bought this off ebay this week, ive been wanting to get into a big project for a while and this seemed like a good idea at the time. This is my first "big" machine, this will be the largest project ive attempted yet. However i dont know what model it is, the back says d92/s2 and that really does not produce any results from google.



Just a few quick questions as this will be my first full rebuild....what is the recommended solution for cleaning the copper tank and copper lines, or polishing them? i understand to descale the inside i can buy a solution at a restaurant supply store or similar place, is there any recommended products as im guessing that judging from the outside the inside will be a disaster.

Where is good place to start to see what works and what doesn't on a machine this size ?

Im sure over the period of the next little while i will be asking a lot more stupid questions so i will apologize now.

Congratulations on the machine! It will certainly be a fun and interesting process. I used citric acid at a ratio of a "heaping" tablespoon per liter of boiling water for my heavily scaled Elektra boiler.

Your first steps will probably be to check for any show-stopper leaks by connecting and turning on the water supply. Look and listen for leaks, and if everything seems ok, try turning on the machine to the position that allows operation of all functions except for the heating element (probably 1, but check with the manual or an expert here first). Try pulling water from the groups, but don't worry if none comes out (this was the case with my rebuild - the group was clogged with scale and garbage and a full teardown fixed that).

If you are 100% certain beyond any doubt that there is enough water in the boiler to cover the heating element (i.e., autofill worked), you can shut the machine off any try turning on the heating element. You may wish to check the heating element resistance with a multimeter before proceeding (WITH THE MACHINE UNPLUGGED).

Good luck and keep us posted on the progress. Sorry I don't know the name of the machine, but D92 S-2 sounds possible.

Yep, d92 is about right, s2 means semi-auto (not programmable like the 'A') two group. Parts are easy to come by, pretty standard stuff through espressoparts.com (they also have diagrams, which are uber helpful if you can't figure it out by looking).

Plug it in with it attached to a water supply (positive pressure makes diagnosing a little easier IMHO), then turn the power switch to position 1 (everything but heating elements get power), and see if it autofills (it maybe just maybe already be full enough to not kick in autofill, check the level sensor, use a flashlight to help see the meniscus if your glass is dirty). Then wait for the auto fill to finish, then try out your groups and hot water tap. If it all seems to be working and the boiler is full (full as in 2/3s full, if it over fills things will go wonky, and that just means your level sensor is gummed up which can happen easily on older machines that were not well taken care of... be careful pulling that out of the boiler, you can break them pretty easily), then switch it to position 2 and wait to hear the heating elements kick on. As it warms up you will get some water out the vacc breaker, but other than that look for leaks as it builds pressure. See if the heating elements kick off once you get up to pressure (i.e. is your pstat working), if you see it go over 1.7 bar, then shut it down and take a good look at your pstat. If things don't work at any point, solve the problem (or attempt to), before continuing onto the next step. If you can't fix it, then you know at least the beginning of the problems you will have to solve when you tear it apart.

As far as rebuild... just take it all apart, and take 2x as many photos as you could ever dream of having to take. label all wires and plugs with tape and a good description of where they go. Save screws in bags labeled as to what they attach. Don't leave chrome too long in the acid bath. Don't put any electronics (including heating elements into the acid bath). Take everything as far apart as possible before putting it in the acid bath. Most parts should be totally fine, maybe a valve or some gunk blocking up your gicleur would be the expected problems I would be especially keen to find. The pump could be bad... just don't run it w/o water for very long.

So there is my long and rambling list of beginners advice. Hope some helps. Feel free to send me more PMs if you have specific questions, or even just post them here to increase the collective knowledge. I made it through my rebuild of almost this exact same machine with the help of the folks here. It is a good place. The search function is your friend.

just looking on the espresso parts website, in regards to my machine i am looking for parts with an E92 designation? is that correct?

edit: may have figured this one out by myself, i think the parts i need are E-91/Due parts...

I was always confused by the d92/e91/due whatever naming thing. A friend has a d92 labeled machine and it looks nearly identical inside and out as my Due. I could be wrong about my assumption, maybe there are some big differences, I just didn't notice them in a once over, looked the same to me... just use the parts diagram to figure out exactly what model you have on espressoparts.com. Even a "big" difference would still be pretty small as most of these era Faema machines used mostly the same inventory.

Regarding your PM about 'automatic'... Faema used the "A" designation to mean it was auto with respect to volumetric dosing, the "S" was a manual (non water dosing) with just a start/stop. I replaced my "A" buttons because someone stuck a tack in one entire set, and the other was tripping out. My buttons that I added just replace the jelly buttons for start and stop, making it effectively an "S", no other modifications to the programmable side of it were made by me and I could return it to programmable if I so choose by adding a few extra buttons. The other button I added was a pump cut off button so I can use line pressure preinfusion (brew solenoid opens, but pump doesn't turn on, allowing water at line pressure to preinfuse the puck at 3 bars (or whatever you set the pressure regulator at) then I release that button, the pump kicks on, and then brew at full pressure.

I also can't recommend enough Eric's thermocouple adaptor mod for this machine, it takes this from being able to make ok espresso to making great espresso time after time, consistently. Here is my instillation details. http://backlot42.com/?p=86 (that post also answers a few questions from your first PM too I think).

It's a Faema Smart S. Lever steam/water valves are the clue. The machines (with somewhat updated body kit) are still in production, so parts will not be a problem.

Alan

i think if i understand the parts pages right on espresso parts the e-91 is actually the designation of the group head type, since there are different number for the different group heads, the e-61 being a common group head found on many machines. I could be completely wrong on this but that's what i think i figured out last night.

i noticed that you just use the pid for the display, why did you decided not to hook up the pid as boiler control. I have read a few pages of the arguments on pid'ing hx machines but some people still seem to think they work better.

Yes, the 91 designation is for the group head, though some machines (like mine) were marketed as an E91 Due. But I think it is technically a D92-A2 by the more common Faema nomenclature.

And I did edit my last post... I can't recommend ENOUGH Eric's thermocouple adaptor. It is absolutely necessary to measure the temp of the water on a commercial HX machine like this one, you will be really surprised at the range it can be. Even under constant usage, it can range from 211 to 199. But with a simple flush, you can get it to be consistent a (and it stays consistent throughout your shot) temp from shot to shot.

well i guess right off the bat im going to need a new portafilter, since i somehow neglected to notice that both of the originals were missing. I guess i have been to busy getting the electrical stuff sorted out. Im trying to come up with a temp power hook up just so i can test the machine. I will definitely look into the thermocouple mod, however the term "flushing" still is a bit over my head still but ill keep reading.

Flushing is the practice of "flushing" out the superheated water (in simple terms it is superheated from being in the 250 degree boiler and not really moving around much) in the HX loop in order to get the brew water back down to a reasonable temperature (i.e. not 220 degrees, but 202 degrees F). This is virtually unneeded in double boiler machines, but in HX machines like yours and mine, this is a necessity. Some postulate that you can simply "time" flushing and get a repeatable temperature, but I have found, at least on a Faema DUE, that the temp fluctuates too much for my liking even with a very precise flushing routine. The thermocouple adapter completely removes the guess work, which is imperative for producing espresso worth having such a big machine for which to use. I don't think I am overstating it in saying it takes a huge commercial HX machine and turns in from a huge counter waste into a valuable espresso making bundle of love.

Just go ahead and get a bottomless portafilter from espressoparts.com... if you want spouts later then you can go ahead and buy another one at that point, but especially if you are new-ish to the commercial espresso machine world (i.e. no excuses from the machine as to poor distribution, etc) then it will be helpful to you, i think.