hi robbert,

yes, use the manual fill valve to fill boiler before turning on. Other things I check before firing up include the electrics for any shorts. An easy way to do this is measure the resistance at the plug end with the machine swich in the 'on' position.

You will probably find a fitting or two that leak during the initial heat-up. Once they're sorted, flush plenty of water through and you'll be good to go.

Robbert-

I would also recommend that during the initial leak detection phase and operational checking out, you start out with the heating element disconnected or disabled.

So it's home from the blaster and powdercoater.

Cost: $150. $75 for the blasting, $75 for the coating.

I went all black for budgetary reasons. It was an additional $75 to get the color that I wanted on the side panels and it might have added another couple days. At that point, I had driven around enough and had ordered a couple hundred dollars in small parts to replace all of the non-metal parts in the machine. And I still don't have a pump for it. So I end up with...

DARTH ASTORIA



It's black. Really black. They used a matte finish that is popular on wrought iron gates. I liked it because it doesn't show fingerprints. My wife thinks that the machine looks mean now. My brother thought it would look fitting with a machine gun on top.



More black and some well-worn emblems. I might keep them, I kinda like the evidence of prior duty.



The gauge is in good shape cosmetically. Not sure if it works yet.



Here is the boiler dropped in.



Paul Pratt remarked on the poor rust proofing on CMA machines in general. You can see the legacy of that right here. They are not spending a lot of time on these frames in general. The welds are ugly, there are random holes in places and some of the brackets look home made. But they all get covered up and it makes good coffee.



This is how far the power switch sticks out. It's the stock one I see in most photos and it still doesn't look right. Oh well, I'm probably going to replace it with one that doesn't need all of that plastic covering. Gravity will become my co-pilot and I'll move it up above the water and coffee blast zones. You can also see the fancy titanium bolts that I put back in to hold on the stainless. I'm focused on making it lighter. Not really, I have some piles of them from various bicycle endeavors and they don't rust.

WES

The black looks great! Mine is that ugly greenish brownish bronzish finish. I debated doing this before so now I think I will do it and make a few more electronic changes that include removing the automatic buttons and brain and filling that hole with my 2 PIDs. A shot timer and preinfusion are also in the cards. I want to replace the motor and capacitor with a standard carbonation motor and move it under the counter. While doing this I will be replacing some of those quirky bent copper pipes with some stainless flex pipes.

But now that I see yours I think I will take it all the way down and repaint and change the legs. I have been thinking of putting the long Marzocco legs on there too.

If that is Darth Astoria then my machine must be the Death Faema.



I stripped my frame with Aircraft paint stripper but I know I guy that worked for a commercial power coater. They hung the frame on the rack and coated it for free while they were doing a bunch of truck parts. I could have any color I wanted as long as it was gloss black.

I dont want to threadjack but if you guys CannonFodder and DJMonkeyHater could have any color you wanted, what would it be?

Cobalt blue or Ducati red.

hmmm.

I would have gone for a dark red on the panels while keeping the frame and that contrasting rear panel black. The matte finish is totally growing on me.



I continue to soldier on with the wiring. This is connected to the brain and the Gicar box. Is is the relay for an external pump?

WES

Hi guys,

I've been out of the loop for a while, but finally got around to putting it back together.
the good news: the machine still works.
the bad news is that I found out my pump doesn't:
it is completely seized.
the motor still works, but probably needs a new condensator.
I'm going to try to soak it a bit, and see if that helps
as paul pratt describes on his website.
a new pump is 90 euro's
as an alternative, how do you find a place that
can rebuild your pump?

I've decided to put off the rewiring until the machine is working
again. that way I know that if it is not working after the being rewired,
it is an electrical rather than an mechanical error.

there is a little coffee bar here on campus run by the students,
and I've taken on some of the shifts there,
the setup is oke, grinder and 2grp hx unic,
but the cleaning is not so good: I am the only one
who washes the driptray and they don't backflush.
the real sad thing is the beans: they buy the cheapest
beans they can find at the supermarket.

I did find a coffee roaster in town though,
who roasts every day, so he might roast an espresso blend
every week or so.
so once I get up and running I will have a source of
coffee.

I also had the first go at backflushing on my machine, which
convinced me of the benefits of doing it.

Oh my Lady AEP-1, you have not been forgotten. Got back from a business trip, worked on it for a couple weeks and then left on this trip with the images. Coming to you from Taipei, Taiwan where the Lavazza cafe down the street only can use pods and good lord it was terrible.....progress.

This is the bottom "nut" for the sight glass. I'm not a huge fan of any washer or seal on this thing so far that isn't made out of silicone or Teflon and here's why: YOU HAVE TO PAINSTAKINGLY CHIP, PRY, SCRATCH AND CHISEL THEM OUT OF EVERYTHING! I had been working on this one with a small flathead screwdriver that was good and sharp. Which of course meant that my left thumb was getting stabbed about three times a minute. So here it is after 5 minutes:


While stared blankly at another episode of some TV show involving attractive people in a crime lab and put pressure on another nick in my thumb, I wondered if I could fight fire with fire?


Yes, the answer is resoundingly, yes. Here it is in action:


You literally have to apply the flame for less than three seconds and the rubber washer crumbles like the Colorado Rockies in the first three games of the World Series. Here's the result after about a minute of applying the torch for 5 seconds, picking at it with the screwdriver for 5 seconds and repeating.


I'm about ready to start re-assembling for good. I have done a lot of dry-assembling to get a handle on the sequence. Which was good because it turns out that you have install the boiler AFTER you put the HX fill pipe in place.

Anyway, I'm going to see if the Sirai pressurestat mounts easily next.

WES