looking at some of the recent discussion on places like the home-barista forum it seems that i havent communicated the differences between our machines very well

i think the easiest way to understand our model range is to start with the LONDINIUM III

this is a 3 group commercial lever machine with no pump that relies on a connection to the water mains.  the groups are not mounted on the boiler, but rather an indirect link only between the two with two thermosiphon pipes (a feed pipe and a return pipe) to circulate water from one end of the heat exchanger, around the group with a water jacket behind the sleeve (in case anyone thinks saturated groups are a new idea), and back to the heat exchanger via the return pipe of the thermosiphon to be heated up again

the LONDINIUM II and LONDINIUM I are identical to the LONDINIUM III in design and purpose; they are simply shorter lengths of the same sausage, if you like

the LONDINIUM R(rotary pump)24(VDC) is the machine i set out to build from the outset, and this is why it has been the subject of continuous development

the objective was to deliver an espresso that tasted the same as that from the LI/II/III, but without the need to plumb in

the LR24 does not signify a shift in our espresso ideology; excellent espresso achieved with simplicity

our machines make you look like a proficient barista because you wont be fiddling with each variable; we have created a range of machines that are simple to obtain excellent espresso from, regardless of the roast level of your favourite coffee bean

so the change from the LR to the LR24 is best understood in this way:

a long time ago, perhaps as early as september 2017 we found the pump we wanted to use in the LR24; a peach of a pump that is both quiet and self priming.  that was the really easy bit.  the trouble was it was a 24VDC pump.  so immediately we needed to add a transformer to step down from mains voltage to 24V, and it needed to fit inside the limited amount of space in the machine.  then it becomes apparent that you dont use a transformer these days, but a power supply with a break out to allow mains voltage through to power the heating element.  it took a long time to find a power supply small enough.

then you look at the printed circuit board we had developed inhouse to control the pressure transducer in the LR and we are looking for space and so you think, well, why not extend the capabilites of our in-house board and incorporate the functions that have to date been controlled by the Gicar; this will allow us to save some space internally

i did not want the console for the pressure transducer to be visible on the exterior of the machine and so we developed the wireless connectivity.  some would have opted for bluetooth rather than WIFI, but i wanted to include a smart timer in the LR24 so you will no longer need an ugly smart timer plugged into the wall socket; it will all be on-board

once you have a 24V system you can do all sorts of things.  this should not be read that we have plans to complicate the operation of the machine (indeed the pump delay interval will be removed on the next version of the app), but we will have the low water alarm on the app, so if you are away from the machine you will be made aware that the machine has turned itself off becuase of a lack of water and you can fill it so it is hot and ready for service when you next need an espresso.  we can also do other things like dial down the speed of the pump and add a delay as the inlet solenoid closes so there is less water shunt as the solenoid valve closes; this doesnt improve the coffee, but it refines the ownership experience and once you have 24VDC you can control the pump in this manner with no degradation of reliability

the printed circuit board has been developed with circuitry for not only pressure, but also temperature and flow, so the possibilites for the future are wide if the need arises

in time we also want to move to being able to deliver software upgrades through the cloud, although this capability is not there yet

we fully appreciate that not everyone wants this kind of machine, and for that reason we have created the L1 Compressa, which does what the L1 does but in a much more compact format and accessible price for domestic users

in addition we are hard at work on the LONDINIUM Compact, a direct fill 58mm spring lever group, which i am very conscious is turning into something of a mythical beast as the delivery date has slipped and slipped as we struggled to obtain development resources, but COVID has given us a window of opportunity to crack on

hopefully the above narrative has added clarity rather than obscurity; the message to take away is that we have not abandoned our ideology of exceptional espresso from simplicity

managing one variable (pre-infusion pressure) allows us to control simultaneously brew temperature and also brew volume; 3 for the price of one.  this makes our machines easy to obtain exceptional espresso from.

I am enormously grateful for the tremondous amount of support we have received from customers over the last two months or so - we are tracking well ahead of last year and no one is more surprised about that than me

I am acutely aware that orders have been despatched more slowly that usual and it has just generally been more of a challenge to fulfill orders and keep things rolling

we have stocked out of the IMS35micron shower screen, but we have ordered more from IMS and we can probably expect to see them back in stock in about 6 weeks

against this backdrop i am very much looking forward to the return of Sue, our parts fulfilment person as the last few weeks a factory of 97 has only had 3 staff on site for the fulfillment of critical orders - the factory manager has not only been building and testing an packing the machines, but also spares and dealing with warranty issues, so it has been more effort in yet output has been down

i am aware that a couple of you have been waiting on your LR for too long, and there are also a number of parts and kit orders that have been open for too long

i am confident that this is the week we will get fully up to date again

if you have any questions you are always welcome to call or email me; if i am awake i will answer

kind regards

reiss.

