I would think the welding wouldn't be more than a couple of hundred dollars. The welding time itself would be pretty short. If you can supply the welder the exact metal compositions it would make his job faster. A good welder will want to know the exact composition if possible. Prepping the metal, jigging it up, grinding it down...that might be a couple hours work when its all said and done. The actual striking of the arc and laying down a good bead might only be 10 minutes.
Bernie

If your welder needs the information. The boiler is made out of 304L Stainless steel and the Endcap as well (304L). In production the welders use 308L filler rod and use Argon with a bit of Helium as a shielding gas. 100% Argon is usually standard with TIG welding of Stainless steel so it should be in all of the welding shops.


BillC

Billc wrote:If your welder needs the information. The boiler is made out of 304L Stainless steel and the Endcap as well (304L). In production the welders use 308L filler rod and use Argon with a bit of Helium as a shielding gas. 100% Argon is usually standard with TIG welding of Stainless steel so it should be in all of the welding shops.


BillC

Bill, Thanks for the information. I hope to find someone to do this work locally if possible, and this will really help me out, I appreciate it, thanks. Todd.

I vote for "Fix it"- why not? If you have the spare change and the ambition, what else is there to lose besides more cash. I recently turned a Hobart mixer project from a refurb to a rebuild and totally blew away my "budget" fixing it. But now it's running again and I can tell people what I did to my 42 year old machine and what horrible shape it was in when it came to me. And that machine will be with me for a looong time. So I know what you're thinking, and you have a wealth of info at your fingertips from everyone else here.
So go for it and keep us posted.
Good luck
Tom

Tom@Steve'sEspresso wrote:I vote for "Fix it"- why not? If you have the spare change and the ambition, what else is there to lose besides more cash.
So go for it and keep us posted.
Good luck
Tom

Ahhhh....yes another glass half-full guy, I like it. I do intend to keep plugging along with this project, although until I can get the boiler situation resolved it might be pointless to do much more at this time. This is really just a learning experience for me as this machine is too large for our kitchen. Although the more I am around this machine and research the Linea, I wish I could find a spot to put it in. I just commented to my wife that I'm not really in any hurry on this project as my only goal is to pull a few shots this spring/summer. Hows that for a timetable, ha! I do have it almost down to the frame and will clean it up and see what has to be done as far as paint/polish, etc. How do you like the new "vertical stack" Linea?

I also managed to get some of the plumbing cleaned up in a bath mixture of citric acid I picked up at a local brewers store.
The only oops of the day was when I was removing the Sirai pstat. Trying to undo the nut resulted in the whole support being pulled off of the frame. Don't know my own strength or the weld was a little weak?
That is all for today and the work will be progressing a little slower from now on. I'm still having trouble trying to remove the elements out of both boilers. I've seen Paul Pratts page on this but I don't have that type of tool. I may have to take them to a shop to have them wrench 'em out. Everyone enjoy inauguration day tomorrow!

I'm enjoying reading about your project. Starting a rebuild project is fun! I hope to pick up where I left off and continue mine soon.

For the heater element, I had one that was stuck as well. I had to heat it with a torch to soften it up. Even then it was tough to remove. I didn't have the right socket for the job so after tons of searching I found it at Ace Hardware. Don't even think about Lowes or Home Depot.

At least your frame looks to be in good shape. There appears to be hardly any rust at all. Good Luck!!

You could go nuts and cut it down to a single group unit with plenty of spare parts. You'll be welding it up anyway. That way you can fit it into your kitchen. Please don't let the wife know about this suggestion.

Mark

mhoy wrote:You could go nuts and cut it down to a single group unit with plenty of spare parts. You'll be welding it up anyway. That way you can fit it into your kitchen. Please don't let the wife know about this suggestion.

Mark

Now c'mon Mark, you know the T1 would get REAL jealous now don't you? I'm really just enjoying the process right now. Anyway, I couldn't stay away from the Linea so I removed the groupheads from the boiler today and it looks like I struck gold!

Then you give it a little shake...shake...shake...and...

The boiler actually looks very clean inside as the crap just fell out on its own. It really just feels like wet clumped sand, not that hard at all. All this out of a 3.4L boiler, kind of sad huh? The heating element will need a good descaling though. Now if I can just get the elements out of both boilers!

That is an amazing amount of scale. I quote my wife "That makes me want to throw up." Like you said, at least it looks like the scale mostly fell out, I'm sure that will make life a lot easier.