Izzo Alex Leva

[trenttdk]

Yes, That freight to WA was a killer

Really enjoying the machine. I'm using the recommendation Chris made early in this thread. Fill the portafilter, don't collapse, tamp, shot. Works great. I'm using the naked portafilter exclusively and it's excellent. I changed the temp a couple degrees up and down and notice only very subtle differences. I do have a question for the crowd though, what are the other adjustments? The instructions don't really say much. The gauge reads 1 bar at 122 degrees. Is that correct? Thanks

[MarkZammit]

Izzo Alex Leva

Sounds about right trenttdk. I run my leva at 118, and pressure sits at around 0.8 bar, which is more than enough for rapid microfoaming.

[AlMac]

The gauge reads 1 bar at 122 degrees. Is that correct?

Mine is 1.05 bar at 122 - so looks right.

Temp is the only "adjustment".

Useful advice I read on Home Barista:
"Q: What advice would you offer to someone starting out with a lever machine?

Allow yourself to be surprised. I've had 40+ second shots that were absolutely delicious. Not exactly normal - we tend to go 3-5 seconds of pre-infusion with the lever in the "locked" down position, then gradually releasing for another 25 seconds of extraction. But there have been times when I've been caught off-guard with how good some longer-time shots have been. Also, there is a huge difference in the extraction between super-fast releasing the lever from the "locked" down position, versus a slow, more deliberate releasing the lever to around the 45 degree angle where transitions into pushing the water through the espresso puck."

Full article is here (starts out as a review of Profitec Pro 800 but is equally useful for us Alex owners): http://www.home-barista.com/reviews/...ew-t44660.html

Completely happy with my Alex Leva. One of the reasons to buy it is that it's impossible to upgrade it - except with another Leva.
If I bought a pump machine it would be a sideways (and slightly downward move) to add another family member in the pantry.

[Dr_Dave]

Hi ,
Does anyone have simple instructions and photos of how to dissemble and clean the group?
The photos below won't load
thanks in anticipation
Cheers
Dave

I cleaned my pompei group this afternoon and made a few pics to show you guys how utterly disgusting the piston gets after two months of use.






Lots of coffee that mixed with dow111 in the group .Just nasty.

After cleaning everything I installed the teflonring(light film of dow111) from above and the copper ring with the concave side downwards.










Cleaned everything thoroughly and installed the piston from below.Applied a thin film of fresh Dow111 first of course.




While holding the piston with one hand install the spring group from above and turn it into the piston thread.


Push the whole assembly down and turn the piston with your tool in while fixating the spring assembly with the other hand.



Turn the piston in just enough to make sure the piston doesn't or just slightly touches the screen in its lowest position(lever released).

Now install the fourbolts and that's it.

This group does need regular cleaning .I suggest taking the screen of every week and cleaning the inside of the group at leat once every three months or it will get messy.Luckily for us it is a piece of cake to do.

Sorry for the dirty fingernails but I put 45000 kilo of concrete into the ground today.

[Sink_cut]

This is somthing I too would be interested in trying one day. I would not consider attempting it without first having all repacement o rings ,seals and washers on hand ready to go.

its Hard to find detailed step by step with pics, the links below are worth browsing

http://www.home-barista.com/levers/i...up-t25094.html
http://www.home-barista.com/levers/g...up-t43337.html

[Hoggers]

Hello to all

I have been reading this thread with great interest as I am very keen to get into the lever scene. I would be pairing the Valexia with a (soon to be arriving) Atom.

In in terms of accessories (naked portafilter and the like) am I right in assuming that these are readily available - either OEM or after market.

I am a couple of months away from getting as this is an anniversary gift but is stock readily available or is it on an order basis ?

i must admit that the more I read the more I fall in love with this beautiful piece of engineering. I love the simplicity and the design in simply gorgeous.

Anyway, keep this thread going .. it is an excellent resource and I look forward to joining the club.

Cheers all

Alastair

[AlMac]

I think Jet Black includes the naked portafilter.
Accessories and parts readily available from CoffeeParts.

I didn't have to wait for mine (from a former sponsor at the time I bought it last year).
Suspect you can pick one up straightaway.

