Izzo Alex Leva

[K1LL3M]

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

I would have liked that and had he had one there he likely would have received a sale 3 weeks ago. But really that's only 1 so unless there is a few others I understand it's not necessarily enough to justify that level investment in stock display

[Sink_cut]

Mmmmmm

Was looking though my camera roll......

[Dimal]

Mmmm...

Yum.

Mal.

[RichardC]

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.

Thanks SC

I was purging the tank but clearly not as often as I should have, doing it a little more consistently now and back to clear water!

A manual refill trigger or even some kind of water level gauge would be great. It's strange they did not design some form of gauge (difficult to do I guess) but knowing what's left in the tank would take the guesswork out of it. It's like driving a Ferrari (never had the pleasure) with a temp gauge, a pressure gauge but no fuel gauge.

I have an 18 year old also using the Leva so I just don't know how many shots I have left before the annoying click (ala Russian Roulette) but let's face it, it's only circa 30-45 second recovery.

[ivar67]

Hi

I have had my Leva now for three weeks and couldn't be happier. I was asked to do a single shot for a friend of mine. I normally only do doubles, so I was excited to get the single portafilter out but then as I stood there I realised I don't know how to control the volume of water going through the puck. So I use the single portafilter but have pretty much the same volume as a normal double shot. With the obvious not too good results. Am I missing something ?
thx for your help

[RichardC]

Hi Ivar67

Welcome to club Leva!

With the leva you will simply need to reject the what you don't want, ie move the cup away from the pour. You must remember whilst the Leva is a magnificent machine, it's operation is fundamentally "mechanical" and unlike semi automatics, it has no intelligence to measure single / double shots.

And this is the real heart of this machine, by allowing you to experiment with varying volumes and temperatures to suit your particulars taste and of course the bean you use which will change from time to time.

Here is a simple guide to get you on the road to knowing your machine.

Using a measuring cup measure 30mls of water representing an average single shot including crema and pour this into your cup, take mental note of the water level in your cup.

Do the same for 60mls representing an average double.

So now when you pull a single or double, you'll know when to pull the cup away from the pour. The longer you keep the cup under the the pour the more likely you'll also collect the unwanted bitter tail end of the pour (blonding).

Over time you'll get to know your machine and certainly appreciate it's vast capabilities of producing what you're looking for in the cup which of course will regularly change.

Enjoy!
Richard

[Hoggers]

Excellent advice...

[AlMac]

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

This is a good thread to read on taking apart and putting back together and the sorts of problems you may come across: http://www.home-barista.com/levers/i...up-t25094.html

I am doing this at the moment trying to sort out some stiction.

I would simply avoid it altogether if possible, at this stage. I'll come back when I'm done and post my learnings.

If anyone can find the tool needed to take the cap of the piston let me know. I am starting to think it doesn't even exist, except at the factory where they are put together.
The closest I have come to finding out is in the above link where everyone made themselves one using PVC pipe.

Re boiler running low - yes, mine is the same. About 4 or so brews.
I would prefer it constantly let in small amounts of water. But it doesn't.

[Sink_cut]

Thanks SC
but let's face it, it's only circa 30-45 second recovery.

I wish
Mine is more like 3 to 4 minutes before full pressure comes back.

[Sink_cut]

This is a good thread to read on taking apart and putting back together and the sorts of problems you may come across: http://www.home-barista.com/levers/i...up-t25094.html

I am doing this at the moment trying to sort out some stiction.

I would simply avoid it altogether if possible, at this stage. I'll come back when I'm done and post my learnings.

I think a few of us will look forward to your post. Please take lots of photos.

Why did you feel you needed to pull yours apart? Was it filthy inside?

[RichardC]

I wish
Mine is more like 3 to 4 minutes before full pressure comes back.

Correction...my bad....timed it this morning and it's more like 2 minutes.

On the positive, I have 2 minutes to wipe down the bench!

[Melbroaster]

What takes 2 mins?

[RichardC]

The boiler recovery after the dreaded refill "click" is heard.

The theme here is whilst we enjoy a 5 litre boiler, it only yields just on or under 1 litre of brew water which itself yields 4-5 cups and in between flushes.

I'm thinking there must be an adjustable sensor or probe on the boiler that can modify the level but I'm not willing to open and fiddle, might wait for service time.

[Magic_Matt]

Zoiks, the things you *don't* find out when researching machines eh!

[RichardC]

True for most things we buy, but now that I know what I know about this machine I still wouldn't change it.

There would have to be a major leap in lever technological advancement for me to contemplate an upgrade. But as mentioned below, lever machines by their nature are hands on mechanical so I don't think that type of advancement is anywhere near the horizon.

And I guess nor should it be, those of us who opt for a lever do so wanting to experiment with a wider variation with what ends up in the cup.