I have always loved tinkering around with projects. This is my first major rebuild.





I was not given much information about this machine other than it had not been working for many years and it was recovered from the recycling bin at a major hotel. I took a quick look-see at the boiler and the main water/steam lines to see if there were any apparent faults. It looked as good as I could expect for the price, so it came home with me like a puppy.



There was no plug for this machine so I never got to test it out before starting to strip it down. The lower fitting to the sight glass was missing so there would be no way to fill the machine with water to see if there were any major leaks either. My plan was to start taking this machine apart with a part diagram and note anything that was missing or broken. From there, soak everything copper/brass in citric acid to remove any scale, test all the wires for continuity and start re-assembly with whatever new parts necessary to test the major parts/functions of the machine. As paint is quite inexpensive, I would also repaint the base since I would not want to dismantle this machine again to properly paint the base if it was not a lost cause. I hoped to be able to bring this machine to testing quality before buying any big ticket items such as new panels that are more cosmetic than immediately functional.

Once the panels came off, it was easy to start identifying parts and possible problem areas. Everything was horrifically dirty with smells of old coffee, older milk residue and newer leftovers of some sort of rodent. It was remarkably easy to remove the touchpad and enclosure. From there I could easily get to the groups, steam wand and hot water valves. All seemed to look good and move around easily. I was quite certain that I would need new gaskets for many of these parts but the parts seemed to be in good condition. I would only know once I scraped off the accumulate milk. No picture would do proper justice.



Even the group heads, while caked in old coffee and grime, did not have any significant wear. Only small parts were missing from the groups such as one diffuser and a shower screen. As expected, the group gaskets were as hard as the metal they fit into.

Starting at the start of the hydraulic line, I took out the pump to see if it would turn with the force of my fingers. I know that these are not very cheap. Thankfully it turned with only a little effort. While inspecting the T fitting that leads from the pump to both a flexible line that feeds the rest of the machine and a small brass tube that goes to the water pressure gauge, it has a gicleur in it!



Note: A gicleur, also known as a flow restrictor, is similar to a metal nut with out the head and a small hole through the length. These are screwed into a fitting in the water's path. Generally, it restricts the flow of water. This part was not in the schematic and I was surprised to see that there would be a pressure regulator this early in the path. When I checked the download fittings after the flowmeters there were no gicleurs on either of them. I am assuming that it was put here to avoid the cost of two $2 gicleurs further down stream. Even the people at ECM were a little surprised. I am disappointed to say that in my haste to clean this part from the scale that had built up, I completely stripped the gicleur with my alan key excitement. The part is unknown and reportedly unavailable, so I will be replacing this part with the descirbed parts on the part diagram by putting in two new gicleurs after each of the flowmeters. If nothing else this will make the machine a little more consistent with modern machines coming out of the Simonelli factories. For semi-automatic machines, the dosing buttons on the front portion out a specific amount of water for a shot. This event starts the pump to feed water to the group head through the flowmeters, one for each group. Inside the flowmeter are magnets on an impeller which spins with the flowing water, providing an electrical signal to the computer how much water has passed.



Since it was starting at me in the face all the while, I took out the brass drain cup. I tucked it away under a stack of shop towels so I would not have to look at it before I could clean it up and soak it in citric acid. It was so filthy then and knew that it would look much better after the cleaning.



The hydraulic line was generally intact and without evidence of any prior leaks. However, it was the sight glass assembly that captured my attention, even when I first inspected this machine.



The sight glass displays how much water is in the boiler. This is especially important because it can diagnose many problems if the water is not around the middle of the gauge. If the gauge is full of water there will be no room inside the boiler to make adequate steam, and the water level probe needs attention. If there is no water in the sight-glass, unless the lower pipe is blocked, there is no water in the boiler. Running a boiler element dry could lead to the heating element failing and the machine itself to implode from its own expanding gravitational pull. This picture is the fitting to the boiler that the lower sight glass pipe connects with the sight glass assembly.



Maybe some readers will look at this mysterious crud without much of a nod, but I kid you not it gave me nightmares. Specifically, I was scared that the inside of the boiler was coated in such a crust, also that the hours of chipping and soaking in acid would eventually dissolve both this substance and the magical cure for cancer contained inside it. The lower sight glass pipe accompanied the machine, unattached. I believe it was initially removed to drain the boiler before the whole thing was discarded. It would be just another part to be cleaned and inspected for damage. I would not be able to feed water into this machine until this was repaired.

