I recently came across a 1995 Astoria Argenta and without a stitch of research I bought it on the spot. Upon telling my friends of this purchase, the most common questions were: "Does it run?" and "Are parts still available?" To which my answers were: Well... the electrical cords seem to have been cut with wire cutters, (oddly enough so was the water line), so I have no idea if it runs. And secondly, why would I need parts?

As my sister and I lifted the 150 lb monster into my house, I thought to myself, "wow, this is ALOT heavier than my Cuisinart Espresso machine." My wife asked me if this was the next step up in espresso machines. As I pictured a Rancilio Silvia, I told her that I may have skipped a few steps in between.

Armed with previous Astoria restorations from Home Barista and instruction manuals from Ben Pekarne at General Espresso Equipment Corporation, I'm setting out on getting this Argenta back in working condition.

The Argenta has separate 220V and 110V plugins. Looking at the 220 cord, I noticed it only had 3 wires. I believe it's code to have 4 wires for home use. If I'm correct I'll have to add another ground to the machine (there's already lots of them).



I began dis-assembly today. It's pretty exciting to start taking it apart. A few days ago I went and filled out my metric collection of wrenchs, hex keys, and sockets, so I was prepared for whatever the Italians had to dish out. It looks promising so far. Other than coffee grounds, mineral powder and dust and dirt the machine looks to be in fairly good shape. The gentleman I bought it from said he had never had it working and it had been in storage for 3 years (or more).





Penn Pressure Stat (I notice most people replace with a Sirai - why?)

I am missing the motor pump. I'll have to look for a replacement. Meanwhile the deconstruction is going very smoothly. All the copper pipes are unscrewing with limited effort.

When I moved the machine into my house, I did hear a little bit of sloshing coming from the boiler. I tried draining the tank, but nothing came out. My guess is something is plugged up (hopefully not with black water).

You know how you do something and then you go, "wow, am I ever stupid." ...Probably no one knows what I'm talking about.

In order to unclog the drain to my boiler, I stabbed the scale buildup with a small screwdriver and sure enough that did the trick. Unfortunately, I didn't put 2 and 2 together and think that maybe I might need a container to catch the water. I made a mad dash to get one of my wifes tupperware containers and stick it under the drain. On the plus side, the scale build up was so great, that the water just trickled out and water damage was contained to a small amount.

Clear and clean


I'm interested in trying a new descaler recommended to me by a local espresso machine supplier. They do cleaning and repairs and swear by a product called Dairy Kleen. It's specifically designed for Brass, Copper, Stainless Steel, and Nickel.

You probably have water in the heat exchangers as well. Hopefully it was stored somewhere above freezing. If not, you may want to pressure test the heat exchangers before you do much. Those heat exchanger tubes like to rupture if the water in them freezes. Then you have a big paper weight. I had one that had one of the HX's split. I ended up capping that group and had a 12 liter single group machine. All my 220 wiring is 3 wire.