ACS Vesuvius Evo Leva

Jony

Cuprajake ohh yes 😎😎😁

Cuprajake

Jony……
Giphy - Season 7 Nbc GIF by The Office

Jony

Nothing yet, if I want to be honest my Vostok I don’t actually think there is another better machine!? It was repeated time after best shots. If the Evo and Vesuvius are like same vostok was better. Can Dave say or anyone say what is.

DavecUK

Jony It was repeated time after best shots. If the Evo and Vesuvius are like same vostok was better. Can Dave say or anyone say what is.

The Vesuvius is an E61 so it’s different. 1 group Vostock and Vesuvius Evo leva are as good as identical internally. In fact the tech has improved a lot since your Vostock.

Paolo5

A belated Merry Christmas everyone!

Has anyone swapped the inner spring on their Evo with the optional ‘more gentle’ spring now available from ACS?

I am curious how the shots compare to the original setup when the extraction is left to its own devices..

I realize that retarding the lever during extraction can restrict the extraction pressure to 8 Bar (or whatever you want).

gus6464

Does anyone have a schematic to change the grouphead temp sensor? I received replacement grouphead temp sensor after Paolo looked at my issue but this one is not as cut and dry as boiler temp sensor.

I sent an email out to ACS but they haven’t replied back.

LMSC

gus6464 I received replacement grouphead temp sensor after Paolo looked at my issue

What was the issue please? I am surprised it requires a replacement. How old is your machine ?

LMSC

I remember seeing a video of swapping the group head temp sensor. I couldn’t find it on my archive. In the mean time, the below is a short description from my notes.

One screw at the back of the group for each cartridge removes a brass slug containing the cartridge. It pushes out of the slug. Unclip from wiring harness, and replace.

I believe both the boilers and their pipe fittings will have to come off to access the group head cartridges.

I will search my archive for the video clip.

DavecUK

LMSC One screw at the back of the group for each cartridge removes a brass slug containing the cartridge. It pushes out of the slug. Unclip from wiring harness, and replace.

That’s to replace the heating cartridge, not the sensor.

Red arrows shows the screw holding the sensor against the rear of the group…the green arrows are to the currently empty heater cartridge slots (as they have not been fitted yet. The heater cartridges don’t need to come out to fit the temp sensor.

This is how it looks with the group heater cartridges fitted. I think it removes with a 3mm hex key. It’s a very simply job, once you can access it…..which “might” need the brew boiler removing/moving out of the way"

gus6464

LMSC Machine is 2 years old.

Issue is that the temp will show much lower on the screen that it really is and keep heating the group way past boiling. Sometimes flushing will wake up the temp sensor and other times it won’t.

This is the video I sent to Paolo with the problem where he said it’s a bad sensor.

LMSC

gus6464

DavecUK I assume the new features can’t be retrofitted on the old one?

Actually all I care about is to be able to set preinfusion pressure with the screen.

DavecUK

gus6464 DavecUK I assume the new features can’t be retrofitted on the old one?

Actually all I care about is to be able to set preinfusion pressure with the screen.

Some can…the preinfusion pressure one I believe could be done with a firmware update and an electronic pressure sensor.

Cuprajake

Wouldn’t of thought so, lots of different parts.

Adrianmsmith

DavecUK
Is firmware update something we should be doing / are the firmware files available for Vesuvius and Evo 6 and 3 years old…..

rxmnt

What’s your guys’ opinion on this new lever safety system? I’ve never used a lever machine before. Dave mentioned in his video that it helps in case the portafilter “flies off”, which is something that has never happened to me in the last 4 years of using my E61 machine.

Is this feature something you’d absolutely recommend, especially for some who’s not used to the operation of lever machines, or rather something that’s nice to have?

DavecUK

rxmnt I guess it’s worth thinking of it like a parachute. I used to fly gliders back in the day and you always had a good parachute, they cost a lot of money and in my case were individually owned. You bought it and hoped you would never need it….but if you did, then it’s super handy to have one!

The safety system for sure isn’t as essential as a parachute would be if something goes wrong, it’s not cheap and if you are careful with the lever as people have been for more than 60 years, you “should” never have a problem.

It works in 2 situations

During a shot the portafilter comes off
During operating the lever to make a shot, it slips from your hand.

In the first, the cup will still break, you will get sprayed with coffee and the drip tray might get dented (cover is easily replaceable and cheap). The initial pop of water will be there, but then the flow is slightly more limited as the lever goes up slowly.

In the second as long as there is pressure showing if the lever slips from your hand, it will go up slowly. If there is no pressure showing, then it’s going to come up rapidly until it has come to the point where pressure is made assuming the group isn’t yet empty. e.g. in the first 20/30 degrees of the pull there will be little to no water in the group and it will come up fast. This isn’t normally a risk because the lever is well away from you. The shock may do damage to the machine though (or it may not)

The place were the lever is more likely to slip, is the transition point between the lever having moved down much further and the slight change of hand/arm position to continue the pull. In this case it will come up slowly.

