Well I hit my first mini-snag, more of a delay really. All of the local brew supply stores seem to be out of citric acid in anything other than 2 oz sizes. I ordered 5 lbs and it should be here in a few days, but at this point the boiler and tubing is disassembled and awaiting descaling. I've also stripped and scrubbed the frame...

I was really hoping to start reassembling this weekend, but looks like it will have to wait a bit.

Thankfully, Shannon gave me about a pound of CAcid! I didn't even know what it was at first, thought it was the normal espresso cleaner solution - thankfully I asked.

I received all of my espressoparts.com stuff last night from DHL! I will do a full report on my blog and bring it to your attention here a bit later.

Right now, the electrician is coming over soon to "survey" what he needs!

Well I put about 4 lbs of citric acid in with 10 gals of water and it did a great job of getting the surface scale & lime deposits off the outside and all the tubing. There's still some black scale on the inside that didn't come off, so it's off to the home depot to get some muriatic acid...

fflewddur wrote:Well I put about 4 lbs of citric acid in with 10 gals of water and it did a great job of getting the surface scale & lime deposits off the outside and all the tubing. There's still some black scale on the inside that didn't come off, so it's off to the home depot to get some muriatic acid...

I don't even know what muriatic acid is! LOL.

I am going to Lowe's here in a few minutes and I will try to find something to the effect of what Chris Coffee Service is selling. I would buy from Chris Coffee {click to see it), but my parents are buying some of these parts as part of Christmas and trust me, it is just better to get everything where they can see it when we go to the store.

I guess, with not unforeseen problems, I will be making espresso and caps tonight.

WilsonHines wrote:I don't even know what muriatic acid is! LOL.

Hydrochloric acid.

Using it to descale is a tricky task.


My current fave descaler (for completely dismantled machines) is Rydlyme. It's way more effective than ScaleKleen for heavy deposits.

I'm being quite careful... but the black scale inside the boiler is going away. It's been soaking for about 1/2 hour and its about 1/2 gone.

parents are buying some of these parts as part of Christmas and trust me, it is just better to get everything where they can see it when we go to the store.

My parents are like that too... I sure hope I'm not like that when my little ones are older.

Power Problem.

The power cord on my machine didn't have an plug on the end of the cord. Thus, I had the naked wires, some twisted and others not. The manual is about as criptic as it can get. fflewddur I need your help bad! Since your machine isn't a "working" machine, do you mind taking your plug off and tell me the wiring order?

Thanks again,

WilsonHines wrote:Power Problem.

The power cord on my machine didn't have an plug on the end of the cord. Thus, I had the naked wires, some twisted and others not. The manual is about as criptic as it can get. fflewddur I need your help bad! Since your machine isn't a "working" machine, do you mind taking your plug off and tell me the wiring order?

Is it 220v? You should be able to discern the wiring by working back from the power switch/terminal block. Green (or yellow/green), should be ground. The other two wires are hot & hot (for 220v).

Man, I have four wires:
2 Black
1 Blue
1 Brown
1 Yellow/Green

Currently, it is wired Black and Black to the hot. Brown and Blue are twisted together and on the ground and the yellow/green is cut off and not attached.

This Faema looks almost identical to a Futurmat Rimini II that I'd purchased off of Craigslist (Seattle) and then ended up re-selling through Pierre Espresso Repair. It is a hulking beast of an espresso machine but there was just no way to fit it into my kitchen. The Silvia works fine, but its lacking the style of a big, red, 2 group.

good luck!

hal

whereshaldo wrote: It is a hulking beast of an espresso machine but there was just no way to fit it into my kitchen. The Silvia works fine, but its lacking the style of a big, red, 2 group.
hal

To be completely honest here, I had no idea my kitchen would get so small. In fact, once my shop opens (hopefully speaking) I intend on moving it out and picking up something like an Expobar Brewtus II A3

I would also like to say at one point there was four men and one woman in my house at one time - all with the intent of getting this thing plugged in and humming. It has took the brain of everybody included. Everybody was severely disappointed when we couldn't fire the engine up! We all wanted espresso! I guess all of our brain power failed. That is a bad point to make.

WilsonHines wrote:Man, I have four wires:
2 Black
1 Blue
1 Brown
1 Yellow/Green

Currently, it is wired Black and Black to the hot. Brown and Blue are twisted together and on the ground and the yellow/green is cut off and not attached.

four wires, or five? you're talking about the power cable, right? are those connections at the plug end or the machine end?


and is this 220v or 110v?

My machine is 220 / 5 wire and has 2 browns, a black, blue & yellow/green.

Here's the backside of the plug... the browns & black are twisted together on the 'Y', the blue is attached to the 'X' and the yellow/green is the ground:


Here's a shot of the cord coming in & attaching to the big power switch on the front of the machine:


And of course the power cord:


And here's a shot of my little one 'helping':



Hope this helps.

Wiring notes US and Europe Wiring Standards, what color is which wire

I thought my boy how to use the machine



and roast

Thanks guys. Looks like we had it all wrong.

Let me get back from church today and I will go at this again. I have some expensive beans that just can't wait...literally, they are at 12 days and 8 respectively.

Now, on the kids, I surely wish I had a pic of my Anna at Murky with a straw sucking down a decaf espresso out of a 2.5 oz cup! But, alas, we left the camera at home!

Maybe this will do LOL

Wilson -

Why not, come Monday morning, try to get an electrical wiring diagram for da machine from these guys:

http://www.faemasource.com/index.html

Something SEEMS a little screwy on fflewddur's plug (but it obviously works).

And if somebody knows why I can find an electrical wiring diagram on a $500 clothes dryer back panel and NOT on a $5000 espresso machine, I'd love to know.

Well, your right fflewwder's does seem odd, but it does work.

Between fflewwder's and this link http://www.home-barista.com/espresso-machines/us-and-europe-wiring-standards-what-color-is-which-wire-t3071.html I figured I could get it right.

Yeah, a call to Jason might be the smart thing to do. I have to leave in the morning and go to Grand Rapids, MI. I won't be back until Wednesday or Thursday. Argghh!

I don't know what to do.

yes. I thought something might be a little screwy with mine...

Finally some progress towards rebuild.

After a very good soak & thorough rinsing, the scale is finally gone from inside & out and I'm re-assembling. So far it's going pretty quickly, but this is the easy part....

here's a reminder of the scale that was on the outside (it was worse inside):


but now the scale is gone. Here's the scrubbed frame with the first few pieces back on:

Hey fflewdder, the pics just reminded me that Shannon told me he used standard automotive engine paint for that bright and shiny boiler!