# La Pavoni Zip - refurbishment



## AndyDClements (Aug 29, 2016)

I may well regret this at some point but I've purchased a Zip cheaply (less than £50) that is untidy but works, so I'm gong to clean, repaint and generally refurbish where practical to do. This may include making it doserless, but time will tell.

I'll get some pics of it once it's out of the car, it's too heavy for me to currently lift.

If I'm about to waste time and money on a machine that isn't any good to start with, please tell me now. So far I've just ordered new burrs and discussed with my brother that I'll be asking him to paint it. I thought of powder coating it, but it seems it wasn't done that way originally so paint should be OK, and it's c£50 for the coating.


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## timmyjj21 (May 10, 2015)

It should be a nice grinder. Maybe not as easy to modify as the mazzer SJ, but the grind performance would be about the same.


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## AndyDClements (Aug 29, 2016)

Progress on this has been rapid but testing delayed.

The insides were a real mess, the grinds stuck to the burrs etc looked like they'd been mixed with veg oil and left for years, so probably just natural oils from beans for many years.

Jobs done, and outcome:

Body cleaned and painted- looks OK, done in black with clear coat so nice and shiny and should resist scratches but not as much as powder coat. Only cost £5 instead of c£50.

Burrs replaced- visible difference, and even more so to the touch. Still letting them bed in, so time will tell how good it all is. Once done I'll shim them to get a consistent contact (thin piece of metal between carrier and burr where it meets least).

Wiring updated- The power cable had nicks in the insulation, and some bits of it missing, so new high current cable fitted, looks nice and safer.

Doser removed, replaced with funnel- Cost nearly as much for a funnel as the grinder itself. £30, but it fits, the aluminium body of the grinder had to be eased slightly to make the funnel fit properly. Stainless handle came off easily by filing away the weld, ditto the little hing (fondant funnel). Hole, not too bad to cut. Need to enlarge the dispensing hole at the base of the funnel.

All told, not a bad job to do, but the hole of the funnel is currently too small to accommodate the flow of grinds. Simple enough to fix, I just need to cut the bottom 5-10mm off the funnel. The doser lid fits the funnel, so one expected problem not manifested.

It's a nice quiet machine, way in excess of my needs but can handle 250g of beans to espresso (Gaggia Classic) in a minute or so once I sort out the hole size. Should do cold brew in just a few 10s of seconds (I use course end of espresso grind for cold brew), filter for V60 should be very quick. On the noise front, I think it's a lot quieter than the cheap Bodum burr grinder I had.


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## jimbojohn55 (Jan 15, 2016)

sounds good any pics?


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## coffeechap (Apr 5, 2012)

photos?


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## AndyDClements (Aug 29, 2016)

Ah, now, me and technology.... I'll dig out the grinder to decent light and point the lens of the 'phone at it and see what happens.


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## Jumbo Ratty (Jan 12, 2015)

AndyDClements said:


> I'll get some pics of it once it's out of the car, it's too heavy for me to currently lift.
> 
> .


How big is this thing !

apologies if the lifting is down to bad back or such like


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## AndyDClements (Aug 29, 2016)

I should explain, mid March the muscles in my back went into spasm, contorting my back and putting a load on the discs as though I was lifting a very heavy weight, permanently lifting it. Just after Easter, despite drugs to release the muscles, and despite chiropractic visits the discs became damaged, 4 with tears, and one tore an the contents spewed out. I've since had an operation to chop away the bits pressing on the nerve but lifting is still a problem.

The zip is only about 13kg but September I was fresh out of hospital and on light duties, the sort of thing where must not sit more than 20 mins, must not drive etc.

I'm now in a better state but 13kg is still a no-no due to limited success post-op.


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## Giblet46 (Apr 12, 2017)

Any chance of those photos?! Bit of a thread revival, but I have a zip myself and keen to see your end result with funnel!  hope the back is now all good


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## TomHughes (Dec 16, 2019)

Another thread revival! One year on.

I have a zip and I'm interested in the results! I'd like to make it doserless if possible.


