Izzo Alex Leva

[samuellaw178]

Think about it in 5 years? Maybe? Work clean, drop the showers regularly and you will be fine. Group service is a job for an appropriately qualified tech with the right gear.

I personally would remove the piston and relube every couple of months - that aspect should be easy on the Leva (I hope!). It's probably one of the most important routines that keeps any lever happy. A hard/worn-lubed/dry piston won't move as freely and will likely grab/scour the smooth internal of the group cylinder (if operated that way for 5 years!).

[TC]

I personally would remove the piston and relube every couple of months..

You might- but FWIW, ours was very well lubed after 2 years of commercial(ish) use (and clean)...

All depends how much time you have available to burn on tasks which are very likely unnecessary .

[Dr_Dave]

Hey guys from east coast of US, stayed up way too late reading this forum last night! Love the Alex happy to upload a pic but only lets me upload from a website? However my buddy got a GS/3 around the same time and the support is night and day. La Marzocco has amazing support for him on any issues walks him through. Izzo is like a vacuum and if not for great people like yall (sorry I'm from South Carolina), I would be completely lost. Hoping I can get some help on a number of concerns. As yall know the instruction manual is pretty laughable.

I am not an expert and I think most things have been answered by Chris (who is an expert), but I will give you my perspective

1. Shower screen. So I got a new circlip from Chris's coffee in NY (funny how the same name over there) but having the infamous issue of no longer having a nice shower on pulling lever. I can't imagine how one of these jets flying in are not disturbing the puck. Has anyone found any reliable way to restore the water flow to the original pretty shower?

Maybe try reseating it, I had to do mine a few times

2. Temperature. So on my machine there is the pressure gauge that has a green pressure bar (where I assume manufacturer wants you to be) running from 1.5-2 bars. To get there I have to have my PID at at least 263 degrees (128 C). I have read that most of you set yours around 120C. Does that mean your pressure gauge sits around 1.1 bar and well outside the "green zone"?

Mine came set at 120 and the pour was sour as I use dark beans , I incrementally increased and settled at 123C , I think 128 would be way too hot

3. Tamp- One that came with my machine is too small. I ordered a 54.7mm off amazon but too big. Is there a source that provides a custom fit puck?

4. Espresso explosion- holy crap this is scary. burned me a few times, now I just don't grind as fine. I got my portafilter from the coffeesnobs website in June. Would this one have been the one that has a few mm shave off of it? Now that I lock in super hard and keep hand on it no further explosions but that was serious business!

My naked required machining down a mm or 2. Best chat to Chris at Talk Coffee as the ones he sells are sorted

5. Cleaning. When I read this last night I had a panic attack thinking about disassembling this beast to clean group head. How difficult is this? I am not mechanically inclined.

I just do routine cleaning (including shower screen off and oak it) and haven't dissembled the group yet after 2.5 years. Mine runs very well and after chatting to Chris I will leave well alone.

6. Preinfusion. Lot of different opinions on this on the forum reading from start to finish. Can the pressure of the pre-infusion be adjusted? Is it the line pressure? If I can decrease my line pressure will it decrease pre-infusion pressure?

If I want to increase pre infusion from the standard (the time it takes me to get the milk from the fridge, pour into jug and return milk to fridge, then I would just wait longer rates than try and alter pressure

Anyway great forum guys way better than anything I have seen in the US!!

Hope that helps
Cheers
Dr Dave

[MikeSC]

Thanks for the thoughts guys.

Since the post I have somewhat given up on the screen issue, even with original circlip just haven't gotten back pretty shower but i don't think it's affecting coffee. I have turned machine down to 250F or 1.1 bar with excellent shots and plenty of steam power. Wonder why Izzo encourages the 1.5-2bar zone. Found a tamp on amazon 54mm fits perfectly.

Re cleaning of group head seems like a lot of disagreement on this one with many people insisting on cleaning every 3 months or more frequently and others avoiding, I think I am going to stay in the latter camp. I will say though I placed a bowl of water under the group head and pulled water into bowl and it then sucks up some of the water and released a lot of coffee grinds. I am not sure if these grinds are coming off the group head but I wonder if it is a decent way to clean. Anyone else done this maneuver?

