La Pavoni 2 group restoration

[Denny Tryon]

Hi all,

I recently saw a series by Bishop Thirteen _AKA_ Sean, and saw his beautiful restoration and it gave
me the courage to tackle one too.

I just purchased an old, (any ideas here) La Pavoni 2 group machine,
it was put away wet, the previous owner said the sight glass broke and he put it in storage. It had
a model tag, Model 4000, the serial number is: 11553






The tank was FULL of calcium deposits, and the electronics boards have some corrosion as well.

1) how do I clean the tank, and should I remove and clean all of the copper tubes as well?
I have not removed all of the fittings from the tank as yet either, should I do that too?


2) the heating element seems to be welded to the tank as well, how do I separate it without damage? Then how do I clean it?

3) how do I identify the unit and can I still get parts like the gaskets etc.?

Here a few more pics of some of the subassemblies

Here is the nasty boiler:


Here is the end plate with heating element


I will post progress as well.


Thanks in advance

[jesawdy]

A warm citric acid solution soak should dissolve the scale.... to be honest, its not that bad. You could have so much scale that it "explodes" the element. I'm not sure if you need to take precautions on maintaing that nickel plating... anyone?

I'd remove and soak all bits that you feel comfortable taking off/apart.

On the element, try again after the soak... you might have a case of disimilar metals interacting however.

For restoration pointers, be sure to check out http://www.espresso-restorations.com/

On parts, try a call to EspressoParts.com or peruse CafeParts.com. Google SREWeb (warning bad web page design), their parts guy was super informative when I got him on the phone and directed me to other folks that he knew.

[Denny Tryon]

Hey Jeff,

Thanks for the info and kind support. I am about to go get some citric acid from my local
brewing suppler. Also, is is advisable to re=chrome stuff, or just polish and use them?

Thanks to your tip, I found a source for the main boiler gasket, and with further disassembly
will find a need for a few more bits and pieces.

Also, any ideas on the age of this little beauty?

Thanks

[Denny Tryon]

Here are a few more pics of some progress:

I have de-scaled the boiler and associated parts and pipes

Cleaned and painted the frame

I have one of the group heads out for re-chroming, $$$ I am going to buy new replacements
it is less expensive than re-chroming

I am waiting on some small parts I ordered






The "brain" had some corrosion on one of the circuit boards, I think I cleaned it successfully,
also one of the edge connectors has a marginal pin, I might have to replace that.

I have about $50.00 into parts, paint, and citric acid. I will get a bill for the other gaskets
fittings, etc.

My next challange is wiring up the motor and plumbing in H20, any offers of help appreciated.

[Denny Tryon]

Making Progress:

Wired my garage for 220 and am having water plumbed in this week

Also should be receiving most of my parts tommorow.

Still would like to polish out the stainless steel, any ideas on how to do that?

[Paul]

hi denny,

SS - is this currently a brushed or mirror finish? For mirror I use a good metal polish and a damp wadded piece of cheese cloth (mutton cloth etc, sorry I don't know if it goes by that name in the US). To restore a brushed finish I use wet/dry sandpaper of increasingly finer grades and a straight edge. I sand going over the length of the piece using a clamped piece of straight wood as a guide.

A little comment about your wiring - you may wish to enclose your wires in fibreglass sheathing to protect them from the heat. I would sheath them in bundles rather than individually.

great work, looking very nice.

[cannonfodder]

I used a car buffer, started with buffing compound (gritty stuff), then polishing compound (less gritty stuff) then polish (like Mothers or Eagle 1 mag polish) then waxed a couple of times, all using the buffer. My machine had brushed SS so I ran the buffer with the grain of the stainless and got a nice shine back.

Faema Rebuild Project

[Denny Tryon]

Thanks for SS polishing tips guys.

Got the plumbing and power in... Hooked up the water, turned on the machine, it got
very hot in about 10 seconds. WOW Leaked like an s.o.b. ! Managed to stop most
of the leaks, it hit the green zone on the pressure gauge, but no action when I pushed
any of the buttons on the front. I removed and cleaned the edge connectors on all of
the little pcb's in the controller box, found one of the pins was almost gone. Found an unused
pin, so I put it in place.

Now it will dispense water through the groupheads, but does not activate the external
pump , I suspect it's the relay on the main pcb. The pump works by itself.

Another issue, I replaced the sight glass, and put in new seals, etc, but it did not show
any level when I turned on the water. It just kind of steamed around the top fitting.

Any ideas on this?

Thanks again for your help and suggestions

[Paul]

Hi Denny,

sight glass - I betcha the bottom fitting is blocked, either from a compressed rubber seal or some hidden gunk.

electrics - best of luck, hope it's easily repaired.

[cannonfodder]

There is a ball valve in the lower tube on most machines, it could be stuck. My rebuild, the lower tube was completely scaled shut.

[Denny Tryon]

Thanks again....

Well, I fixed the sight glass, it was a blockage!

Still working on the pump issue.

What is the function of the pressure stat? I assume it responds to something
changing in the boiler, is it pressure? duh? I noticed it has relays that send power
to the heating element. A primer would be appreciated.

Also there is another solenoid on the lower part of the boiler, can you tell me what it's
function is?




Thanks in advance....

[Paul]

Denny,

Paul Pratt on pressurestats: http://www.espresso-restorations.com/p-stats.html

Up one level from that link is a very good page explaining what the other bits do.

Solenoid valve you point to is most likely the autofill one.

[Denny Tryon]

Thanks for the tip Paul,

Hurray! I just got my first shot of espresso from the old gal ! It was a little gnarly, but it tasted good. I do not
have a pro grinder yet.

I will post some pictures later. ( as I button up the beauty)

Most of the leaks are fixed, I was able to troubleshoot the electronic problem
and got the external pump working.

Any thoughts on how the autofil solenoid system works?

Thanks again

[Denny Tryon]

Got the last leak stopped, the autofill functioning, and tweaked for pressue.

Yeah ! It's making espesso !

I am no barista, but will get the hang of it soon.

I need some suggestions for a home grinder that is not too expensive but does
a good job.

I will post some pulled shots soon. My grind was was too fine, and got poor results.

Thanks for all of the input, I think I am addicted, I am already looking for the next
machine to restore. Anyone have some ideas here. I want a more recent single group
that we can use at home.

[Paul]

that first shot is a great feeling eh?

The night before last, I pulled a shot from a 51yr old cimbali that has taken me nearly a year to get going.

Action photos please

[jesawdy]

Yeah ! It's making espesso !

Sweet... looks nice. How do you like that steam wand that looks as long as my arm?

I need some suggestions for a home grinder that is not too expensive but does a good job.

A used Mazzer Super Jolly gets my vote for price versus performance. The SJ will often close on eBay for $225-250 sometimes including shipment.

[Denny Tryon]

Thanks guys


That really is a long steam wand. Size Matters ya know...

I am not sure where the previous owner got that, but I will probably replace it too.

Will be on the search for a grinder...

Action photos coming.

This whole project cost me about $500 including wiring my garage and H2O


The machine was $300 put about $100 worth of parts etc into it. Going to sell it now...

Here is a pic of one of the porta filters I had chromed, it turned out beautifully!

[Denny Tryon]

Sheesh, I didn't even get to make much espresso.

I put a listing in craigslist and sold unit the next day!

I am on the search for another one to restore, any suggestions on where
to find these older automatic type machines?

Thanks again for all of the help.