# Expobar Office Leva advice please.



## RobD (May 2, 2012)

OK i have had a bad dose of upgraditis and bought my self a second hand Expobar Office Leva.

i cant use it strait away as it was in a pub using Cafiza Capsules and has a nasty auto frother on it to, it wasn't used much so the vending company sold it as is, i have ordered a new dispersal disk, screen and wand and should get them next week.

they did give me 1 standard & 1 naked PF









so before i get to carried away, are there any owners of this machine or any of that type of HX leaver style that can give me any advice on how to get the best from it, have spent a little time reading up on HX machines so will learn how much to flush, but its more the how long to pre infuse and any other subtleties that i know are going to be frustrating but rewarding.

See below Exhibit 1 in the flimsy defence on why i spent more money!

View attachment 1285


of course this does mean that my trusty Gaggia will have to find a new home.

PS its the fault all the other shinny machine owners on this site that i upgraded!! if you didn't keep teasing with photos of polished Stainless steel porn i would be none the wiser.


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## SlowRoast (Sep 24, 2010)

Well, I have the exact same machine, my favourite starting point is always 18g in the basket, prodded and declumped, leveled and tamped once and polished, flush about 2 oz - 4 oz depending on how long the machine has been left idle.

Preinfuse 3 seconds, extract between 50 - 60ml espresso. Obviously adjustments need to be made depending on coffee, atmospheric conditions etc. But that's what I use and seems to work best.

That autofrother looks a shambles! Bet you can't wait to get the proper steam wand on it.

Don't try and blame us, you know you wanted to really.







I blame the coffee festival for my upgrade...

Edit: Regarding steam nozzles, one hole really does get you the best microfoam, it takes a while longer, but trust me, it's worth it, two hole tips are alright but you run out of steam at the end and it goes bubbly, four hole just causes the milk to nearly boil in an instant!


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## RobD (May 2, 2012)

Hi James.

Thanks for that, when you say 2-4oz of water for a flush how long is that roughly? as a few of the articles i have read have suggested around 25-30 seconds until the water dance stops! do think i have a lot to learn.

they gave me a bottomless Pf i mat have to buy a Triple VST to go with it, so i think my extraction may be a bit longer









as for a the steam wand i just ordered a standard wand so don't know what they come with, one hole will be fine as anything is better than the Gaggia, i changed mine to a Silvia wand but the boiler still used to bubble near the end before the milk was hot sometimes.

think the curliest part is that i have to wait until the new bits arrive before it can be used.


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## Franzpan (May 11, 2010)

I was watching that machine on Ebay. Grats on winning the auction on such a nice machine.


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## dobber (Jun 22, 2012)

yeah me too in fact was bidding on that got outbid, so left and given a second chance, which i didn't know about till it was too.

but yeah nice one getting that enjoy your brews.


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## RobD (May 2, 2012)

Hi Franzpan & dobber, yes was the one on ebay, i got out bid too then was sent a second chance offer about 3 days latter, cant believe how lucky i was!!

Looking forward to learning how to use such a nice machine.

hope you both find a decent machine soon.


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## RobD (May 2, 2012)

Bit of an update, have had a look inside the machine and was expecting to see lots of lovely insulation round the boiler but instead got greeted buy this!!

View attachment 1288


its some nasty foam insulation that obviously wasn't quite up to the temp requirements as its of melted onto the boiler, rather surprised at Expobar after all the good things i keep reading.

Have removed the boiler and after about two hours of scrubbing with a wire brush its all off, i have ordered some 18mm Silicone Foam insulation to wrap the boiler in, and may get some more to do all the pipes, will post some more pics when its all fixed up


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