Bought 21st march
Machine built 29 July 2021
So nearly a years ownership, the machine was purchased new by another forum member and then by me, luckily the 2yr warranty is transferable.
He’d used a water purification system, but I know it wasn’t the perfect water, when I got the machine I ran it on rodi water for 2 weeks to strip any scale, followed by my Dr pavlis water using potassium bicarbonate.
The machine is a large machine, bigger than my londinuim l1 and much bigger than the Bianca it replaced.
There was a learning curve regarding the 54mm baskets, the machine came with a tamper, but it’s not a perfect fit, I believe it now ship’s with a better quality one.
I preplaced the stock baskets with ims competition versions and had a tamper made to fit them at 54.9mm
When I got the machine, the portafilter locked in at 7pm not 6pm, so a quick email to acs passing on my new owners details and the mention of the portafilter ended with a new one being posted out.
Along the way I’ve upgraded to the ‘walnut’ Vesuvius handles, I’m not sure what wood they are, but there not the best quality, esp for the price, I don’t know if the new wood is now better, either way it’s better than the handles they ship with, their very commercial looking.
I’ve had two issues in my years ownership, and 2yrs of machine life
The first is a steam boiler temp probe went faulty, emails exchanged with acs and a new probe was sent out, foc - as it should be,
The second was a leak off the steam arm, this one more invested and I had to take the machine to bits, easy if not akward for access.
The machine has a side door to get to the water container, I really don’t like the fill, it’s not easy and car has to be taken not to spill, having been inside the machine I understand why it has it, as the boilers are huge.
I recently decided to plumb the Evo, I’m a sound sensitive guy, and the gear pump while only on for a few seconds, is rather bothersome for me, I successfully got the machine running pumpless, but the shot quality really suffered.
I decide to go back to the pump, it’s worth the noise for the in cup performance.
Should how ever a 24v DC quiet pump come about I’d happily retrofit, I know of such pumps in other levers but can’t find part numbers to order.
This leads on to the most important thing, the in cup. The Evo creates amazing shots, works over a wide choice of bean, you want thick Neapolitan or super bright light roasts, this is down to the ability to move the temps and pid settings in the display, speaking of temp its ready to use in 15mins.
The metal used is thick and high quality, the welds are nice and polished. People often mention the flex of the front panel, but looking inside the machine you see the group is housed in a 4mm steel cross member, the deformation people see is the flex of the front panel, I have no worries.
Acs are always improving which is nice to see, the Evo actually has a new chassis rail now, this can be added to mine if I really wanted to, they changed top and drip tray covers too, I have the new drip tray but 50/50 if I like the looks,,
What would I buy next??
If I had the cash I’d splash for the Vostok, you never know I maybe will one day, but if I were to buy the Evo again, I’d change the wood and go all black.
So that’s my near one year thoughts on the Evo
