I'm in the process of rebuilding a 1995 NS 2 group that I found in a roaster's cellar. I'm still putting it back together and thought I'd post some pictures. I have lots of questions as I don't really know what I am doing.

The first picture is the before shot.
2 is the insides before cleaning.
3 includes all the parts I dismantled and spread around my porch. There are some extras in the picture like the tagine on the picnic table.
4,5,6 represent me trying to understand what I had done and to figure out what to do next.
7 is the freshly painted frame with the boiler, pump and group heads attached.
8 is where I am as of yesterday. I'm waiting for a copper tube and a replacement piece in order to bolt it to the left group.

The 2 steam release valves off of the Parkers on the 2 group heads don't screw on tight. There doesn't seem to be enough room on the solenoid cylinder to attach them firmly. Are they OK if they remain loose? They were loose when I first got the machine.

I still haven't wired in the 220v line nor have I plumbed in the water. I'm not in a hurry to do either as that may be the end of my fantasy of a $100 commercial espresso machine.

I'll post more pictures and questions later. Thanks.

You could print and frame some of your photos for installation in coffee bars. (I'm so tired of seeing the same old worn out images)
Selling some of them would fund your fantasy install of 220V and water

Thanks for the support Russ. I am a photography professor and feel guilty letting my passion for photographs slide as my passion for coffee grows. I like the idea of good pictures of good coffee. I do have 40X50 inch pictures from Tibet hanging in our local Lhasa Cafe.

I think that the NS Appia is the equivalent of a modern version of the NS Premier. In doing my research on the NS Premier I only found one "S" version of the machine. It was an unfinished refurb unit in Germany that someone was selling in pieces as he didn't have the energy to put it back together. That was not a very inspiring discovery seeing I wanted to know that people still were using these machines, not giving up on them.

Is anyone using any model of the Premier these days? All other references indicate that Nuova Simonelli is a good company with very good machines (Aurelia ll T3 anyone?). I am a bit disappointed in their distribution office in WA as they haven't responded to my request for parts. It was helpful to download all the important parts lists and manuals, though. And the Italian NS website is very classy.

I have a question about water. My well is around 120 ppm hardness. I've seen that it should be below 60 ppm. Can I continue with my well water with a simple inline filter system? I know it won't filter out minerals but I don't have a scaling problem with my LaPavoni Pro. The Premier does not seem to allow for manually filling the boiler. I don't know how I would descale it regularly unless I use a Flojet pumping system. I could also use a water softener system which seems like too much expense. Another possibility would be to dilute my hard well water with distilled bottled water via a Flojet.

I also haven't figured out the drainage system yet. Fortunately, I got good 220v advice through another thread on HB.

My water is around 115ppm. Descale once a year (or so) and never had any issues. The PPM reading does not mean you will get scaling, the reading could be high for things like iron or other non calcifying compounds. I just run a carbon filter inline and dont worry about it. As long as the coffee tastes good you are fine.

If you want the deep dive, read Jims insanely long water FAQ.

I just read Jim's Water FAQs. Thanks for the link. He certainly covers a lot of bases, plus most of the outfield. He answered a lot of my questions. For instance, I had no idea how to descale an HQ machine.

I do plan on using a 10 inch filter inline with whatever water supply I decide on. There is the potential for a lot of scale at my house as the evaporation pan on top of our woodstove (used as a humidifier all winter) looks like the worst boiler you would ever want to clean.

Hi, Im trying to bring an old Premier back life also and had a question if you dont mind. Mine did not start its second life in near the condition as yours, but I did break down and descale before hooking up. Ran my water and electric tonight and I'm having trouble. My water pressure in is reading just under the green 5 in the meter and it does not appear that the tank is filling up. Due to length and limited stock at the hardware store I had to buy a waier line with a burst safety valve. Im thinking that could be holding my pressure back so Ill swap that out soon. When opening water valve on the machine I assume the tank would fill, am I missing something? I've tested turning the machine on quickly and it turns on, I hear the pump run and can feel the tank heating. I turned off quickly not to damage the heating element. I'm hoping Im just doing something stupid.

Thanks for any help