Cari Cognoscenti -- Having done nothing more than lurk in these sacred precincts before now, I embolden myself to pose a question: After extensive reading here and elsewhere, I've decided to invest in an HX machine (life's too short, etc., etc.). This is, of course, a topic that has been addressed hereabouts at length, and the only reason I roil the waters further is to inquire: How is the maintenance on these puppies? I refer not to the usual day-to-day, week-to-week stuff; but what is the frequency of significant repair? This could really spell the difference between the Livia and the Andreja for me. I live in (pardon the expression) Los Angeles, and Pasquini has their shop in downtown LA. I have a friend and advisor who has had great experience with his Livia 90 (and the previous Livia machine he had for two decades before he upgraded to the 90)--and particularly with the Pasquini family. Since I'm not at all mechanically-inclined (spirited discussions of homegrown machine modifications reducing me to slack-jawed drooling stupor), having a shop nearby that services its own product is a decided incentive. On the other hand, if the Andreja Premium is the superior machine (and this is Tom & Maria's reason for no longer stocking the Livia 90), perhaps it's not going to require major service for a significant time. (I could then patronize our hosts, another incentive...) What do you do when your shiny HX beast starts blowing swill? Pack it up and ship it to Milan? Try to find someone in the states? Help, please! Gratefully, Roger Sierra Madre, California |
This is a multi-part message in MIME format. Hello: I have only wonderful things to say about both machines. I had the Livia for a couple of years, and have had the Andreja Premium for about a year (rough guesstimates). Looking back, the biggest reason I had for switching was being hooked by how great it all sounded. I had other reasons, too, at the time, but, whatever my reason was, I'd do it again right now! I did have to have the Livia repaired several times, and my husband learned to fix one of the problems when needed. The solenoid was one of the problems. But I still loved it. We found a local authorized repair shop, and they were terrific. We had a bit of trouble getting the Andreja plumbed (which we did several months after getting it). Chris, of Chris Coffee, which was the only place to get it at that time, and all of Chris' staff were fantastic over the phone and the problem was solved. I love this machine. It is beautiful (big) elegant, and the shots are outstanding. I don't steam milk much nowadays, but when I do, the machine does a phenomenal job. Either way, you cannot go wrong. Barbara Roger Lebow wrote: <Snip> |
When my Livia sprung a leak, I called Cafe West/Baratza, the US distributor. Jerry, their tech guru, walked me through the diagnostics, determined it was a leaky pressurestat, overnighted a new part to me, and then walked me through the installation, as well as how to backflush and remove the shower screen and grouphead. Even suggested which brand of water to use in the tank (Crystal Geyser). Has worked like a charm ever since--and the backflush and cleaning procedure was very easy once I did it for the first time. On May 21, 2006, at 4:02 PM, Roger Lebow wrote: <Snip> Sandy www.sandyandina.com |
The Anderja is great HX E-61 group machine. But unless you are a good fixer upper, allot is to be said for having a dealership near you. Repair work if not done at home has to be sent off and these machines are quite heavy and cost for shipping is expensive. I had and Anderja and had no real complaint, except the need to flush the group head to get the temps correct after sitting for a while. I ended up getting a dual boiler machine La Spaziale S-1. I love it but all these machines need repairs from time to time. When I got the S1 it had a bit of trouble with the hot water shutting off, I had to take the solenoid apart and remove a sliver of brass that was there from the machining I guess, but that fixed that problem. Now the steam boiler is over shooting the temperature and the relief valve pops. I usually can get it to stop by running a few cups of water thru the water spout. I got a new boiler temperature probe but have not installed it yet, but I think that will solve that problem and not having anymore problems should make it good to go for quite awhile. I love the machine but it seems owning any espresso machine will mean repairs from time to time and its nice to be able to fix them yourself. If you can't or don't have a friend that can, I would buy a machine that I could carry over the dealer to have repaired if needed. Good luck RK |
On 5/21/06, Roger Lebow wrote:
<Snip>
Assuming that you are thinking of SweetMaria's for the Andreja, you should
direct this question to Tom--possibly off list, althought he may want to
answer it in this thread. After all, it's a very legitimate question
regarding a $1400 machine and it has a mostly empirical answer: you
shouldn't have to rely on informal experiences and guesses (no matter how
well advised).