it seems like we've got this bedded in now and working well.  if you have any issues please do not hesitate to contact us

we are now working on unifying the store login and the forum login

presently when you purchase a machine you are not automatically assigned owner rights within the forum, which gives you access to the PDF user manuals, so please contact me if you find yourself with a new machine and unable to acess the owner's manual

we hope to have this functionality up and running again in the near future - we had it previously and lost it in the most recent redesign

we also have upgrades to deploy for the forum (to simplify the use of attachments) and also to the checkout so we can offer new payment methods like Apple Pay, which once you have used it is really hard to go back to plugging in your details each time - just double click the right button on your iphone and the transaction is complete

we are also taking steps to improve the performance of the forum when you save a post - the response time is currently too long on the larger threads

there is also a lot of work to be done in simplying our mobile site and enhancing our desktop site

you never get to the end of the rainbow with web development; there are always things to refine

After several months of development we are pleased to announce the addition of SMS mobile telephone number verification to our web store

We have added this functionality for your peace of mind that an order you place with us will arrive

We have had two instances where customers entered either the incorrect telephone number, or failed to update an old telephone number

As a result the DHL notifications went to a third party and this created an opportunity for the third party to redirect the goods, in one case in good faith and DHL were able to receover the goods and deliver them to our cusotmer; in the other instance they were gone

There may be some teething issues with it; please get in touch if it is giving you grief

reiss.

because londinium was built from day one as an all online business it is business as usual here

if you own a londinium lever espresso machine you own a machine that you can fix yourself with our support, which is provided through multiple channels; the Support section of our website which allows you to see how your issue has been solved by other customers.  if you have questions you can post a reply to the thread that seems relevant to you.  if you ask at a time when i am asleep there is a good chance that another owner will reply before i get to it; in this way you have support across all time zones

in addition to that we have support via email and WhatsApp/Facetime HD video calls which work much better than email for any issue that involves phrases like; 'i have this noise, it sounds kind of like...' - email is hopeless for those kinds of issues but a HD video call is a silver bullet

now that i reside in New Zealand it is much easier for me to provide one-on-one support for customers in North and South America than it was when i lived in London, solely due to the time zones

we do not have any debt and our business is a pre-pay model

if for some reason our manufacturer closes (either by public order, or it became less expensive to close the factory than to keep it operating if demand fell sufficiently), we will stop accepting orders on our webshop and contact the customers of any open orders and offer immediate refunds

of the parts that are sourced in italy (pumps, solenoids, etc) we have about 3 month supply on hand so this is not an immediate issue - it will become an issue at the other end when the world economy is trying to get started again, that is when the pain will occur

but in the meantime it is business as usual and we are trying to get orders out promptly to minimise your anxiety

the silver lining to all this is the R&D facility has been freed up considerably and so i am now confident that we will get the LC to market this year

we are also very close on the wireless dongle and a few other fun projects too to lighten the mood

kind regards

reiss.

If you are unsure what level of sales tax and duty you may be liable for when your machine arrives in your country, this calculator is useful;

https://customsdutyfree.com/duty-calculator/

use the following information;

Product details :

• Product description : Coffee machine

• Category : Home & Garden, Furniture

• Sub Category : Drinks Makers

• Item name : Electric Coffee Or Tea Maker

• Hs code : 85-16-71-0-0

1.  Unlike the competition we have an hourly feed to the currency markets and our non-GBP pricing updates hourly.  If you are considering a purchase in a currency other than GBP do check our pricing regularly as the sterling has weakened to USD1.20

2.  Whilst many Italian and Spanish suppilers of components for espresso machines have closed operations for a month or so as a mark of respect for COVID-19 we have good stock levels of all the components we need to build our machines

2a.  If at some future date you placed an order with us and we were unable to supply the machine in a timely manner as a result of having run out of components that needed to be sourced from Europe we would be very happy to cancel your order and refund you immediately in full

3.  I am aware that many of you believe the LC machine will never see the light of day, and indeed i have shared your view on occasions.  However with the impact of COVID-19 i am hopeful that we might get it to market sooner rather than later, by which i do not mean imminently, but i am now confident that we will get it to market this year as i think some capacity in the development team at our manufacturer will become available by the end of April

4.  We expect the wireless dongles to be ready imminently, we are waiting for the final version of the app to be released to us

5.  I am aware that our website has quite a few quirks that we are working on resolving; if you experience an issue please contact us and we will do our best to resolve it

kind regards

reiss.

i see GBP has traded as low as 1.251 against the USD today; this drop is reflected within the hour on this website as we pay for a foreign currency feed to update our non sterling prices for you; grasp the opportunity

we make our machines in Birmingham, England and at the time of writing we do not have any supply chain issues

kind regards

reiss.