softer than the chrome.

"Mother's Chrome Polish" is what I've used on all my machines. Good product! I don't even use tools, just elbow grease.

Before:


After:

That's just showing off!

Agreed, that Italian Orange fits it perfectly. And that the OP probably doesn't need to start tearing into his unless there's scale or other uglies. Might be a good idea to verify what voltage element is in there. The first version with the green switch is v2.6, which has the teflon piston. http://www.francescoceccarelli.eu/La_Pa ... PL_eng.htm Pulling the base off should reveal the manu date.

For chrome, I've always used automotive chrome polish as it leaves a durable wax coating.

Throwing my $0.02 in, I just replaced all the group head gaskets in my pre-mil Romantica, and it is like having a new machine. One thing to look for is residue on the inside of the group head. I don't know if the small amount of buildup I had was coffee or gasket; it felt more like gasket.

As for a bottomless portafilter, agree that is a nice thing to have. They aren't cheap, and the alternative is to grind out the one you have. I pull exclusively with the bottomless now.