Another part that would no doubt need replacing is the dual pressure gauge. The gauge has two inputs in the back, one on top and the other below. The top gauge connects to the top of the boiler and registers how much pressure is in the boiler. This is quite useful because steam pressure also reflects the internal temperature. While other methods are much more accurate, boiler pressure will also give a temperature guess for the brew water. The steam pressure gauge will also express when the pressure is sufficient to use the steam wand or hot water spigot. As can be seen, the green space starts at 1 and the red starts at 1.5 which is common to all espresso machines I have ever worked with. The bottom gauge is attached to the water main just after the pump and reads the water pressure. The green zone is between 5 and 10 bars of pressure. Typically, the water pressure feeding the machine is under 5 bars and the pump will bring that pressure up to around 9 bars during the brewing process.



As you can see, the water pressure gauge is stuck at approximately 18 bar. Maybe if I throw it against a wall it will work again, probably not though. As they cost around $100 it will be a part I replace once I decide to either sell the machine or put it into production. However, just reading a post on lethargic pressure gauges, I might just soak it in acid and see if anything changes.

Disassembling the hydraulic lines was swift and generally unphotographed, sigh. I think my general sorrow of the upkeep and my fear of running out of latex gloves before everything found its way into the acid. Taking off the drain cup and expansion valve were quick to remove as was the boiler-fill electro-valve and hot water spigot valve. Starting in that order, the drain cup is where all the extra and dirty water pools before draining out of the machine. The expansion valve does just as its name implies, gives the water in the hydraulic system space to expand as it heats. The electro-valve lets water pass through the valve by electric command of the control board.



The black box is fastened around a hollow cylinder that contains a magnetically controlled plunger. I was much more hesitant taking it apart than putting it back together. It is quite a simple yet effective device. The valve for the hot water spigot did not want to release its design secrets as willingly. Other than the handle, not one part of it was willing to unfasten to my herculean efforts. Since the valve seems to move fluidly I am not too afraid of it being clogged. I will test it out once everything is put back together to see if it leaks. After that it was just carefully removing all the copper lines. Hoping that part diagrams and a logical understanding of the system, only one picture was taken. Oh goodness, I hope this will not be a mistake.

Not a mistake. Have fun with it. You can't go wrong with 'fished out of a dumpster'. I stripped and rebuilt a Simonelli, and other than 2 groups, much of the guts look the same as mine. I took many pictures of the tear-down, and none of the rebuild, but those photos are invaluable. Take many (better) pictures, and you will be fine. I spent only $15, and got the rest of the O-rings from a metric O-ring kit.

I used CLR to descale it, but generally people are using citric acid. CLR worked very well, but I would only use it if you are completely disassembling it, allowing you to thoroughly rinse and wash it afterwords. I then ran lots of water through every thing after it was reassembled and running, just to make sure it was safely rinsed clean of CLR.

Pics of the strip. http://b-rod.smugmug.com/Other/Espresso ... 5071_CzwFy

Hey did you ever get your gauge to work again or did you have to buy a new one? I just got a similar machine and the gauge isn't looking too good.

Great project! I rebuilt this exact machine a couple of years ago and it's in my kitchen right now. Pay very close attention to the orifices on the side of the groupheads at the solenoids. Mine were very, very clogged and I had to literally drill out the rock hard deposits. Also the middle brass plug on top of the grouphead has a screen and jet that will likely need cleaned. This machine does not like hard water at all. Also might clean the contacts on the pressurestat with fine grit sandpaper and contact cleaner.

If you ever come across an extra front panel (around the pressure gauge and power switch), and / or drip tray cover, let me know. Mine are pseudo-home-fabricated.

CHAD

*edit.. just noticed this is a December 2010 thread...

XADerrick wrote:Hey did you ever get your gauge to work again or did you have to buy a new one? I just got a similar machine and the gauge isn't looking too good.

The gauges do not seem to hold up well. I ended up purchasing a new one, works great. I have the single group version of this machine. Not my thread, but I was going to answer. I done a complete refurbishment on the single group 110 version. Thanks.

It has certainly been a while since I last posted on this rebuild. I thoroughly enjoyed working on this machine, but owning a cafe took precedence over my time. Now that my cafe has been sold, I had much more time to finish this project. Here is how it all worked out.

It didn't take much time at all to figure out my work was going to be more involved. I would have been curious to know what the last couple shots tasted like, and what the hotel's equipment technician diagnosed to be the problem with this machine before it was put into storage. Even with the lost lower fitting to the sight glass assembly, ALL the lines were filled with a similar amount of crud.



