Izzo Alex Leva

[Hack]

Thanks Dave. I will increase the bypass percentage. see how I go.

[Fpedra]

Hi everyone,
I'm new to the forum and this is my first post. I thought I was the only one who was in love with the Alex Leva! Love that I've found a bunch of people who are as enthusiastic as I am over the machine. I've had it for two years now and its been flawless. The coffee quality is second to none. I have it paired with an HG1 83mm conical hand grinder. But every now and again when I am entertaining a bunch of people, it's really becoming a bit of a pain to hand grind. Now not to start any arguments, but I wanted some of your thoughts on what most people have paired with their machine that is electric. Will not get rid of my HG1 hand grinder but I want an easier option when I'm making a lot of coffee. I've been looking at the Mahlkonig K30, the Compak 8 or 10 or Macap MD7. I primarily drink South American dark roast (European) espresso but my wife and kids like a milk based coffees. I was thinking about going flat like the K30 to have the versatility of having both a large conical and large flat burr. Not to complicate things even more, but I heard that conicals are better for milk based coffee and flat is better for espressos. This thread is getting too long, but if you guys have any ideas I would appreciate any suggestions. Thanks again

[Dr_Dave]

Hi Fpedra,
I had a Macap M4D for a number of years which was brilliant, however this year (after lots of research) I moved to a large conical
I bought a Compak F10 as I really like the micrometric adjustment rather than the collar adjustment on the E10
It is everything I have ever wanted in a grinder (quick, quiet,low retention, beautifully built etc.) and I am extremely happy with it
Cheers
Dave

[Peter42]

I had some time for tinkering the last days. But it seems that at the last assembling something went wrong with the portafilter





So to say, I feel like a follower of Aristoteles:
Give me a lever and a place to stand and I move the world
This way not only the world, but even the piston moves.

[Peter42]

In the first run I did by not start with the big lever, but was thinking about the small handles available.
Therefore the tool has several threads - not for simultanious use:




Left side: M8 for tamper handle
Right side: M10 for portafilter handle, both should be fine for normal use.
The thread of the lever is M18 x 1.5. Not a standard thread, but I found a tap in a Chinese all-inclusive assortment.


The black plastic spacer is to fix the lever and the tool into one block, with all the lever thread inside the tool and there is some tape to avoid any form of scatch or lines on the parts.





A general question about spare parts:

http://www.cafeparts.com/Diagram/3626/0

When looking on the spare parts diagram, I am not sure which gasket (s) I should have available when opening the group and which one should be replaced after some years.
I assume it is (only) part 32 - lip seal.
And to put some grease in this area in the cylinder.

[Dr_Dave]

Hi Pete,
Amazing talent !!
They look superb

I have ordered parts 30 and 32 (teflon ring and lip seal) on your diagram
Or locally - https://www.coffeeparts.com.au/parts...ver-group-head
Parts - 700467 and 700466 for when I replace mine, as others say the teflon ring gets distorted with age , however on your exploded diagram it is green and on the local one is white
Cheers
Dave

In the first run I did by not start with the big lever, but was thinking about the small handles available.
Therefore the tool has several threads - not for simultanious use:




Left side: M8 for tamper handle
Right side: M10 for portafilter handle, both should be fine for normal use.
The thread of the lever is M18 x 1.5. Not a standard thread, but I found a tap in a Chinese all-inclusive assortment.


The black plastic spacer is to fix the lever and the tool into one block, with all the lever thread inside the tool and there is some tape to avoid any form of scatch or lines on the parts.





A general question about spare parts:

http://www.cafeparts.com/Diagram/3626/0

When looking on the spare parts diagram, I am not sure which gasket (s) I should have available when opening the group and which one should be replaced after some years.
I assume it is (only) part 32 - lip seal.
And to put some grease in this area in the cylinder.

[Peter42]

One hint on the group head gasket, as several of us had the experience of a PF smashing a cup.
I don't know if this is still relevant in Australia as there was support here at CS. In Germany there were several angry discussions about this.

The thickness of the gasket is different, depending from where you buy it.
Original Izzo is 6 mm (as in your link)
LSM version (as my english link here) is 5.5 mm
LSM (german general distributer) is 5.7 mm

Maybe it can be solved by asking at ordering to get a specific thickness.

After sacrifying two cups, I put my PFs on the lathe and "solved it finally" as I did not have this info at that time,
but not everybody has this option.
0.3 mm make a significant difference regarding the angle to lock the PF.

