Some research has answered my questions.

Apparently, if you are careful and handy, making your own thermocouples is reasonable.

For a thermometer, it seems that the best combination of aesthetics, functionality and price come from a cheap PID like the TET-7100. I bought one of those and will be drilling the bolt when the HTTC type T thermocouple arrives from Omega.

Now I am left with finding the right sized copper plug for the thermostat port on the boiler. I will drill the plug and JD Weld in a TJC thermocouple sized per Ken's recommendation of somewhere between the HX, the heating element and the walls of the boiler. I am going with a FUJI PXR4 PID for the boiler temp control. It seemed like the best value for an accurate PID with 2 lines.

C.

Long term followup:

Because of the way the lower panels (below the drip tray) are mounted to the frame, I decided not to make any cosmetic changes. Fortunately, we moved to a new house with a finished basement that is perfect as an espresso bar and adequately hides the hideousness of my machine.

I did add the PID to the boiler and it quietly and effortlessly does its job. During the winter months when the water is cold, I have it set at 239 F. During the summer months I drop it down to around 233 F. This gives me a max temp (after the requisite flushing) at my group head thermocouple* of about 205 F. If that tune-up kit is ever realized, I will do more controlled analysis and report back. I have the sense, that the machine is thermally stable. But I am fearful of saying so without charts and graphs and .CSV files.

*Going off of Eric's e61 thermosiphon thermocouple thingie, I decided to do the same thing in the group on my machine. I drilled out the 17mm bold that gives you access to the gicueler and group filter and mounted a type T thermocouple inside then used some wet JB weld to seal it up. I then hooked up a watlow PID with 1/10ths of a degree F readout. It works fine and gives me exactly the information I want which is a repeatably accurate view of the water close to where the coffee is made.

I have continued to experience some problems either with some part of the electronics, the capacitor for the motor or some wiring. About 60% of the time, when I push any button (auto or manual) that should enable the pump and open the supply solenoid, only the supply solenoid opens, no pump. Usually the first time I press it, the pump engages and I surf the group temp up to a temp that I think is right. Then when i load the portafilter, the second time I press, the pump wont engage, but I can use the line pressure to preinfuse then do a quick on/off to engage the pump. This is annoying at best and I have had "professionals" check the machine for weird obvious electrical problems and nothing has been found. If it gets worse, I will either scrap it or buy an external motor and reroute all the pump stuff to underneath the counter.

I was never happy with a standard 14 gram basket because of how far the dispersion screen protrudes into the basket when you mount the PF. At one point, I removed the dispersion plate, but this yielded too much headroom. Then the "synesso" 18 gram basket sell-a-thon came to HB and now I have what amounts to a new standard basket for the CMA machines.

Overall, I think the machine is a workhorse for home use. I dont drink milk, but I do make caps and lattes for friends. The steam power of a 5 liter boiler (even at the relatively low temp I maintain the boiler) is quite impressive. The stock nozzle sucks, but I have never changed it because, well, because I dont drink milk. I can pull back-to-back shots until the cows come home. I have never had the water temp not catch up. FWIW, I never pay much attention to the brew/boiler pressure gauges. The brew pressure is jumpy during brewing and I really dont trust that they are correct. Again, when the tun-up kit comes around, i will probably adjust as needed.

The bottom line is I almost never pull a sink shot that isn't caused by my choice of coffee. Some SOs just suck as espresso or some coffees when pulled too soon after roasting are super finicky and channel like crazy or just do weird things. But as far as the machine goes, they can be picked up so cheaply on eBay that if you are mechanically inclined, these are great machines to own. That being said, I am going to buy a GS3, if they ever materialize in the US.

I recently acquired what I think is the same machine you restored. Seems to work fine, except that the pressure through the group seems wrong. The gauge reads 8 bar, even when the machine is off (i.e. it never goes down to zero), and it goes to 11 bar when the pump is turned on. Even with the gauge reading 11 bar, I only get a trickle out of the group when I use the double shot attachment.