Much of the deposit was a sort of sediment, accumulated at the bottom of the lines, rather than scale which attaches to all surfaces that are in contact with water. Some of the lines had to be replaced because I didn't have a tool thin enough to prod the sediment off between cirtic acid soakings. I found a awl to be very effective for much of my work as well as several sizes of steel pipe cleaners. Eventually, everything came clean from the lines that could be cleaned, and the rest went into my scrap copper box.



To take a couple steps back in the process, once I started removing the hydraulic lines it was much easier to get individual parts into a vice to get a good look. Referring to my first post, I took a look at some articles and photos of other people taking apart solenoid valves and it seemed simple enough. Thankfully, it was. Several valves seemed in pretty good shape with only a little bit of black on the inside. No single part took longer than 10 minutes of soaking and scrubbing to get clean. Even the gaskets were in pretty good shape. It wasn't until after putting the machine back together again that I made some tremendously horrible discoveries concerning the three way valves at the group heads. But I am certainly getting ahead of the story.



Removing everything to the frame was, indeed, quite satisfying. It finally gave me a chance to get into the smallest cracks with my tools of filth removal. Finally, my kitchen no longer stank of old coffee and mice. I scrubbed the base with all sorts of cleaning products and eventually decided to take it to the car wash and use the pressure washer to get everything off. After a couple cans of matte black paint, the base looked sexy again. I considered repainting it the dark grey it previously was, but I enjoyed the sharp contrast of the black and ugly red/orange panels. The outside panels had so much wear that I checked into the price of new panels. The cost of all three was outrageous, and no longer available other than the grey for the newer Premier Maxi. If it came to pass that I had to purchase new panels, I would hate for the machine to be entirely grey. Black it is.

Before putting everything back together I tested all the wires at both ends for continuity while cleaning. It was a good exercise as it gave me the chance to make a solid wiring diagram of this machine, something I hadn't done since college, a decade earlier. Everything checked out fine, so I could be partly assured that I wouldn't have to worry about that during testing.



In the above picture, there is two supports for the boiler which had a thin layer of fiberglass to protect the frame from the heat of the boiler. I found it impossible to source such a small amount of fiberglass insulation so I cut a couple thin strips of a silicon baking mat I had from my cafe to provide the insulation I was looking for.

Following seedlings post on checking the orifices inside the grouphead was heeded. It took massive amounts of force to remove the nuts on top of the group but it certainly paid off. There was incrustation inside the grouphead that the acid soaking did not dissolve when the nuts were in place. Getting them clean was simple work and I am certainly glad I took the time.



Now everything was done and ready to be reinstalled. I mounted the groupheads, steam wand and hot water spigot assemblies first so that when I put the boiler in it would be easier to position it properly.



By far the most frustrating part of the entire rebuild was installing the lower heat exchange fittings into the boiler. Because I was not yet informed to the value of loctite and still messing around with teflon tape, it took many attempts to position the fittings properly for the lower line to the grouphead. I still have a considerable disdain for this part of a rebuild, however installing a boiler and lining it up with the upper fittings then installing the lower HX fitting and sealing it with red loctite is the best way of reinstalling.

Putting together all the pieces again was quick work. I didn't have the patience to photograph the rebuilding but everything went back together as planned.

At this point, it was time for the testing. As feared, there were several leaks in the water line, two of several were ironically at the lower HX fittings. Thankfully, I know better now. The rest were simple to solve. Loosen, reseat, tighten, test, and repeat if necessary. Eventually, everything stopped leaking. At least until I brought the boiler up to temperature, but that was later.

I filled the tank with water, plugged the machine in and flipped the switch. Nothing. Took a look around to make sure I didn't miss anything. Tried again, and nothing. It took several hours with a mulitmeter and working with another tech that I discovered that the brain was fried, or at least beyond my ability to repair. Several of the relays were burnt as well as a small piece of the board itself. Enter new brain.

Now is where I made my first costly mistake.

After a month waiting for a replacement, when it arrived I installed it and hastily turned the machine on. The light turned on, good. The pump turned on but made some irregular wurring noises, not good. Then the smoke was released, bad. I was trying to figure out why the pump was making the noises it was. Turns out that the pump was bad to begin with even though it would turn, but the main reason for everything going to pot was that I forgot to turn on the water. The boiler never filled, the heating element was toast.

It took another month to get a new heating element, gasket and temperature cutout fuse, as well as a new pump to arrive for this increasingly costly machine. It was a tough call to keep going with this project, as the total cost was continually climbing. I attribute my continuation to the fact that I started a post for this rebuild and felt guilty not finishing after spending so much time cleaning pipes and testing, rather than spending time with my girlfriend. Maybe I will name this machine after her.

