la pavoni europicolla

[tony]

Ken re jealousy I assume its the Classic. I got it off amazon as an xmas pressie. It was circa €200 the cheapest I have seen it for a long time. There was one selling secondhand on adverts for the same price

[Ken Moreland]

GH , you're ready to practise.
Tony , no, it's the grinder, probably more important than the coffee maker.
KM

[tony]

Ok Ken, I checked out your machine it is very nice looking. I thought originally when I viewed them online that they were non electric and the price seemed very high so just ignored them.
To keep this alive a question I have around cleaning/descaling machines(Ivor probably has the answers here)
how often should I do it? Should I use filtered water? If the machine clogs or stops delivering coffee is it just a case of descaling overnight or what is the story. My horror show with the baby class was caused because it stopped pumping coffee. Boiler and pump were working but no coffee. My belief in this case the solenoid valve was stuck and I should have just bought a new valve but gaggia and another shop advised it was just a blockage. I couldnt clear it and actually dont belief there was a blockage. Does this happen a lot?
Sorry for all the rambling questions

[Ken Moreland]

Tony , I don't think you should have any problem with descaling , certainly not with a new machine. It is possible to get a descaling powder but it should rarely be necessary. Use bottled water and you'll probably never need to descale. If your coffee is very finely ground, overfilled and heavily tamped the pump may have difficulty pushing it through. I'd suggest a trial run without coffee and it will probably run clear.
KM

[tony]

Thanks Ken, In this case it was not pumping even with the portafilter off. I could get it to start pumping eventually after messing i.e switching from steam to brew and back. It would produce one coffee then but the next morning nothing would come out. I am hoping with a new machine and the fact it is a basic classic that this doesnt happen.

[Ivor]

To keep this alive a question I have around cleaning/descaling machines(Ivor probably has the answers here)
how often should I do it? Should I use filtered water?

Depends on use but every few moths should do it. Kenilworth Electric in harolds Cross, almost opposite Kenilworth Motors stock gaggia descaling powder. Lots of flushing needed after do that. Back-flushing is good to clean out the filterhead, you need a blind filter to do this. Filtered water is best alright but I worry about the salt content of bottled water. Brita filters are fine but I installed a filter tap on the mains (easy peasy) and it works well.

[tony]

thanks Ivor, Kenilworth was the other shop I went to about the baby class. I pumped at least 4-5 descaling tabs thru that machine in the elusive search for more coffee from it and also did mulitple cleaning with a blind filter. Maybe I will think about the water filter as I could plumb that in myself. Will add it to my list of to do's.

[Ivor]

. Maybe I will think about the water filter as I could plumb that in myself. Will add it to my list of to do's.

There's a place on Brighton Square that supplies the whole kit. I'll dig out the name.

[tony]

Thanks Ivor be curious to check them out.