Olympia Express Caffarex Espresso Shot

Test shot of an Oly Caffarex (2L HX boiler, 49mm basket size) tuned with an Invensys water pump and a Fluid-O-Tech OPV.
Boiler pressure set to 1 bar, maximum water blind pressure set to 10 bars.
Espresso shot with the single basket with ~10g's.
Grinder: 58mm flat burr vintage Gaggia. Beans: Lazzarin Gusto Forte (60% A. 40% R.).
The Caffarex is a fabulous machine (pretty much stable in 20 minutes with a 2L HX boiler!!!) , but it's a shame that you can't have shots like this with the factory setup (Fluid-O-Tech water pump /flow rate is way too high/ with no OPV). Same applies for the old Maximatic machines too, I hope that Olympia Express is fitting OPVs in their newer machines!

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• Olympia
• Express
• Caffarex
• Espresso
• Lazzarin
• Gusto
• Forte
• Invensys

[Rashoop]

Hello SiD, just curious, where are you "venting" the OPV to? Do you have a tube running back into the reservoir? I've also heard of people who modify the chrome face of their Olympia machines into the drip tray. I also have a Caffarex (outstanding machine, even without an OPV!), and would like to see what it can do with an OPV. Thanks!

[vwbugdothu]

I routed the OPV back to the water pump inlet hose under the reservoir using a standard plastic T-piece. I haven't had any problems with this modificatin. The pressure is steady 9 bars, I checked it with a pressure gauge mounted portafilter.

The OPV I used is made by Fluid-O-Tech. It is a rather cheap OPV but it works and it is easy to fit in even smaller machines like the Oly. Maximatic.

Both of the machines are performing much better now with the single basket.

Regards,

SiD

[travis650d]

wow,, your like some coffee brew master expert. i have never seen espresso that rich and thick.. that's amazing. if you don't mind me asking, where do you buy your parts? can you install just any pump into any machine as long as it fits?

[vwbugdothu]

Hi,

I'm buying espresso machine parts at a local parts shop. Yes, the vibrating pumps are interchangeable.

Regards,

SiD

[Rashoop]

I've seen that done, and it looks like the simple way to do it. Did you include a check-valve on the OPV return line (to the water inlet)? Not sure it would be necessary, but on my Livietta/Maximatic, they seemed to be check-valve happy. One on the inlet from reservoir, one in the pump itself (OK, that doesn't really count), and two on the output line to the brew-group.