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Fake Europiccola Pro - 2007/07/20 14:39I went into a local antique shop to look at what appeared to be a Pavoni Euro professional.
Three things caught my eye that suggested it may not be kosher.
1. It's very light compared to my vintage Europiccola which probably weighs at least twice what this does. The one in the store appears very new, hoever, so I don't know if the bases are lighter in newer versions. 2. The brass plating appears to be lifting off the boiler, which, given the light or completely absent use may indicate a shoddy repro. 3. One bolt head in particular, looked very rough, with that rough machined look you might see on a dollar store tool. However the machining on the portafilter looks good and the face of the pressure head (or the part where the water comse out) looked pretty smooth. 4. It's missing the drip tray and coffee basket insert, which was odd given it's pretty much new.
Am I just being paranoid? Are there any telltale things I can look for to avoid buying a repro? Is there even such a thing as a repro or faked Europiccola?
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Cameron
User Junior Barista
Posts: 8
Karma: 3
Re:Fake Europiccola Pro - 2007/07/21 10:46Well, I think I was just being paranoid. I went back today and bought it. $100 for a brass/copper Euro Pro isn't such a bad deal
He actually only wanted $25 but I couldn't rip him off. I guess I'm just not capitalist enough.
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colin
Admin Admin
Posts: 797
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Re:Fake Europiccola Pro - 2007/07/21 18:15Wow! For a unit that normally sells for 600 to 1000$, I am very curious to see this -- in fact, I am going to encourage some of the Pro's out there to have a look at this and express their opinions.Colin is the Senior editor and creator of the CoffeeCrew.Com Website
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Cameron
User Junior Barista
Posts: 8
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Re:Fake Europiccola Pro - 2007/07/23 17:04Sounds good. If closeups of any particular parts would be helpful, let me know.
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colin
Admin Admin
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Re:Fake Europiccola Pro - 2007/07/26 09:36No - this is good so far.
I am going to alert Reg at EspressoTec to see if he has heard anything of a Europiccola knock-off.
We know that Atomics are being knocked off in India and China -- so why no these?
Hmmmm.. curious. Very curious.Colin is the Senior editor and creator of the CoffeeCrew.Com Website
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Kevin R
User Senior Barista
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Re:Fake Europiccola Pro - 2007/12/06 23:06Gotta love a mystery! I'm no Pro and don't own one, but just for fun, I searched lapavoni.com. You can get a pretty good, albeit slightly dizzying look at the full product line there -- unfortunately, they have an annoying 360 spin-o-rama function linked to their photos that I couldn't turn off.
What stood out for me was the gauge -- your machine has quite a prominent red line in its gauge that I didn't see in the website photos.
Another clue, perhaps: the power buttons on the Pros look to be green as opposed to red -- and the Euros have a half red/half green button (no plain red to be found).
I look forward to hearing from some La Pavoni experts as well.
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Cameron
User Junior Barista
Posts: 8
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Re:Fake Europiccola Pro - 2007/12/12 17:40This one is definitely pre-millenium. It also has the screw hole in the base for the fitting of a plate with an asbestos pad, which my Europiccola has, but just came with a rubber base. The other thing of note is that the name plate attaches with to tabs that go through the body of the base, rather than an adhesive like my 'piccola. It's too bad there's no manual for dating these things.
There's a lot of pavonis here http://pavoniexpress.com/gallery/index.php and there is some variation from year to year, which may mitigate against its being a knock of. Really, why bother going to the effort of tooling up to build something like this as a knock off?
In any case, it looks purdy, makes a good cup, and I'm happy with it
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colin
Admin Admin
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Re:Fake Europiccola Pro - 2007/12/12 19:24Have you visited this classic resource?
Link -Colin is the Senior editor and creator of the CoffeeCrew.Com Website
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Cameron
User Junior Barista
Posts: 8
Karma: 3
Re:Fake Europiccola Pro - 2008/03/15 19:17Yes, it's in my bookmarks. I find the Pavoni express site a better resource for repairs, maintenance and such, though. http://www.pavoniexpress.com
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