Excellent choice. I was up for a Profitec lever, but it didn't quite fit.
Been very happy with the Alex Leva (same internals - different body to Valex)

[Dr_Dave]

hello Hoggers,
I bought mine in MLB from a former site sponsor ( Talk Coffee) who gives great after sales service and it includes a naked
Suggest - go and have a look and play
they are brilliant and 3 years later I have no urge to change or upgrade!
Go for it
DD

[Magic_Matt]

hello Hoggers,
I bought mine in MLB from a former site sponsor ( Talk Coffee) who gives great after sales service and it includes a naked
Suggest - go and have a look and play
they are brilliant and 3 years later I have no urge to change or upgrade!
Go for it
DD

Since Hoggers is in Sydney he doesn't have to go quite that far; (current) CS sponsor Jetblack Esoresso is less than 10km from his location 😉

[Hoggers]

Unfortunately Jetblack do not actually have them in stock... they will happily order one in but not a try before you buy set up.

Never going to be one pass up a trip to Melbourne... just trying to work out how I can convince the airline to allow me to put the Leva on the seat next to me

[RichardC]

hello Hoggers,
I bought mine in MLB from a former site sponsor ( Talk Coffee) who gives great after sales service and it includes a naked
Suggest - go and have a look and play
they are brilliant and 3 years later I have no urge to change or upgrade!
Go for it
DD

Hi Alastair

Like DD I also bought mine from Talk Coffee and nearly 12 months on I too have been more than happy with the Leva. These machines are visually beautiful, deadly quiet and low maintenance when compared the the semi's.

If you feel you have to try before you buy and you can get down to cold, dark, bleak and miserable Melbourne then go and see Chris.

It's worth noting though that both DD and I (and I suspect others) bought our machines "unseen", for me I simply took what was stated in this thread, explored Talk Coffee's site, did a little comparative research and took the plunge. It's not often (well, never!) that I would buy an expensive asset with touching, feeling, smelling and in this case tasting but I felt very confident in Chris' industry knowledge and of course this has paid off.

Cheers
Richard

[Hoggers]

Cheers Richard.. reassuring words indeed and I would be more than happy to buy sight unseen after reading all the very favourable comments but if I can wrangle a trip to Melbourne then even better

I have aver to admit that I purchased the grinder (Atom) from reviews on this forum and others and after reading about the leva and others thoughts I have no doubt that I will be over the moon..

it it is nice to know that the leva owners have absolutely no regrets and that you are all extremely happy with your machines.

I feel that that this will be a love affair that lasts for many years.

And Paul... I love your suggestion of flying with my new baby

[Magic_Matt]

Maybe with the increasing demand, Charlie might consider adding one to his demo bench... 🤔

[RichardC]

Hi ,
Does anyone have simple instructions and photos of how to dissemble and clean the group?
The photos below won't load
thanks in anticipation
Cheers
Dave

I learnt many moons ago it was best to leave well alone big springs and pistons!

Having said that......I'm curious to know if these instructions will resurface.

But Chris mentions a few times in this thread a service was not necessary for a few years on the Leva (may be a different story for the Pompei).

I pulled the shower screen off after a few months, and it was a waste of time, it was spotless.

I've pulled circa 2000 shots on our Leva so perhaps a different story now.

One thing I am concerned with is I'm getting slightly "tanned" water from the tank, noticeable when I fill a white cup from the hot water tap whilst making the odd long black. It used to be crystal clear.

What's your water looking like?

Just one more question, I suspect the water level in the 5L boiler on mine runs fairly low, I'm only getting 4-5 brews before she refills with cold water which is annoying when I'm in the middle of "service". How many brews do you get before you hear the "click" of the cold water intake?
Cheers
Richard

[Sink_cut]

My boiler water is still crystal clear one year on. I run a lot of water through to keep it fresh. Every morning before switching off I rinse water through the group and pf until the refill triggers. This also ensures I start the next day with a full boiler.


I get about 4 brews including pf rinses in between (from hot tap) before the click. I measured it once at about 850 to 900 ml between refills. I'll measure again tomorrow to see if any change one year on.

If I am going to make a few milk coffees I always trigger the refill before I start as you can't steam milk for a few minutes after that. I do this by running the hot tap until it clicks. It would be great to add a manual refill trigger to the machine for this purpose, it would mean you could do a quick top up with less reheat time instead of full refill.

As for espresso I can't taste the difference immediately after a refill, as long as you pull the shot before the boiler pressure drops too much.(it does not drop straight away). I mostly drink espresso only so the whole refill thing is not a huge issue to me.

One year on and I still would not have any other machine. The espresso that comes out is consistently amazing.