hambra Senior Member Joined: 1 Jul 2012 Posts: 3 Location: los angeles Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Sun Jul 1, 2012, 3:58pm Subject: Espresso Machine repair in the Los Angeles area???
hi, i'm in need a great espresso machine repair man in the los angeles area! i have a vintage lever pull Olympia Cremina and it needs an over haul in the worst way. if anybody here knows a a reliable repair person or place please let me know! thanks very much, -chris
Posted Sun Jul 1, 2012, 9:55pm Subject: Re: Espresso Machine repair in the Los Angeles area???
You can check out Hitech espresso in LA. They PID'd my Giotto. There's also Dolce Vita espresso. Don't know much about them, but they refurbish machines.
What's wrong with it? You can email me directly if you'd like. My email is in my profile. Good luck.
Posted Mon Jul 2, 2012, 1:32pm Subject: Re: Espresso Machine repair in the Los Angeles area???
hambra Said:
hi, i'm in need a great espresso machine repair man in the los angeles area! i have a vintage lever pull Olympia Cremina and it needs an over haul in the worst way. if anybody here knows a a reliable repair person or place please let me know! thanks very much, -chris
Many here, including myself have utilized one of the real lever experts, Doug Garrott, and his company Orphan Espresso. Check out OE's website click here
Edit..BTW, Doug himself would probably tell you to watch his videos, order the parts and DIY, as 95% of us do. It's is a VERY easy machine to work on.
hambra Senior Member Joined: 1 Jul 2012 Posts: 3 Location: los angeles Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Mon Jul 2, 2012, 1:41pm Subject: Re: Espresso Machine repair in the Los Angeles area???
thanks for the tips! it's been in storage for probably 15+ years and when i fired it up there's water leakage coming from the bottom of the tank. i was thinking i'd just try and do a re-gasket job myself but i've never done that and i'd like to make sure everything else is ok too so i figured i should take it to a pro. if anybody has any other suggestions i'm all ears!!! regards, -chris
hambra Senior Member Joined: 1 Jul 2012 Posts: 3 Location: los angeles Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Mon Jul 2, 2012, 2:17pm Subject: Re: Espresso Machine repair in the Los Angeles area???
wow, the dude at hitech said he won't touch lever machines! claims they are to hard to work on, i thought it was supposed to be the opposite??? any other los angeles places that will tune up my beast?? thanks in advance.
Posted Tue Jul 3, 2012, 8:01am Subject: Re: Espresso Machine repair in the Los Angeles area???
Dave at HiTech has currently had my Gaggia Synchrony Super Auto for 4 months. Which reminds me that I need to call him again this week. Definitely not the fastest service. It doesn't surprise me that he doesn't want to work on levers, as my impression is that he's more on the tech/electronics end of the axis, not the boiler and plumbing end. You might try calling Pasquini and seeing if they know anybody (or if they do work on non-Pasquini/Cimbali machines themselves).
I think, if you're uncomfortable working on it yourself, that talking with Doug Garrott at Orphan Espresso is your best bet, if only to steer you towards somebody he might know in the LA area. But look over the videos he has up on YouTube concerning rebuilding a Cremina. You might decide that you want to give it a try, especially if it's only seals and gaskets.
Addendum: Out of fairness to HiTech, I thought I should just add that I got a call from Dave very shortly after this was posted, letting me know that the Synchrony was not repairable. He'd swapped in new boiler, control board, thermostat, and miscellaneous other parts, but it just would not come back to life. At which point he said he was sending me a full refund for what I'd paid for the repair. No charge for either his time or for the parts he'd had to order. I'm impressed with that level of service, and just thought I should pass that along.
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