My pressurestat failed on the first shot of the day... Love now they always fail open. Nothing like the safety release tripping to wake you up in the morning.

Anyway, I'm considering the Jaeger as a replacement, but would live to put a Sirai 'stat in. I'm reasonably sure that there isn't enough room in the Anita, but has anyone tried?

Mike

Not a Sirai, but my Vetrano has had a Mater in it since new with no failures.

Unfortunately, I've gone through both a CEME and a Ma-Ter now...I get about two years of service from them before they fail. The Jaeger that CC sells looks like a good alternative, but I'd love to get as heavy duty of a unit as a Sirai in there.

Mike

It's my understanding that a Sirai won't fit in the Anita because the reservoir takes up too much room. You can get a Sirai as an upgrade for the Vetrano, and maybe the Andreja, but not for Anita. Too bad, since it would be nice to have something beefier than the Mater or Jaeger in there.

On a related note, how much better is a Sirai pressurestat than a Mater or Jaeger? I assume even a Sirai would eventually wear out, but it would take longer.

I suppose if you're really determined to get solve the problem, you could install a PID instead. Not exactly a cheap or easy solution to the problem though.

It fits inside the Andrea and the Vetrano, but there isnt enough room for the Sirai with the reservoir. I tried very hard to get one to fit.. There just isn't room.

I had the Ma-Ter stat in my machine, which was the stock Pstat from Chris. It recently went, so I put the Jaeger stat in. It hasn't been in very long, but I havent had any problems with it. And, replacing the Pstat is a piece of cake.. should only take you about 10 minutes. MAKE SURE you mark which wires are for which connections, BEFORE you take out the old stat. And, the machine should preferably* be cool, but should certainly be off and unplugged.

*Replacing the Pstat when everything is hot is not going to be easy or fun. I suggest you let it cool down.. It doesn't have to be completely cool, but Id give it at least 20 minutes off. Take the case off first.. it cools quicker with it off.

The Sirai stat, not only is it more robust, but it has extra contacts if you ever need to switch them, which is one of the causes the other Pstats need to be replaced. When talking with the techs at Chris' I asked about the Sirai and Jaeger.. And while they said they put the Sirai stat in any machine if it fits, they are completely comfortable using the Jaeger stat, as it is also a well built stat. I think you'll be fine with the Jaeger.

So is the Jaeger significantly more robust than the Mater? If so, maybe I'll get one next time I need to replace my p-stat. It's been about a year since I last replaced mine, so it's probably going to go sometime in the next few months. If the Jaeger will last longer than the Mater, than it would probably make sense to get the Jaeger.

Beezer wrote:On a related note, how much better is a Sirai pressurestat than a Mater or Jaeger? I assume even a Sirai would eventually wear out, but it would take longer.

While it's true that anything mechanical will eventually wear out, there simply is NO comparison between the Ma-Ter or Ceme units and the Sirai. (I have never seen or used a Jaeger).

My personal experience with the Wega was 2 pressurestat failures in the 6 months, one Ceme unit and one Ma-Ter. Both of these failures were dangerous (i.e. NOT "fail-safe", so failure means leaving the heating element ON). Each failure resulted in an "over pressure event" leading to a steam discharge from the emergency pressure safety valve. The second one was so severe that it tweaked the boiler pressure gauge on my machine such that it had to be replaced.

My decision to replace the unit with a Sirai was a good one, and it has been flawless for well over three years so far (knock on wood) The Sirai is very robust in build and as mentioned already it has an extra contact (not that you'd ever need it - it can be cleaned and rebuilt of the contacts ever get dirty).

The Sirai is built like a commercial contactor-starter, so it makes a louder "clack" when it engages but I actually like the sound because it's obviously heavy-duty to my ears. No microswitches or energized adjustment screw on this bad boy! With the Ceme and Ma-Ter units you get shocked at 110VAC if you adjust with a metal screwdriver with the machine on, this is not the case for the Sirai.

So my opinion is that the Ceme and Ma-Ter p-stats have poor design and are even dangerous to use. The Sirai is as heavy-duty as they come, much more reliable and much safer as well.

That's what bothers me too..I've had both a Ma-Ter and a C.E.M.E. fail ON for me as well. If I hadn't forgotten to fill the reservoir last night, the machine would have been heated up by timer an hour before I got up...Darn glad that I forgot to get it ready last night!

I'd really prefer something more bulletproof in the machine, but I'm skeptical that the Jaeger is worth 2x the price of the C.E.M.E.. I've ran across anecdotal reports of it failing just as soon as the C.E.M.E. and Ma-Ter parts. Since it doesn't look like a Sirai is in the cards for me, I guess I'll go with a C.E.M.E. (which I think is the better unit, having used both) and replace it every 18 months or so.

EPNW and a few other vendors sell a C.E.M.E. stat that looks to be considerably bigger than the stock C.E.M.E. unit. I'm hoping that it'll be a little more robust.

http://espressoparts2.zoovy.com/product ... estat.html

Mike

That CEME p-stat looks interesting, and it's very reasonably priced. If it's tough enough to be used in commercial LM machines, it should hold up well in home use. Might be worth a try. I wonder if you'd still need an adaptor to make it work with a Quickmill machine though.

Beezer wrote:That CEME p-stat looks interesting, and it's very reasonably priced.

It looks exactly like the one I had that failed after 2 months of use. Seems hard to believe that it's standard kit in LaMarzocco machines, I'd like to see something to substantiate that...

For me, this is one area where I choose not to cut corners.