With so many new parts to this machine, testing went smoothly. All electrical worked perfectly. The pump filled the boiler quickly and no strange noises. The leaks started again when the boiler was up to pressure. Mainly around a couple fittings that were easily reseated once cooled. I played around with this machine for a month to make sure that everything worked well, and to see how good the shots were compared to my Appia. Even though I was not going to be trading my Appia for this two group Premier, the shots were much better. Predominantly because the temperature of the Appia always ran far too hot and took excessively long purges to bring the water to the proper temperature, until I swapped the flow restrictors at the group head, but that is another post. One thing that I found troubling was that one of the three way solenoid valves would continue to leak water through the relief line when the group was activated. I took the solenoid out and took a look at the seals to see what was wrong. I wish I could find the photo to show the problem, but essentially someone replaced the internal bobbin that seals the valve with a bobbin from a two way valve. When the valve is not magnetised, a spring pushes the bobbin to form a seal with the body of the valve (which attaches to the group). When the valve is magnetised, the coil pushes the bobbin to the other side of the valve stem to make a seal to the other side. The bobbin on a two way valve only has one silicon seal while one on a three way valve has a seal on each end. I took apart several two- and three-way valves to make certain. I have no idea how this could happen, but I decided to replace both three-way valves and keep one as backup for future projects.



One thing that I absolutely hated about this machine were the steam wands. I was accustomed to the pivotal wands standard for all new Simonellis. The stock steam wands were clunky and difficult to use because they only rotated on a cylindrical stem. I swapped a steam wand assembly from my Appia to see how well it would work on the Premier. Considerably better to use. So I picked up a couple steam wand assemblies and installed them on this machine. I hoped it would work out in the end when I was to sell this machine. Besides, the old steam wands had significant wear. It was indeed for the best.

With everything together and looking beautiful from the front I couldn't let myself leave the side panels alone. I knew it would either be purchase new panels and tack on more to the end cost or try my hand at refinishing the panels myself. Since I have rebuilt and refinished a couple grinders lately, I knew what was involved and how to refinish plastic.



The first thing was to sand out the scrapes, scratches and dents with 250 grit sand paper. Then I matted the entire surface with 400 grit paper to get feather out the 250 job and prepare for a plastic primer. Unlike metal primer, the plastic primer I used was clear. I put on 4 coats of primer and then wet sanded it with 600 grit till smooth. While I wanted to keep the colour red, I didn't care about matching the original colour. I put down 4 coats of base colour down and wet sanded it with 1000 and 2000 grit until it was a dull matte. Finally, 2 layers of top coat. I'm not sure what you think, but I am very happy with the results.



To finish it all off, I picked up two new portafilters from Simonelli and took one to a machine shop to be bored into a bottomless filter. I also picked up two La Marzocco baskets to finish off the set, one 14g and one 21g. The baskets I got from Simonelli were indeed horrific. As published elsewhere, the stamping of the stock baskets were uneven and poorly done. In future projects I will probably include VST baskets. But it was easier to add a couple LM baskets to my EPNW order from another project. I hope that whomever gets this machine will not mind not having a 7 g single basket and instead enjoy the bottomless portafilter.





I am absolutely delighted with the results of this rebuild. I hope you found this post helpful.

Troy

This was awesome to read. Thank you for sharing the rebuild. It looks brand new!

And if someone already owns one, perhaps they would care to comment and educate me. If like on that brass drip tray, that he shows heavily gunked up. Would it be easier to blast the bejezzus off it with a pressure washer, or is it actually safer to dunk in a tub and then hit it with a toothbrush?

It wasn't until going onto my third machine that I started getting smarter with cleaning components. This machine took far longer to clean than my last two, partially because I though citric acid would clean off coffee oils. Now, I typically use a purocaf solution in a spray bottle for my first go at anything. If that doesn't get it off, I will soak the part in purocaf and near-boiling water (in culinary terms, a simmer). If that doesn't help, I soak it in a diluted solution of water and degreaser (having a cafe, I could easily purchase griddle cleaner, which rinses off easily and very cleanly for food service applications). Scale or anything mineral related I go from vinegar, to citric acid, to CLR. I have only used CLR in one application, as an equal ratio of citric acid and water by weight will clean the skin off your bones and still be food safe.



That was the one time.

I have not yet decided which is a better use of time and energy, soaking in chemicals or brushing clean with a brass/steel brush. For many parts on my latest project, a Simonelli Program 3 Group, I just worked with a small brass brush and everything is gorgeous. I still wore gloves, but it was a much cleaner way to clean. If this Premier sells, I will probably buy a 6" bench grinder and fit a stainless steel brush wheel and a cotton buffing wheel to it and be able to clean and polish almost everything quickly.

Troy