Hi all!

Long time lurker, first time poster.

So, having considered my options, I decided to purchase a used commercial machine from a local restaurant that advertised it on Craigslist. I am now the proud owner of a beautiful and massive Unic Rumba. Given this is a fairly substantial change (upgrade, I hope!) from my old Silvia+Rocky setup I know I have some challenges ahead of me. The machine itself has the normal been-in-a-restaurant-barely-used-for-three-years grime to it. When I picked it up it was in a functioning state in the restaurant. I've started cleaning it, but I am not familiar enough with the machine to think about a full strip down. Given that, I'm doing the best I can without a full disassembly. The group head is filthy. What is the best solvent to use to clean the group head? I've tried to remove it so I can give it a thorough cleaning, but the hex bolts holding it on are very stiff. So I'll probably have to clean it as is. Any advice is very appreciated.

http://unic-usa.com/Rumba_Espresso_Mach...achine.htm .... looks like a nice machine spec wise! .. get a group head cleaning brush to go with that urnex and you should be able to get started. I would descale it (eventually)but if its working as intended i would plumb it in and enjoy it for awhile.

congrats on what i hope is a nice score!

Thanks so much for the replies!

I will certainly look into the cleaning products. I have a few more 'n00b' questions, so please bear with me on these.

1. Looking in the machine there is a large cylindrical boiler. Given that I do not see a second, I can safely assume this is an HX system, and that there is not two boilers inside the large cylinder somehow. True?

2. Is it always bad to run rotating pumps from a water bottle, even temporarily?

3. I really do not have a good way to plumb in the drain. Unfortunately, the unit does not seem to have an easy way to disable the draining. Is there a common way to block the drain, and then remove fluid / grinds from it as I feel, or is that a bad thing to do?

4. How can I tell if the machine uses an E61 group? Do basically all commercial machines have these?

5. I'd really like a naked portafilter holder so I can examine the extraction. Since Unic machines are far less common, I have so far been unable to find one. Are portafilters holders somehow universal, or are they specific to the manufacturer?

6. How do I descale a plumbed in unit? I looked for tutorials, but I was unable to find something for a n00b like me.

Thanks again! Pics coming soon!

Trevor

Thanks for the replies. I have read through the documentation at the link, and the HX/DB info was not obvious to me. I did see things like "Boiler with hot water/coffee/steam : 6.3 L", which to me means a single boiler with an HX. As far as it not having an E61 group, how did you know that? Is there something obvious in the picture or documentation? The drain is pretty plugged up with gunk, is there a normal way to clean it, or should I just give it lots of elbow grease?

Randy G. wrote:ANSWERS:
2 - It depends. But those rotary pumps are not designed to pull water. Place the bottle above the machine and establish a siphon and it should be OK for a while. Even an RV water system pump will work for a supply.

That's a common misconception. If you read the spec sheets, FOT rotary pumps are designed to pull water up to 3 ft, Procon rotary pumps are designed to pull water up to 6 ft. That's only logical since some machines with rotary pumps have reservoirs. That's just what the manufactures say, not first hand knowledge. I run my vibe pump machine off of a bottle that's at the same level as the machine without problems. However, some people have reported that their machines don't run as well without input pressure, so it's worth doing some experimenting. In any case, you won't hurt the pump by running it from a bottle, as long as you never let it run out of water.

Randy G. wrote:Since a manufacturer has to pay for licensing the E-61 name and design, if they paid they would be sure to tell you. The E-61 is also a fairly easily recognizable shape as well, and I think you will find that most (if not all - I could be wrong there) E-61s are exposed groups..

Cool. Thanks for the description. This is a learning experience for me.