Thanks again!
Michael

[simonko]

I'm thinking if the Leva is what I think it is, a saturated group dipper, then you would want to drop steam pressure down if ambient temp is high (like it appears to be in SC now) as the grouphead wouldn't be able to cool as well. Or if you're in air-conditioning, maybe a warming flush is saving you from overcooling, as 1.1 bar would lead to brew water being around 10-20° cooler what 1.5-2 bar respectively would.

[MikeSC]

[MikeSC]

Finally able to show a pic of my children!

[TC]

The Izzo Alex leva is in runout mode now as we move to the Alex Leva with new clothes- AKA The Izzo Valexia leva.

A few Alex levas remain at silly numbers- but they gotta go. See our sponsor area for more details.

[Sink_cut]

Double pull?
Hi alex lever guys, I have turned my temp right down over the last few hot muggy days as i noticed drop in shot quality - particuarly after 2 or 3 shots. We dont run aircon and my machine is located near windows and doors - so very subject to whether changes.
Anyway - running at 114c seems to resolve that hot/flat taste, however with the boiler pressure so low I notice the piston chamber fills up less and the lever engages a lot higher up then usual leaving much less travel and volume over the course of the shot. Still tastes ok and sometimes great - but I am sure that means its generally extracting at lower pressure.

To counteract the low boiler pressure I have had some very good results experimenting with a double pump. I Pull the lever down as usual - give it a few seconds - raise it till just short of being engaged - and then pull it back down and raise it again. The second pull back down you can hear more water flowing into the piston chamber and when you raise it again it engages earlier - closer to the position as when the boiler pressure is higher.

The result has been that my shots have been tasteing more like they did in the colder months with a higher boiler pressure - although my shot consistency is not as high with the double pull technique.

Has anyone else had success with this method? Or any other tricks for hot whether?
Does anyone else even notice the hot whether?

I have also had success by leaving the machine on 118 and limiting my heatup and idle times.

[Dr_Dave]

Hi Sink,
I've not tried that. I leave mine at 123 degrees as with the beans I like the pour was sour at lower temps
Its hot here - been over 36C the last few weeks.
Cheers
Dave

[Sink_cut]

Thanks Dave, good to know you dont feel the need to lower your temp.

Do you do many shots in one sitting? I do an initial one off 50ml flush and found the setting of 123 was great for 2 or so shots but then 3rd or 4th and onwards to me tasted a bit flat with less character and less sweetness. I usually find at 120 I can just go on pulling shots without them tasting hotter as i go. I pull about 5 doubles each morning for my wife and I, more on weekends and when friends are over. I have no scace so just have to go by taste which i understand can be very subjective.

I admit that 114 is probably a bit overboard..but i just had a few really still,humid hot days and my shots to me tasted hot -and I like playing . My theory is the multiple pull allows you to get greater extraction pressure while running a low boiler temp (if you are bored or mad enough to want to do that)

[Dr_Dave]

Hi,
I do a flush first thing - mostly to flush a little water through as we only make a few coffees a day and it has a 5 litre boiler, I worry about the water sitting for a long time in the boiler with not great numbers of coffees made
We would make made 4 - 5 coffees at a time at most, mist usually only 2 however. I haven't noticed any drop off on numbers 4 or 5 - maybe guests are too polite!
I gradually increased the temp from 120 to 123 as the beans I like were sour at 120. I'm very happy at 123 - maybe change with different beans
Cheers
Dave

[Macan]

Hi everyone

What the different between the Valerxia and Alex leva ?

One more curious question : why search on the internet the izzo the website is called Alex Duetto

[2muchcoffeeman]

Hello Macan,

Both machines are internally the same and both are still in production.

Alex Leva stock in Australia will be a little older as the importer chose the Valexia form factor for recent imports but in operation, they are identical in every way.

There are a couple of suppliers of both in Melbourne and site and site sponsor Casa Espresso has a crazy eBay thing happening for purchases which have to happen pronto. Here's a link to Antony's sponsor post.

Hope that helps.

2mcm

[Melbroaster]

The importer made a good choice with the Valexia form factor...[emoji41]

Nice looking machine.