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Permalink Reply by Dan Gilbert on November 29, 2013 at 9:41pm

check out www.home-barista.com.  there are many posts about this very machine, it is supposed to be a great machine.  If you can get it working, and with the right grinder, you should be able to pull some great shots.  

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Permalink Reply by Brady on November 30, 2013 at 5:39am

Dan hit the nail on the head with the H-B recommendation - lots of Europicolla fans plus care and feeding can be found there.

It's a nice solid machine. Worth taking good care of.

For the externals, my starting point for all cleaning tasks is a dish cloth with weak mild dish soap and water solution. No cleaning chemicals - just soap and water, time, and elbow grease. Wring the cloth out well enough so you don't get any water into the base where the sparky bits are. Toothbrushes are good for cracks and crevices. Follow up with a "rinse" with well-wrung dish cloth in clear water, then dry with a soft towel. Soft or "no-scratch" stuff only - do not under any circumstances use a green scotch brite.

Be very careful with the sightglass tube. I'd steer clear of the moving parts of the lever mechanism with the wet stuff - dry cleaning only and don't remove any lube.

Remove the portafilter basket and soak both basket and the brass portion of the portafilter in a strong cafiza solution to remove any oil buildup. If there's stubborn buildup inside the portafilter, I like to use a brass wire brush from the hardware store to scrub the inside. Real brass only, since steel bristles will scratch up the brass. This is also the only place on the machine I'd ever use a scotch brite, and then I'd choose the blue "non scratch" one and not the green one.

You can also use a group brush dipped in cafiza to to scrub the screen and gasket area. Since this is a lever machine, you can't backflush it so please don't try to. "Rinse" as well as you can with the group brush dipped in clean water.

Depending on how much it's been used it may need a new group gasket. If it seems really hard and crusty go ahead and order a couple of new ones.

You may or may not need to descale the boiler - peek down in there and see how it looks. Detailed instructions should be pretty easy to find over on H-B.

Once you're done, rinse everything well. I'd run a boiler or two's worth of water through the system to flush things out.

Home lever's are lots of fun, and a different challenge compared to a commercial pump machine.

Once you've fired it up you'll get an idea of it's mechanical condition. You may need to clean and lubricate the moving parts with appropriate hi-temp lube (Dow 111 is what I use), address steam leaks, replace internal piston seals, etc.

Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by Sarah L on November 30, 2013 at 3:59pm

Thanks for replies! 

I've had it for about year or two it's been just dry & empty.  I googled it back when I got it & seems across the board everyone had good things to say.  At the shop I got it from, the baristas said they had pulled shots from it for fun at one point.  I think all I am lacking is the plate above the water catch ( very technical term ).  The steam wand, or frother or idk, looks really gross or just needs some TLC.  I'm excited, I'll post some more when I give it good clean once over.  

Side rant : My old oblivious shop owner had it as decor on a top shelf, & one day decided it wasn't fitting the "theme" of the shop & she took it home to a storage garage.  I refused to pay for it since she saw it as garbage.  So I eventually bargained for it & ta-da it might actually be put to use!

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Permalink Reply by Brady on November 30, 2013 at 5:56pm

Crazy. Good luck and congrats on rescuing it!

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