[Peter42]

It seems that the parts of the LSM and Izzo group head are not exactly the same.
The group head gaskets are slightly differnt in thickness and
the bolt holding the piston from LSM has thread only at the lower end. So the risk of unlocking the wrong end is not existing for LSM.
(Part no. 630426 or no. 41, depending on the web-link)

Hi peter42, This is just a suggestion, These pistons can be really hard to break loose, You may have to remove the assembly from the top with the piston intact, Then remove the piston in a vice,Being very careful not to damage it( wood,leather,rubber), Then follow AlMacs instructions for reinstall. Then that great tool you made will work great from then on. A word of caution to all, The shaft that holds the piston has threads on both ends,If you break loose the upper threads you can release the spring in which case you will get a Big surprise, You may want to mark the shaft so you know that you are turning the piston and not the shaft. It is a shame that izzo has not addressed the rusty circlip on the shower screen yet. Jim

Regarding Seeger circlips: My history on this is:
Original circlip - rusty
First replacement, 50mm, stainless - broken after one year
Second replacement, 50mm, diameter fit only after grinding, due to too much material around the holes and the thickness was originally too thick to install due to burr from punching process.




For me it is much easier to set / de-install the circlip with the holes pointing towards the machine. Which is opposite to intuitive position for me.
But I can look at the tricky position and set the pliers into the holes, while beeing on my knees in front of the machine.
It is also easier if it is not the smallest pliers version, but if the pins are around 2,0 to 2,3 mm the circlip follows the position of the pliers.





It seems to be really worth to buy them at "coffeeparts" and not ordering them via Ebay in a tools shop.
For me it was just normal to order them somewhere, as I am used to buy standard metal parts. But I saw now on the parts overview that they are nominal 48mm, while you generally get nominal 50mm which fit, but need a much higher force to fit in. The 50 mm are also slightly thicker (at least according to our German standards).

[puffink]

Hi peter42, Wow very well done, all good info, It seems every other guy in germany has a lathe. Jim

[Dr_Dave]

Hi All,
I understand many pistons are wound on super tight
Just checking that undoing them is anticlockwise?
Thanks in advance
Cheers
Dave

[RichardC]

Just tuning back in after tuning out for a while and I'm surprised to see so many bitten by the bug to pull their machines apart to fiddle.

I know curiosity drives us all insane at times but do the benefits outweigh the risks here? Of course if this is your area of knowledge then may the spring force be with you, if it's not, I say some things a best left well alone.

I've had my unit now for 15 months now and it's pulled circa 2500 shots, I'll have to refresh my memory on service intervals but I think I'd prefer someone who knows the drill to do it. I've read the thread on home-barista.com and just the angony and frustration some went through was enough to turn me off the idea.

Does anyone know what the service interval is for the leva? I recall Chris suggesting this was not as vital on lever machines as with semi autos.

[AlMac]

One hint on the group head gasket, as several of us had the experience of a PF smashing a cup.
I don't know if this is still relevant in Australia as there was support here at CS. In Germany there were several angry discussions about this.

The thickness of the gasket is different, depending from where you buy it.
Original Izzo is 6 mm (as in your link)
LSM version (as my english link here) is 5.5 mm
LSM (german general distributer) is 5.7 mm

Maybe it can be solved by asking at ordering to get a specific thickness.

After sacrifying two cups, I put my PFs on the lathe and "solved it finally" as I did not have this info at that time,
but not everybody has this option.
0.3 mm make a significant difference regarding the angle to lock the PF.

I think it was a stuff up in the PF itself. I have earlier version PFs which do slide off and have smashed a few cups.

My later version naked PF doesn't have that issue.

Helpful to know that 0.3mm makes a difference.
Did you just lathe off 0.3mm from the top of each of the lugs on the PF?

[Peter42]

Cutting from the top of the lugs wouldn't change anything. It would be the lower surface.
But then the hard faced chrome would be off at the most important spot and it would be difficult (to grind.)

I cut from the top cylindrical ring surface, where the filter sits on.

[Dr_Dave]

Hi,
I understand the new naked now supplied fit properly and dont fly off. I was an early adopter of the Leva and had the issue - I solved it by gently filing the underside of the lugs. I did post about this in this topic some time ago - you will find it if you look back. It was an easy fix and solved the problem

As to " I'm surprised to see so many bitten by the bug to pull their machines apart to fiddle" Richard - I live 1970km away from Melbourne so it is not so easy to return my machine to service it. As it is now 3.5 years old and made probably more than 5000 shots (still works faultlessly) - I am exploring how to service it myself as I dont have any easy options to do so.
Cheers
Dave

[Peter42]

Hello Dave, do you see any significant wear at the underside of the lugs, where you filed the chrome off?
That is what several guys here where afraid of.

( With a lathe in the cellar it is much easier to cut back the top surface :-) ) .