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## AndyDClements (Aug 29, 2016)

Right, it's only taken me c4years to take some pictures and upload them.... Not bad going form me (who recently had to hand phone to another person to switch between front camera and rear camera).

And now I think I've worked out how to post them here.

This angle, looks normal unless you know what belongs (collector, portafilter press / tamper, portafilter bracket)









Here's inside the confectioners' funnel, I now know it would be better if I'd made it sit a bit higher in the casting. When grinding, I have to place the output lid inverted, so as to divert the finer grinds down into the funnel. If the funnel was further up then there would be less of a problem of them going up onto the underside of the lid. It would also mean the plastic trim from around the burs isn't blocked from sitting as it should.









Too many places for grinds to get lodged.

i didn't really bother with blanking off where there's a gap to the motor, none seems to get there, but grinds do seem to get into the grooves where the portafilter bracket would be, and the little plastic base filler piece would be. Without those it enables me to have a receptacle for the 1/4kg at a time.


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## jules1 (Mar 28, 2020)

Interesting project. Do you use this for grinding quantities at a time rather than single dosing? I'm surprised you are getting grounds escaping upwards. I often grind a single dose with the lid off so I can blow the last of the grinds out and don't seem to get escapees. Do you think the new funnel is adding static somehow? Have shown the standard doser for comparison.


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## AndyDClements (Aug 29, 2016)

There is definitely a build-up of static, it takes a concerted effort with the puffer (along with the occasional tap with a portafilter holder) to get the grinds to go down , even then they cycle upwards. Perhaps polishing the inside may help reduce the amount friction has to play .

I guess in hindsight, one other thing I'd have done would be to smooth out the casting imperfections of the chute, just to reduce the retention/ reduce effort to clear out the retention.

Due to acid reflux, I mainly drink cold-brew based coffee, so 1/4kg or 1/3kg at a time is what I mainly use it for. It sometimes used to do a single dose but that's on on a rare occasion.


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## jules1 (Mar 28, 2020)

I wonder if the plastic walls of the standard dosing chamber help to mitigate static?

Have you tried stirring a touch of water into your pre-ground beans? Worked for me on a Mazzer Mini.


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## AndyDClements (Aug 29, 2016)

Not yet tried the water option, and have heard that before, so will give it a go.

I do have another grinder project on the go, The brand starts with "M", it's rather tall, and makes the Pav Zip look to be low-powered. So some learning will carry over but it's a more well trodden path.


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## jules1 (Mar 28, 2020)

Even saw the video for a £3.5k Ceado E37Z (that's supposedly designed as a zero retention beast) recommending using a spritz bottle to wet the beans! 3' in... 




Good luck with M!


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## WojtekW (Sep 25, 2020)

@jules1 Hey, I also have the ZIP Automatica and the Europiccola. I am running into an issue with grind size - When grinding really fine, the blades almost touching, the shot pulled is still very quick and I fell little resistance while pulling. The grounds are also quite coarse, still.

Have you had similar issues? I just switched the blades, but it still seems to be too coarse...

Thanks in advance!


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## jules1 (Mar 28, 2020)

Hi WojtekW, interesting... No I haven't experienced being unable to grind finely enough. (I guess you are tamping??!) Just checked and found I am currently about 5 notches up from touching.

Are you certain you have the correct burrs and that they are fitted correctly and parallel to each other?


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## TomHughes (Dec 16, 2019)

WojtekW said:


> @jules1 Hey, I also have the ZIP Automatica and the Europiccola. I am running into an issue with grind size - When grinding really fine, the blades almost touching, the shot pulled is still very quick and I fell little resistance while pulling. The grounds are also quite coarse, still.
> 
> Have you had similar issues? I just switched the blades, but it still seems to be too coarse...
> 
> Thanks in advance!


 I had to align my new zip burrs. 
look at ek43 alignment


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## Giblet46 (Apr 12, 2017)

Out of interest, I've kept my tamper attachment, finally got round to replacing it with one the proper size for my Gaggia. Picked up a cheapish tamper on e-bay and the thread matched up perfectly. Although it's significantly heavier than the cheap plastic head supplied, the spring doesn't 
have a problem returning it after tamping!


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