The demonstrations with no portafilter show the safety system operating, but the initial movement is a little faster than it would be in real life, because there is little pressure built in a group with no portafilter. Then you see it slow down as that pressure builds.

MediumRoastSteam

rxmnt which is something that has never happened to me in the last 4 years of using my E61 machine.

E61 is not a spring lever machine. If the pressure gets too high on an E61 machines, there are over pressure valves / expansion valves, pump pressure regulator etc which will handle that. On a never machine, if you grind too fine, the full pressure of the spring will be applied. If there is a sudden release of pressure, or you have released the lever without locking the portafilter in place, or the grind is too coarse, that lever will be flying back upwards… Just make sure your face is not in the way.

edit: looks like I was typing this but Dave in the meantime has already replied with a much better description/explanation.

rxmnt

DavecUK Thank you for the explanation. I didn’t know lever machines behaved this way.

Do you know if the lever safety system introduces any negatives, maybe in terms of ease of maintenance or something?

Overall, it seems like a good addition, and I guess I’ll pay the extra 210€ should I decide to get the Evo 2. It’s not super easy for me to justify paying for something that might never be used, but skimping on safety also feels bad. I’d also probably hate myself if something actually happened and I or someone else got hurt because I wanted to save a comparatively small amount of money.

DavecUK

rxmnt Do you know if the lever safety system introduces any negatives, maybe in terms of ease of maintenance or something?

I didn’t notice any when using it at Host…maintenance wise I don’t think it will be an issue and the machine can be backflushed….The only thing I can think of is the very basic piston lubing probably cant be done by simple shower screen removal.. So that’s a piston out job, which is really the proper way to do it. 4 Allen bolds and pull out, clean/lube and put back…once every 6 months. Easy enough job.

Cuprajake

its a nice feature to have, sounds sad but practice safe lever usage, too,

control the lever at all times

Adrianmsmith

Cuprajake

@rxmnt please read if you need convincing to buy.

I can agree with Jake and Dave here

I’ve had the Evo now for approx 5 months

I’ve had 1 near miss and my wife shouting WTF was that…… Once…… No injuries. Read on, still the best machine I’ve owned.

That day, I Must have still been asleep .
I normally do a flush and clean the basket using the actuator behind the lever.
This day I put the pf back in place.
My brain obviously forgot i had not dosed it.
Pulled the lever and obviously water came out instantly. Not an issue if I was awake(!)
For whatever reason , known only to know one (!) I still lifted the lever. As I was holding it lightly I also let go if it.
Let’s just say quite a lound Bang and the whole machine jumped by a few mm.

I thought it was funny at the time but definately not reccomended.

There’s a quick sketch in the manual illustrating this. Think the sketch was done by @DavecUK

Anyway, not sure if your posts have been because you are looking to buy, so my thoughts for you are…….

The Evo I have is from the first batch. I purchased used from an ad on this forum (Serial number 5 is alive)
I was initially looking at a londonium or Nuri. I’d not heard of the Evo
Lucky escape with the londonium. (Thanks to advice on here also) and the fact I’d emailed Reis a few times to see one in Birmingham prior to buying. Noone was interested

The Evo is the best machine I’ve had to date.
Synchronika was fantastic
Evo is next level

Normally having read about the new features I would have an order in by now, but I have not. Evo does everything perfectly and the newer models have……
Everything I’d previously decided I absolutely needed.

Dump valve to me was a must but it’s not needed. Must be a great nice to have, one day.

Slow release is like any insurance policy. It you are stupid as I was once it could easily save a hospital visit.

If you use it properly there is absolutely no risk or disadvantage to not having it.

The Evo makes it very easy to make great coffee.

Another thing I read and thought “yeh right” was about not needing to weigh output. I always did on the synchronika.

Now I weigh my next one if I think “that seemed a bit quick or slow” whilst making one. If I do a check by weighing prior to and after brewing I’m within 1g of target. Would not have believed it was possible previously.

Then there’s the absolute chore of having to move the cup out of the way the instant you get to target weight or the needle starts to move quicker.
Very nearly stopped me from buying.
What an idiot!!
Now I do not even notice I am doing it.

The Evo is much more forgiving than anything I’ve previously used.

Need to sell the synchronika now and most likely the Vesuvius. Evo is staying.

May swap for a new one or vostok but no hurry and can anyone say I’d know which was which in a blind test.

I can pick the Evo from the synchronika blind……

rxmnt

DavecUK That’s good to hear. One other thing I’m curious about… I understand that with the dosing system option, I could “stop” the shot at any time (either by pressing a button, or because a set pressure or time is reached).

I’m guessing that by using this system, I could also make the lever fly up at high speed if I don’t have the safety system option? For example, if I ground so fine that the machine chokes, and I press the button to release the pressure while the lever is still mostly in a downward position? Or is this built in a way that already prevents the lever from going up too fast?

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