ACS Vesuvius Evo Leva

LMSC

trey_antipasto So the pump runs up to 20 times per pre-infusion to try and keep at 2 bar

It’s normal for it to run a long cycle at the start and a short cycle or two after that. This is what my machine does; and, I haven’t plumbed in.

DavecUK

trey_antipasto I made a slight adjustment to the deadband screw, I turned it maybe ⅛ turn. When I opened the top of the machine the slot on the top of the screw was pointed directly at the + sign. I moved it to close to half way between the + and - sign.

Adjust it again, you may have been at the top of the adjustment where the movement initially made little difference and only the last 30% of the movement made any difference. Move it further to -

Although in fairness, I thought a move to + increased the deadband????

Put up a photo indicating exactly which screw you are turning

trey_antipasto

DavecUK I will experiment both ways. I turned the slot from pointing at the + to pointing at the - and that didn’t make a difference in the behavior so your thoughts about it decreasing the deadband may be right and i’ve maybe just have been reducing it. Small adjustments though so it will take time. Its not a huge issue so I don’t plan on burning through a pound of coffee dialing it in.

I am sure it is the deadband screw, its the one on the outer edge. I’ll take a pic. I also tweaked the center screw previously to play with the preinfusion pressure so I know what that one does 😁

@LMSC , I will check that its touching. I haven’t checked that before.

LMSC

I would also check if the little lever is touching the back of the group. I am sure you have.

We know a lack of it will also drive the pump crazy.

trey_antipasto

Just an update on adjusting the dead band. I have made incremental adjustments over the weekend to the point where i have now turning toward the “+” 1 full revolution. During pre-infusion prior to adjustments the pump would cycle up to 20x making nearly imperceptible adjustments in pressure. After 1 full turn, the pump makes ~ 8-10 cycles during pre-infusion. So it is making a difference, I also wonder if there is some firmware/algo/pid that needs some time to adjust to the changes?

I will make some more adjustments I just don’t want to over adjust or hit the limit and break something. It is a little puzzling that a full turn is making such a small difference compared to how little one has to adjust the pressure screw to see a difference.

Also, @LMSC , there was about 1mm of gap between the lever/group when the lever is in the up position. I adjusted it so there is no gap. I don’t feel like that was a contributing issue but nonetheless I did make the adjustement and I appreciate you calling that out 🙂

LMSC

trey_antipasto don’t feel like that was a contributing issue but nonetheless

Didn’t make a difference to the pump kick-in, did it? It does in my case!

You have plumbed-in, haven’t you? The water goes to the water tank, is it not? If yes, you might try manually priming the pump.

DavecUK

trey_antipasto The preinfusion cycling on your machine is purely controlled by the pressurestat.

trey_antipasto

DavecUK thanks for that insight!

trey_antipasto

Ok another update. ACS reached out to me and advised that I make my adjustments ¼ turn at a time towards the + of the pressure stat dead band screw. I made a total adjustment of approx 1-1.25 turns towards the +. This took my pre-infusion pump cycles down from 15-20 to 6-8. I am happy in this range and the pressure stays steady without the ‘excessive’ cycling.

For reference here is a video I made after making a couple adjustments. I made 2 more after this video to get to my final setting.

Finley-72

I appreciate your reply and the feedback from ACS. I also turned the pressure stat screw towards the + until it slowed down the pulsing when idle. It still does it, however infrequently enough it doesn’t bother me. I know it’s keeping the machine primed.

Cuprajake

Take a look at this vid

Taken it from Instagram, notice anything unique?

OldGregg

Cuprajake Is this from the acs_official Instagram? Must have missed this, or perhaps there is another page to follow for more behind the scenes?

DavecUK

It’s a new system from ACS to control the movement of the lever. Should the Portafilter come undone. The release looks to move faster initially because that’s taking up some of the slack, but once it gets under pressure, then the lever moves relatively slowly.

It basically achieves what LSM have done without having to use damper blocks either side of the lever. There are potentially some other benefits as well.

Cuprajake

Super smart company, I also noticed that this one has the pressure release system on the top left with front panel pre infusion, really does offer great value now.

One the best levers in the market now imo.

DavecUK

Amberale I’m not sure if my Vostok has this.

It won’t. It’s only been developed during the last few months and is still in prototype….that “should” be my machine you see there and it will be worn out by the time it reaches me….if it ever does.

I’m not sure how much of the tech is optional, pressure release by time or volume and rotary pump?

Cuprajake One the best levers in the market now imo.

I would tend to agree, there is nothing more prosumer focussed to deliver excellence with the type of useful tech that really works, on the market. Not just features for features sake. The same simplicity of a lever, but with a good tech presence to support it and ensure it works optimally. It does outclass other home levers in this area and uses one of the best lever group types out there.

I’m sure there is esoterica at 3 or 4 times the price, whether it produces 3 or 4 times the shot quality…I doubt it. very clever people at ACS.

Amberale

I’m not sure if my Vostok has this.
I flush the group and wash the PF and the lever never seems to snap back uncontrolled.

Paolo_Cortese

Eiffel

this safety system can be easily retrofitted on all exsisting machines directly from the nd users without shipping the machine back to us. it’s only a safety system of course not affect the quality of the coffee in any way.

DavecUK

before of after you will get the ltest Evo Dave just a busy moment for production, new features implementation and new projects for the incoming host in Milan, as you know we are a small company and many things are made from the same person……..

Eiffel

It’s really nice to see that new features are being added to the already great Evo Leva (and Vostok 1)… It’s a rare thing to see continuous improvement of an existing model rather than just ‘bug’ fixes and changes to suit the company’s needs (often driven by cost saving desires)

It’s probably not a good thing for the resale value of the original Evo Leva but this is a minor point, and there is always the hope for an upgrade path of sorts…

DavecUK

Eiffel It’s probably not a good thing for the resale value of the original Evo Leva but this is a minor point, and there is always the hope for an upgrade path of sorts…

Paolo always considers an upgrade path and there was even talk of an upgrade service where the machine is shipped back to ACS, the problem is shipping is expensive, risky and may have tax implications even though the product isn’t changing hands. It’s convincing the VAT man that’s the problem. Some upgrades may not even be possible unless there is a case change.

In the long run though, the machine you have already is always as good as it ever was, even though newer machines may have additional features. I think it’s better than the machine just stagnating as many others have done over the years…..with no changes or improvements.

Eiffel

DavecUK

Agreed, I’m also mindful of the fact that I’ve been able to enjoy my Evo for nearly two years now, and that the added features have no significant impact on the output from the machine

Loonster

As someone with small kids in the house, that is a very cool feature.

DavecUK

Loonster As someone with small kids in the house, that is a very cool feature.

My god yes….you can launch them about 8 feet without too much damage!

Amberale

Loonster

The handle on my Vostok is over 1.7 metres off the floor when up and 1.25 metres when fully down.
How on earth are small children supposed to interact with that?

I am all for the safety feature but if your kids are that outgoing/interactive with their environment I feel that the espresso machine is gonna be the least of your problems.

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