Is this just how these machines are? Or, is there something plugged or otherwise not working right? Should the pressure go back to 0 when the machine is off?

Any help you can offer would be appreciated.

When the machine is idle (on or off), the brew pressure is the pressure of your mains water.

If you are just getting a trickle there are two things you can try:

1. There is a large nut on top of the group that can be accessed when you remove the front top stainless cover (two screws on top of the machine). Inside that nut you should find a screen filter (or some other kind of small filter) in the brew path. You can also make observations as to how scaled the machine has become (is there scale present?). It should be noted that you should not have your machine plugged in or have water connected before unscrewing that nut.

2. If the screen is clear and you don't find much scale, you may need to clean out your 3-way solenoid. You can try using the blank disc and some Urnex (or cleaner of your choice) and follow the back-flushing routine described on your cleaner. There are other indications that the solenoid is clogged or failing such as water gushing from the bottom of the solenoid discharge tube when you have the pump engaged. But it may be clogged elsewhere as well.

Report back with your findings.

Chris

Hey Matt,

I have a very similar machine and I was having the same issue when I first got it - everything seemed to be working fine but I had very little water coming out of the brew head.

Let me add to Chris's points:

* you may want to get a pressure regulator for your water supply. In my Astoria documentation it says that you should have a max of 22 PSI coming in. Also, set the pump (brew) pressure to under 9 bar. I have mine set at eight. It climbs to 8.5 with a blank filter.

* the two smallest passages in the water path to the shower screen are the inlet to the Gicar flowmeter (if you have one) and the jet (gicueler) in the grouphead. As it happens, both of those points on my machine were clogged with something. Basically, I used a straight pin to clean the opening for both. For the flow meter it was a matter of taking off the top and removing the vanes so I could gain access. For the group head jet, I unscrewed the group cap that Chris mentions in his first point and removed the jet and cleaned it out. I also replaced the filter screen as mine was mangled somehow. http://espressoparts2.zoovy.com/category/03.01.astoria.moden_solenoid_groups/ Group cap is AS_47.

* you may want to build yourself a portafilter pressure gauge to check the accuracy of the machine pressure gauge.

I also ended up replacing my pump because my machine sat for a year unused. I got it moving but it was noisy and it was leaking a bit.

Chris - Do you think the PID was a worth while upgrade? I have been thinking about it myself.

-David

Hi guys.

I picked one of these up a few weeks ago. Went to work on it after I got back from vacation yesterday and had some of the same issues you guys report. My dual gauge was just plain wrong. I took it apart, removed the needles and replaced them @ zero. Now they seem OK. I did put a watts regulator on it. I don't have an owner's manual, but I read someplace that 20-50 psi was acceptable input. Set it to 40psi. That seems OK. My pump shows 9.5 bar when pulling. A bit less on a pf attached gauge. I did have an issue with extremely slow rampup time (30+ seconds) with the shots then collapsing quickly. I was convinced it was not my technique, so I went in an massaged the pump valve a bit, and now I'm getting pretty close.


I guess I need an owner's manual. I've asked two vendors and so far gotten no response. If anyone has an electronic copy, name your price. (EDIT: nix that. espressoparts just came through with one - yay for them)

Thanks.

karmacafe wrote:Chris - Do you think the PID was a worth while upgrade? I have been thinking about it myself.

-David

First, its cheap with a cheap PID. Second, its easy. I installed a thermocouple in that big bolt on the grouphead as well and I believe that I can make things pretty consistent based on the PID setting and that thermocouple (similar to Eric's E-61 bolt thingie).

For me its worth it because I am that guy that finds these kinds of things "worth it". I suspect most people taking the time to ask about it here are also that guy (or gal as the case may be). I doubt it changes the way my shots taste in a meaningful way but it does let me adjust the brew temps quickly and repeatably.