Regards
Timo
P.S. I'm superimposing several 'views' in this quick-and-dirty drawing. You're seeing a cross-section at the upper o-ring and a frontal view on the bottom o-ring. The bottom o-ring is made of a new see-through material
...
timo888 wrote:Is there a functional reason behind chrome-plating brass? Or is that purely aesthetic? If the latter, I'd like the group to be naked brass please.
Regards
Timo
timo888 wrote:Mathias,
In the design I have in mind, the one-way valve assembly (I call it the 'group cap') is a threaded cylinder with a plate which contains the array of egress ports and the valve(s). The group cap connects the bottom of the piston cylinder to the top of the group cylinder, which protrudes into the boiler. The group-cap is a fairly extensible design and it could accommodate other kinds of one-way valves. It's not clear to me where the one-way valve fits in your diagram and I'm not familiar with the All-Clad one-way valve. Could you describe it?
I am certainly a proponent of simplicity. The group should be very simple. It needs a cylinder that projects up into the boiler, and collar to bolt it to the underside of the boiler, and a cylinder on the bottom into which the PF locks. The water will be at the correct temperature and so we don't need anything fancy in the group. No thermosyphons etc etc. I would like to be able to make use of readily available OEM portafilters.
Regards
Timo
mathias wrote:Timo, do you know how to design the o-ring seating (diameter and tolerances)? I never found information on that.
... Eugster/Frismag of Switzerland has recalled about 28,000 automatic espresso coffee makers. The company says that the electrical connectors in the espresso machine can erode and pose a fire hazard. Eugster/Frismag has received four reports of fires started inside the coffee maker, but no reports of injuries or property damage. The espresso machines were sold through department stores and independent specialty stores nationwide from July 1999 through October 2005 for about $800.

timo888 wrote:Are there advantages to the finned valves used for rockets other than inexpensive manufacture? Can they be made of stainless steel to minimize the galvanic corrosion issue? Would they be better and/or cheaper than NSF61-compliant EPDM (assuming it would pass regulatory muster)?
If NSF61-compliant washers would be acceptable nowadays to the various regulatory agencies that monitor food service equipment for food-safety compliance, then they present the least expensive and simplest alternative. There are also bushing type valves like the one pictured below which comply with the European Pressure Equipment Directive of 2002 (not sure if that directive applies to domestic/commercial food/beverage equipment and appliances):
Could the group be made of stainless steel? What are the heat properties of stainless steel?
Could the group be made of stainless steel? What are the heat properties of stainless steel?
What manufacturing processes would be required to make a simple cylindrical group, with a flange so it can bolted to the bottom of the boiler, and with the requisite collar and grooves to lock a portafilter in? The group could be sophisticated in its utter simplicity rather than in its ingenious complexity. Nothing like an E61.
On a different subject yet related to the choice of metals, we want to make sure the heating elements for the two boilers and their electrical connections cannot corrode or 'erode':
espressme wrote:...Your idea of a band heater outside of the wet area is a great one. ...Erosion/corrosion may be caused by water vapor in the area. It could well be caused by arcing ( electricity jumping to parts of another polarity or potential, even the connector to the heater is not safe if at all loose or of too small contact area.) perhaps caused by a coil releasing energy ( like the spark coil on a car when shut off.) There are fixes for these problems.

espressme wrote:Were I given my druthers, for these kit machines, the group parts could be cast by the "cier perdue," "lost wax" method.
{...}
Brass has been the material of choice due to its ability to transfer heat and easily machined. Stainless Steel is a real bug-bear to machine with home shop equipment and has its troubles in a manufacturing environment also. CNC comes to mind an may be cheap in a well equipped shop. Castings could make it reasonable for a kit purpose. The holding of the parts ( fixturing ) for machining would have to be carefully looked at to save time and money. Inexpensive modern espresso machines are most often of die cast of aluminum or plated pot metal ( Zinc. ) Some boilers are made of Stainless steel stampings, formed by machine like the filter baskets/screens.
timo888 wrote:I need to bone up on conductivity of metals and the physics of heat transference with water and metal. In the meantime, one lazy question, please.
Let's say we have equal surface areas of two metals, stainless steel and brass. Let's pretend the metals have been shaped into funnels. And let's say (loading the dice) that both funnels have been heated to 80 degrees C.
Now, let's pour a 20ml slug of water at 95 degrees C. into each funnel. All things being equal, which funnel robs the water of more heat?
Regards
Timo
P.S. I have noted the relative difficulty of machining stainless steel versus brass. There is a cost associated with that difficulty. But is that cost greater than the cost of sending the brass groups out to be tin-plated?
timo888 wrote:Let's say our goal with the group is to leave the water temperature as unchanged as possible, because the water leaves the kettle at the right temperature. All other things being equal (which might not be the case) would we choose brass for our group over stainless?
Regards
Timo
To give credit where credit is due, Mathias proposed the banded heater that runs around the outer wall of a cylindrical boiler. I am familiar with the Calrod style from Peppina (and mogogear and I have each found a few sources for this immersible variety) and am also familiar with the under-boiler style used by the Caravel. I am favoring the under-boiler element used by the Caravel, for reasons I will elaborate inside the Peppina Marries MiniGaggia posting.
The lost wax method with a brass group seems fine to me, as long as the tolerances are good enough.
Metric 1.5mm parallel male thread has to be machined at the top of the group so the female-threaded 'group cap' can screw down flush onto it. The group cap houses the plate containing the one-way valve assembly, whatever that turns out to be, a simple EPDM NSF61-compliant washer screwed into a center tap so that it blocks a circular array of ports, or a more sophisticated array of male-threaded bushings containing one of the typical backflow prevention valves: spring, umbrella, duckbill, cone, etc.
I have noted the relative difficulty of machining stainless steel versus brass. There is a cost associated with that difficulty. But is that cost greater than the cost of sending the brass groups out to be tin-plated?
S/S pipe could be your piston cylinder. Cut to order, flange (already produced with thread etc) can be welded on , your stamped s/s kettle will have a hole in the bottom to accept the cylinder. Possibly with a close tolerance flange) the pipe could press fit through so the threaded "business end could protrude through to the group area.
lino wrote: .... So, if we take your funnel question the answer is pretty clearly the brass will conduct more heat out of the water. Roughly 7 times more heat.