I bought my HX from a "smaller" vendor. When the inevitable operational
questions arose, this vendor could answer most of them. But when I actuall=
y
had to troubleshoot more serious problems, the vendor turned me over to the
distributor/importer of the machine who had a full scale repair capacity an=
d
complete stock of parts. I don't know if this is a standard practice, if
Tom has the capacity to troubleshoot with phone support, or how he handles
the inevitable problems any machine will develop.
Over the years I've gotten excellent telephone and email support for
replacing eroded plastic parts, switches, pressurestat, and some upgrades o=
f
improved parts. I've gotten some good help from online forums, but you've
got to have a degree of sophistication to know what advice to ignore. I'm
not much on electro-technical repairs, but I've managed OK. Even so, I'm
still hanging on to the original packing equipment. I can handle a few
hundred dollars every ?? 5 ?? or whatever years in case of a major
meltdown that's beyond my abilities.
Good luck with your decision. Incidentally, if Tom has dumped the Livia i=
n
favor of the Andreja, I'd go with that decision---even if Mr. Pasquini wer=
e
my brother.
--
Martin
Heat + Beans
all the rest is commentary
|
--Apple-Mail-9-362633650 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset -ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed Should mention that my Livia 90A was only $1100 shipped. Had it been available only at list price, I'd probably have bought an Andreja Premium from Tom. Two things to know about the Livia--it, as all pro-portafilter machines do, likes to be "updosed" but not as much as others--thus you will probably use a tad less coffee because you won't have to sweep off as much from the PF. And the steam wand is very powerful, almost a bucking bronco, compared to other HXs. You will need to get an aftermarket 2-hole tip to tame the steaming power in order to get microfoam. The included plastic turbofrother and large 4-hole tip steam too quickly, IMHO. I do adore its hot water tap--I use it for everything to Americanos to hot chocolate to miso soup to French Press to Aeropress! And its flip-top tank is very easy to fill. On May 22, 2006, at 12:21 PM, Heat + Beans --all the rest is commentary wrote: <Snip> Sandy www.sandyandina.com --Apple-Mail-9-362633650 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset O-8859-1 Should mention that my Livia 90A = was only $1100 shipped. Had it been available only at list price, I'd = probably have bought an Andreja Premium from Tom. |
There is a lot to be said for local support. I just had to send my Solis 5000 to Cafe West in Oregon, and it cost $92 to ship. I shudder to think of what my Isomac would cost if I had to send it someplace. Michael Sandy Andina wrote: <Snip> |
--Apple-Mail-3-546749565 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset O-8859-1; format=flowed Thanks to all of you who were kind enough to respond to my emergent dilemma about whether to get the perhaps-not-quite-as-good HX machine whose shop is located in my own town (Livia 90) or the kick-your-father's-espresso-machine-around-the-block HX that would sooner or later require being shipped off at great expense to far-flung = shores (Andreja Premium). On the one hand (not that you're clamoring to know), advice was about evenly divided (it's nice to have local service vs. go with the demonstrably superior machine). On the other hand, at the least I can console myself with the knowledge that not-the-best might in the balance turn out to be more-than-good-enough... Resuming Lurker-ModeŽ for the duration, Roger Sierra Madre, CA= --Apple-Mail-3-546749565 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/enriched; charset O-8859-1 Thanks to all of you who were kind enough to respond to my emergent dilemma about whether to get the perhaps-not-quite-as-good HX machine whose shop is located in my own town (Livia 90) or the kick-your-father's-espresso-machine-around-the-block HX that would sooner or later require being shipped off at great expense to far-flung shores (Andreja Premium). On the one hand (not that you're clamoring to know), advice was about evenly divided (it's nice to have local service vs. go with the demonstrably superior machine). On the other hand, at the least I can console myself with the knowledge that not-the-best might in the balance turn out to be more-than-good-enough... Resuming Lurker-ModeŽ for the duration, Roger Sierra Madre, CA= --Apple-Mail-3-546749565-- |
What about an Expobar Brewtus II? On 5/24/06, Roger Lebow wrote: <Snip> |