Lever Machine question

Remus

hello everyone. i am intersted in purchasing a lever machine and would like to know a bit more about it first. what are the disadvantages/ advantages etc.

i currently have a la pavoni eurobar pump machine which is pretty old and it's hurting a bit. i have it at the office and it makes around 15-20 cups a day 5 days a week for a few years now.

the main reason i was after the lever machine is cos it looks great :P but b4 i buy one i want to make sure it works and makes great coffee. any feedback would be appreciated. 8)

sharkboy

I don't know much about levers, but I have heard they tend to overheat, so getting the right temperature can be a little tricky. That's only something I've read online, not first hand experience. A couple of lever related links below. http://www.home-barista.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=101 http://www.home-barista.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=139 -Stephen-

FreshCoffee2

Hello Remus, the answer to your question relies entirely upon your own expectations. If you would like to upgrade to something that makes good quailty commercial type espresso topped off with a good crema, with good capacity, I am afraid you should be directing your interest in the direction of a good quality modern electric pump driven espresso machine rather than in the direction of the two commonly available domestic "manual lever" action boiler machines. The lever machines look great...but I am afraid they do not deliver modern commercial style espresso, nor do they have any real capacity to be run either continually, or for the purpose of entertaining groups. They only have a small "finite" capacity ie the boiler only has so much water in it, and when it reaches minimum you depressurise, open it up, refill with water, wait for it to heat up and go again.... This is slow, tedious and unproductive in an office environment. These are very much..."domestic" machines. Should you wish to talk about what might be suitable for you, please do not hesitate to contact me off line....for contact details check the little icons at the LHS of this post! Regardz, FC.

Remus

thanks for the help and the links. FC, gave your place a call today and got some great advice on the rancilio machine. prob a silly question to ask you, but what would be the main difference between that machine and the sunbeam EM6900 ? are there pros and cons for each ?

Trussell

FC, I presume you are talking about the fully manual lever operated machines with pressure supplied by the operation of the lever.... Just checking that these were what you were enquiring about Remus. (i must admit, having been researching partially manual lever machines like the ecm giotto for a while,i thought that was what you were talking about)

Remus

this one i was referring to... http://www.lapavoni.com/new/prodotti_scheda.asp?iditem=22&cat=3&lang=eng this is what i have now... http://www.lapavoni.com/new/prodotti_scheda.asp?iditem=55&cat=4&lang=eng this is the one i would love to have aswell... http://www.lapavoni.com/new/prodotti_scheda.asp?iditem=345&cat=5&lang=eng why pavoni ? i've always had one, for the last 10 years or so and am happy. the only thing is i don;t want to be closed minded if there is a better machine out there at around the same price such as the racilio or even the EMC. i'm very confused. :P (sorry if these images are not allowed, just remove if necessary.)

FreshCoffee2

Remus, it's natural to be confused given the plethora of information available. Will be happy to spend time and explain when you come in. All will be revealed! Anthology, you have brought up a a good point! Remus was "talking" about "manual lever" machines. These are the old style long lever machines, working off boiler pressure and are severely limited except in the "good looks" department these days. You are talking about original style modern "semi automatic" espresso machines with the mechanical E61 style groups operated by the short levers. These machines work on the Heat Exchanger and water pump principle rather than off boiler pressure. Regardz, FC.

Trussell

Sorry to hijack your thread Remus

FreshCoffee2

I was there in March looking for a suitable "shop front" to display my own Diadema Junior and Unico Splendor models, and I dont really think you will find anywhere in Melb that will allow you to pull some shots. The range I have seen on display in shop fronts down there is not that great considering the size of the place, then again there are not as many people interested in "high end" semi commercial espresso machines for home use with commensurate price tags, as you might think! Anyway if its any help some of our own machines (as already mentoned above) have "normal" commercial ball jointed steam arms and they are in the "high end". And the steam arms are also of "decent" length...some competing brand/models have very short / as in domestic length / steam arms which makes it a little difficult to use them to best advantage. If you were here in Canberra, I would allow you to have a go on our commercial training machine, and it works in idential manner to the "Juniors" except in having far more steam capacity. Does that count?

Trussell

Well the coffee co is the only place that sells any decent range of machines that i've found so far.  Mind you David Jones stocks elektra which shocked me...

Remus

harvey norman sell the elektra aswell.  :o

Remus

just thought i'd post and let you know that i bought a pavoni lever machine on ebay for $400. add another $70 for shipping from austria, :o, and i will have a beautiful near-new pavoni pro in the kitchen. i can;t wait. 8) having done ALOT of research into this i felt i had no option but to buy a lever machine. i really got a hellofalot of info offline with some guys at another forum from a link sharkboy posted, (thanks!!). the only thing thats changed is the realisation that i need another machine aswell. use the lever one on weekends to play around when i have heaps of time but i will need another at home for day to day, (especially in the mornings when i have no time and need a shot), and for when we have guests over. so i guess thanks for convincing me i had to spend MORE money. :-/

Trussell

ha ha ha always a pleasure but then you prob would have figured that out after a week or two anyway

Remus

my new toy arrived today. ;D goddammmmm it looks stunning. even next to the ECM it just looks sublime.