Hi

I have just recently brought a La Cimbali Junior machine and grinder and to be honest don't know alot about them but do like my coffee. Since plumbing it in I have come across a couple of issues which are causing me to scratch my head way too much and wondering if anyone could help.

Firstly, I machine has a dosing chamber in the back left hand corner if you were looking at the machine front on. In this chamber are differing metal rods, from what I have figured these correspond to the shoot selector that has been made with the right hand selector on the front of the machine. My question is can these be adjusted to change the amount of water that is released? and if so is it just a matter of lifting the rods to the desired level.

Secondly, The water level in sight glass does not appear to get above anything except min level, can this be fill manually or should it just fill to max when ever the machine is fired up. ( Please note that I have not seen a Junior like this one while looking around this or many other sites ). The two switches on the front are : The left one is an on / off switch and the right one is the shoot selector, giving you four selections, the push button in the middle is how you start the extraction process.

Thirdly, Does this machine have a vibe or rotary pump, how can i tell and what difference does it make?

Thanks



Regards

Roy from NZ

nzcoffee wrote:Hi

I have just recently brought a La Cimbali Junior machine and grinder and to be honest don't know alot about them but do like my coffee. Since plumbing it in I have come across a couple of issues which are causing me to scratch my head way too much and wondering if anyone could help.

Firstly, I machine has a dosing chamber in the back left hand corner if you were looking at the machine front on. In this chamber are differing metal rods, from what I have figured these correspond to the shoot selector that has been made with the right hand selector on the front of the machine. My question is can these be adjusted to change the amount of water that is released? and if so is it just a matter of lifting the rods to the desired level.

Secondly, The water level in sight glass does not appear to get above anything except min level, can this be fill manually or should it just fill to max when ever the machine is fired up. ( Please note that I have not seen a Junior like this one while looking around this or many other sites ). The two switches on the front are : The left one is an on / off switch and the right one is the shoot selector, giving you four selections, the push button in the middle is how you start the extraction process.

Thirdly, Does this machine have a vibe or rotary pump, how can i tell and what difference does it make?

Thanks

Regards

Roy from NZ[/b]<image><image>

I've got the same machine which I stripped down to rebuild

1) yes, the rods control the shot volume, feel free to adjust, suggest you label the rods if not already done so and take some photos recording starting positions

2) Autofill should top up to the max mark on the site glass. This is determned by the depth of a conductive rod that is located at the top centre of the boiler. Maybe a previous owner has extended its depth though I cant imagine why. The photo shows the sensor removed from the boiler

3. Vibe pump on mine, small pump bolted to the floor of the chassis maybe a red exterior. Shouldnt make much if any difference to shots once setup properly



hope this helps

cheers

Thanks Mauricem for your advice, you aussies ain't that bad after all.

I have had a play around with the autofill sensor but this does not appear to affect to fill level on the sight glass. I am now thinking that there could be a blockage between the tank and the sight glass. Is this possible and do you know if there are any hidden traps in fixing it. I am assuming if I just pull the hose from each end and clean it out, problem if there is one, solved.

What do you think?

Since you have the same machine any other gems you could pass on regarding the machine

You wouldn't have a La Cimbali Junior grinder too would ya? If so what setting are you running it at?

Cheers digger !

Does the ball move at all? I'd undo the autofill level probe and visually or via a dipstick determine if youre getting an accurate reading of the water level, if not then cleaning the plumbing out would be the next step. Certainly scale build up could cause this symptom. Have you descaled ?

Theres a lot of info on the Cimbali juniors on this site, coffeegeek and alt.coffee most of it contributed by Ken Fox, Im sure Ken would advise you to adjust the pump pressure for best results. Youll need a pressure gauge attached to your portafilter spout for this but all the how to can be found here
Also check the pressurestat setings to make sure you're in the right temp range

Ive got a couple of Cadet/Junior Grinders, the settings I use are pretty meaningless as I realigned the numeric indicator so that when the burrs are just touchng its on 0. All you really need to do is adjust the grind to keep the brew duaration in the 25 sec range regardless of displayed settings

If you're feeling adventurous then a complete strip and rebuild with all new seals, washers etc is always instructive! Coffeeparts.com.au has some schematic diagrams and parts listings at a reasonable price. Cheack the condition of the washers in the steam valve as well, if not maintained you may need a whole new valve assembly which is one of the dearer Cimbali parts

good luck!

nzcoffee wrote:Thanks Mauricem for your advice, you aussies ain't that bad after all.

I have had a play around with the autofill sensor but this does not appear to affect to fill level on the sight glass. I am now thinking that there could be a blockage between the tank and the sight glass. Is this possible and do you know if there are any hidden traps in fixing it. I am assuming if I just pull the hose from each end and clean it out, problem if there is one, solved.

What do you think?

Since you have the same machine any other gems you could pass on regarding the machine

You wouldn't have a La Cimbali Junior grinder too would ya? If so what setting are you running it at?

Cheers digger !

I just bought one of these older Juniors with the polished brass shell, should be arriving in the next few days. Really excited going to this from a basic Gaggia, but the brass I'm not so sure about. If anything I guess I could (gasp) paint it with some high temp paint but that will be a last resort.

My machine also has an issue with the water level indicator, and I don't see a float in there at all (some scale buildup in there) but haven't taken anything apart for fear that it might leak after that. The stock float is just a colored ball? It has the rear clear chamber with the rods inside same as the picture above and I'm still trying to figure out how everything works. I haven't had the courage to power it on yet since it's the plumbed version and I don't want to burn the element if I don't know how to prime or fill the boiler yet. For an older Junior the interior is quite clean so I'm happy so far.