ACS Vesuvius Evo Leva

LMSC

BBritton I do like these temp settings! For a Kenyan Mikari, I remember pulling a few shots at 94C at par. The best espresso I have had so far.

For the same settings - grinder, temp, dosage and puck preparations, we couldn’t reproduce the same taste / shot when we ordered the same beans from the same roaster a few months later.

Perhaps, there was a slight difference in my puck prep, or the beans were from a different batch or they were differences in roasting.

LMSC

BBritton bottled RO water

Where do you get this ? How much do you pay, if you don’t mind me asking please ? Why not an RO instead; it may work cheaper in the long term.

BBritton

LMSC

I am in Jakarta Indonesia, so I don’t think you would benefit importing water from here. 🤔 But i pay 35,000 IDr which is about 1.86 lb per 19l bottle.

I am renting right now as on an employment contract short term so installing an RO is not that feasible . The flow jet was cheap, about 53 lb.

When you say 94 on Par you mean 94/94? Hmmm, interesting

LMSC

BBritton When you say 94 on Par you mean 94/94? Hmmm, interesting

Yes! I never understood why I liked that shot that too on a Kenyan! 😊

NelisB

DavecUK The one way valves have a spring which holds them closed and when the pump starts, it pushes them open…I think these might be the cause of noise. It might be that a different tension spring will stop it, dunno, under investigation and may not be stopabble.

Thanks Dave!

NelisB

My next mod: a needle valve between the coffee boiler and the group. I want to try slow(er) PI. Keep you posted!

DavecUK

NelisB The only problem with this is when you pull the piston up, if the water doesn’t follow it rapidly enough, you get a lot of air in the group….the group fills from the bottom to minimise air, but slowing the flow is going to be undesirable.

This is one drawback of the Firoenzato design where 2 seals cover the inlet port. It only fills from the top down after the piston has moved sufficiently for seal number 2 to pass the port, full flow really only begins when seal 3 (pressure seal finally passes the port) giving a more air in the group..

You will get a slower fill, but not really a slower PI…

LMSC

NelisB I want to try slow(er) PI.

We appreciate your mod efforts, interests and sharing your ideas. We would like to know:

Would you mind explaining what you aim to achieve?
What’s wrong with the current set up?
How long have you had the machine ? It takes some getting used to because there are too many variables and features this machine offer.

I was thinking if you’re seeing too much puck disruption at 1.5-2 bars PI? It can also happen if we release the lever quickly or if there is too much space. Let’s know please.

Perhaps, DavecUK can explain what would a slower PI achieve vs reducing the PI bar pressure from 2 bars or even 1 bar. I know it is something to do with a flow rate of water.

NelisB

Thanks Dave. So the chance that the needle valve is going to work is kind of zero? If thats the case I leave it like it is.

DavecUK

NelisB Thanks Dave. So the chance that the needle valve is going to work is kind of zero? If thats the case I leave it like it is.

I’d recommend not doing it….

Cuprajake

May have missed this with the 1000 plus replies, but what sort of infusion times are people aiming for on say a medium roast.

Im sti getting my head around the variables..

Does, basket depth, temp, infusion 🤦🏻‍♀️

Heres tonight’s north star costa rica san Francisco honey

This was the second dial, still a bit tight on the grind

LMSC

Cuprajake As Dave said 6s from cocking the lever. A lack of beads on the screen or a drop into the cup in a max of 10s may not get you a desired / an ideal cup; the shot may still be fine to drink.

Systemic

Cuprajake May have missed this with the 1000 plus replies, but what sort of infusion times are people aiming for on say a medium roast.

Around 10 secs for light - light/medium for me. Shot complete in around 25-30 secs. Find extractions over 30 secs start to lose the brighter fruit notes. Even found shots where I’ve not quite dialled in and the total extraction time has been under 25 secs, say, around 20 secs, have been quite drinkable.

DavecUK

I used to go for around 5 or 6 seconds.

NelisB

LMSC There is nothing wrong with the machine. I love it! I just like to experiment. That’s all.

dfk41

Caan I check when people start to count? As soon as I cock the lever and the pump stops pushing water in, I start to count. I expect first drops within 3 seconds or so

LMSC

dfk41 As soon as I **** the lever and the pump stops pushing water in

Same here!

Cuprajake

Those north star beans look lighter than what my grind is telling me, ive some crankhouse near identical roast colour and need a much finer grind.

Suppose this is where learning about beans comes in.

DavecUK

gus6464

So I’m confused. From the beginning the Evo was advertised as having a la San marco lever group but now it comes to light that’s it not an original la san marco group but a modified clone?

This explains why so many us were having issues with the marring by the lever bearing and squeaking. This is very disingenuous to tout from the beginning that the machine was superior because it uses a la San marco group which are expensive but in the end it’s not a genuine lsm group.

Stevebee

gus6464 I tend to agree with this. Touted as San Marco and now seems to be a cheaper imitation. The innovations re temp are great and it pulls fantastic shots but there have been a number of frustrations/ annoyances. Yet to see any progress on the really unsightly scratches at the top of the lever from ACS (been months now). And mine are not getting any better with time. Quality control has been a bit disappointing with this machine (I have a Vesuvius with no issues) such as C4 capacitor, a disconnected probe on arrival, the scratch top of lever @and a number of issues others have raised. It’s a shame as the unit in perfect condition is superb.

Cuprajake

I can for one say its not just acs who have issuses with the lever group as my londinium did the same.

I think this is a alan partridge moment when you’re thinking tannoy, when tannoy is a brand name and you actually mean public address system

Giphy - Steve Coogan Shrug GIF

I can see why that may bother people,

The Vesuvius models in the past have suffered transport issues with stuff coming undo, one of the reasons i never pulled the trigger.

A resolution to the scratched group would be nice, i cant understand why they dont use a white teflon/nylon spacer to stop this.

Stevebee

Cuprajake I thought the same about a Teflon spacer. It would be a tight fit though.

LMSC

Cuprajake transport issues with stuff coming undo

The couriers are the worst here. They are irresponsible and haven’t learnt a lesson. I doubt if they will ever! If we have seen the packing of the Evo, it was fantastic. The legs of the crate have consistently disappeared in almost all deliveries.

Cuprajake cant understand why they dont use a white teflon/nylon spacer to stop this.

It is far too complicated as scratches occur in places where washers won’t help. We have had extensive discussions on this, which can be found in this thread.

We have done a simple fix to the solution by loosening the bolt by 0.5 mm - 1 mm besides applying very thin MolyKote in those areas. I haven’t seen any deterioration since then. I would encourage others do the same.

Hopefully, Paolo of ACS will revert with a solution to the issue. He did promise that he will come back, although it’s been a while now.

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