ACS Vesuvius Evo Leva

CoyoteOldMan

Eiffel Thank you! Will take and post pictures in a couple of days (tomorrow is going to be a day from hell)

LMSC

CoyoteOldMan I’ll post a more detailed description of the process with a few photos, but there is no need to remove the boilers, and only 6 screws need removing.

Although a step-by-step guide has already been posted and documented, it will be interesting to get your version considering you’re suggesting keeping the boiler intact. I wonder how you prevented water from oozing out when one of the valves are removed to fit the drain valve. Perhaps, you flushed as much as possible before the job.

CoyoteOldMan

LMSC The quick answer is that I didn’t… I simply emptied the boilers as much as possible, and had quite a bit of absorbent stuff at the ready. Not much water came out at all.

I also have a couple of “improvements” in terms of suppliers/parts (a shorter valve, meaning more/easier clearance!)

LMSC

DavecUK Allowing a few drops of veg oil to work its’ way through did the trick, but it came off the other way around, though! Not sure, how to undo the screw without damaging the thread.

CoyoteOldMan

LMSC IF you can find two nuts that fit the coarser thread, you can screw them on back-to-back and unwind the other thread (relatively) easily by using the second nut as a ‘stop’ for the first one (you may also need two wrenches)

LMSC

CoyoteOldMan Will try. Thanks for the idea mate. We could never remove the bottomless handle from the start. Although, we never used the spouted porta filters, they were equally harder before we managed to unscrew them recently.

Norvin

CoyoteOldMan

That would be my first choice but that thread looks like it is designed for gripping wood so it would be difficult to find suitable nuts.

I would try gripping the stud hard between two pieces of wood in a vice, try to unscrew by turning the head. If that doesn’t work, I would think about cutting a nut that fits the finer thread in half and clamping the two halfs over the stud in a vice.

If you don’t have a vice (I have l ots, as my wife keeps telling me) you could try filing or grinding a flat on the end of the stud and turn it with pliers/stilsons/spanner.

CoyoteOldMan

LMSC Good luck - now that you have metal only (and thus no risk of staining the wood), some WD40 or similar penetrating oil left overnight may be a good idea.

I should actually undo and PTFE-tape all mine, now that they are new and hopefully a bit easier to unscrew… should I ever change my mind on appearance!

LMSC

Some job to do. I have fitted the spouted ones loosely. Some molykote and PTFEs should do.

WD40 overnight is a good idea. Perhaps I will also grab a bench vice. It will be useful for other DIYs.

Sorry, @Norvin, I don’t get splicing the bolt in half approach.

The new wooden sets with Aluminium finish look good. I have tied up my hand not to order them along with the new style legs as I have to get an electric grinder. At this rate, my family may smack my head with something! 😂

CoyoteOldMan

LMSC At this rate, my family may smack my head with something!

As long as it’s not with the grinder, all is well. 😁

CoyoteOldMan

LMSC I don’t get splicing the bolt in half approach.

If you take a standard M10 nut (not bolt) and you cut it in half, along the red line here:

you can then put the nut halves on the bolt and tighten them in a vice (or even a mole grip or a pair of wrench pliers, if you haven’t got a vice) where the blue triangles are. Because of the saw kerf, the nut will be ‘smaller’ than the bolt, and jam it quite firmly without damaging the thread. You can then unscrew the portafilter having a lot more leverage than just the bolt or the handle.

NelisB

Which coffee leveler will fit our (IMS) baskets?

Eiffel

NelisB

The Bravo distributor ought to work, See below in the FAQ for more details

LMSC

NelisB coffee leveler will fit our (IMS) baskets?

Bad idea, tbh. You don’t need a distributor. They will only distribute the coffee at the top half leaving the bottom half largely undisturbed.

Please get a wdt tool or make one yourself.

Edit :

I don’t know about the Bravo distributor. I have the Bravo tamper but not his distributor.

LMSC

CoyoteOldMan That makes sense. Time to source a few bolts and M10 nuts. Thx

NelisB

LMSC Please get a wdt tool or make one yourself.

I have one from @DenisS and it works great. But after wdt I would like to try a leveler as well. The Bravo leveler looks like the next step in leveling.

LMSC

First dial of North Star The Docks blend. It was a lovely cup to drink as an espresso. I think it will benefit from a slightly coarser grind. 18.2 in and 36.9 out in 45s.

I got this mainly for my family to cut with milk and serve as a short black for my daughter.

LMSC

NelisB With WDT, you don’t need a leveller. Up to you 😊

BBritton

NelisB I have both Bravo tamper and leveler (custom size 55.05mm for IMS). I always do WDT, was initially always doing WDT and then using Bravo leveler before bravo tamper. I have found it more consistent to not use the leveler and just do WDT carefully to proper level then tamp. FYI

NelisB

BBritton I have both Bravo tamper and leveler (custom size 55.05mm for IMS). I always do WDT, was initially always doing WDT and then using Bravo leveler before bravo tamper. I have found it more consistent to not use the leveler and just do WDT carefully to proper level then tamp. FYI

Thanks! Although wdt takes care of channeling etc, and creates a nice extraxtion, there will always be some randomness. When after wdt I tap the portafilter a couple of times straight down, the surface won’t be as flat as just after wdt. And also the coffee coming through the bottom of the basket, shows different paterns. Nothing to worry about, extractions are great, but just thought the leveler might be the tool to iron out the last bit of randomness. Has to do more with autism then taste, I guess. But if it doesn’t make it any better I won’t spend the money. I never had or used al leveler, neither for my 58mm machines. So, no, I never missed it, just another experiment.

What reminds me, I am also experimenting with different inner springs!

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