CoyoteOldMan good to know and never got a response from Ponte Vecchio.

At least ACS responded to my questions on an espresso machine as did Salvatore who builds custom lever machines. I think that at this point in time since I get my Rocket Cellini machine back today with new pump and gaskets that I rather wait and save up for my dream lever pump machine. Will see about Londinium R24, Salvatore custom, ACS Vesuvius, and Nurri for dream espresso maker. For now will probably invest in few tools and better scale.

      CoyoteOldMan From a thermal management point of view… it remains a heat exchanger machine, like a Strega (which is priced at about the same level, BTW - at least in Europe).

      I though the PV machines were dippers (like a Pavoni, or a Cremina) (but I don’t know, I never seen one in the flesh)

      sacguy71 so how about the less expensive Italian made Ponte Vecchio level espresso machines like the Lusso

      I actually never seen or used one. All the information I have on them is from watching videos, and, from what I gather, they are not the easiest things in the world to tame!

            MediumRoastSteam I though the PV machines were dippers

            Good point; it could be - I’m going by the description on the PV website:

            Preheated group by the circulation of hot water from the boiler always ready for use at the ideal temperature

            Which I interpreted as a termosyphon, and thus more likely an HX, but on re-reading it could also apply to a dipper… all we really know is that it is single boiler, and temperature regulated by a pressurestat:

            Automatic operation controlled by the pressure switch

                sacguy71 For now will probably invest in few tools and better scale.

                Don’t forget better coffee too. The machine is the sexy bit granted, but it’s just a dispenser of hot water, it can’t create flavours, or magic great coffee from naff beans.

                    CoyoteOldMan but on re-reading it could also apply to a dipper…

                    Hmmm….

                    Check at around 1:30

                    I see the boiler is filled directly, and the water then feeds the group. But the guy in the video refers that to a heat exchanger…. Which I don’t get, because the water comes from inside the boiler and only from inside the boiler, so it’s not really exchanging anything.

                    Don’t think the machine has a pump either, neither a (cold) water tank.

                    Hard to determine from that alone though.

                        MediumRoastSteam yeah not clear to me either and rather save now for better machine. Have Rocket for lattes and Flair to tide me over. So maybe end of year or next year get a nicer lever to complement my setup and Niche single doser grinder too.

                          MediumRoastSteam He does say at 4:35 that it doesn’t have a heat exchanger (“… unlike a single boiler semi-automatic or heat exchanger I don’t need to purge water or even flush to warm the group head …”), so it sounds like it is a termosyphon connected to the boiler, and brew water comes from the boiler too. If the boiler is at 1.2 bar (3:31), this means boiler water at 105 °C, which is hot, but still tolerable since there will be a few degrees of loss until the water reaches the coffee. It’s kind-of-a-saturated group…

                          Judging from the cap on top of the boiler, there is no pump, connection to mains or anything - just wait for the boiler to cool, and fill it with fresh water.

                            Was it this thread where people were asking about the Ponte Veccio Spring lever? I did do a review, userguide and I have a load of photos (external and internal) as well.

                            I can turn it into an article if people want?

                            Contact me

                              In my review I said it has a thermosyphon was not a dipper. I double checked the photos and that was correct. It also had an extra thick front plate, to prevent overheating.

                              Contact me