The Faema rebuild project

[cannonfodder]

I have recently become the new owner of an old and very used Faema two group commercial espresso machine. It appears to have been sitting for a while and was very dirty, but appeared mechanically intact. So I decided to start another project and rebuild my first commercial heat exchanger.

As you can see, there was going to be a lot of scrubbing involved. I decided to do a complete frame up rebuild. Everything gets pulled, scrubbed, de-scaled, polished, repainted and reassembled.


One quick note. Some of the photos are mediocre at best. The strobe flash on my digital camera burnt out so I have to shoot without a flash. That means low F-stop and shudder speeds. Some of the photos may be slightly blurry because of that but I did my best with what I have.

GROUPHEAD REBUILD

First thing that gets pulled and rebuilt is the grouphead. These are a variation of the E-61 group. The groups were held on with two bolts and the two thermosyphon lines. Luckily, the thermosyphon lines unscrewed relatively easy. I believe it was a 21mm bolt head, a slight bump from my palm on the end of the wrench and off they came.

(the black box on the group stem is an electronic solenoid to open and close the 3 way valve)

After disassembling the lower stem/valve portion of the group, it was time to pull the shower screen and gasket to see what horrors were in store for me. I have an E-61 Isomac but it is less than a year old, so this is the first time I have removed this type of screen. I tried to pry up the screen with a screwdriver to no avail. So I decided to pry up the gasket. I inserted the tip of a small slotted screwdriver in the outer edge and pried up. It is just like opening a can of paint. It came right off.


Then I almost fainted! How on Gods green earth could someone let a machine get this bad. Both groups were in equal states of filth. It was at this point that I started to question weather or not I wanted to try rebuilding this machine. I took a deep breath and assured myself that it is just coffee residue and will clean up with a good scrub.


So that is exactly what I did. After disassembling the groups I soaked them both in descale solution over night. The 3 way solenoid channel was caked with buildup and required additional attention. After a bit of scraping and more soaking it came clean.

I have to point out one interesting thing. Descale solution does not remove the oily residue. While the inside of the groups was clear of any hint of scale, the dispersion screen was still black with buildup. So an overnight soak in some Joe-Glo detergent. Now that did the trick. After a bit of scrubbing and scraping I was rewarded with two shinny group heads. I installed new O-rings and reassembled the groups.

[another_jim]

This looks like the E64, E66 or no-stop group (these are roughly the same). Has a good rep.

[cannonfodder]

I believe you are correct. Barry is checking into some parts for me. I got the machine from him at the holiday party.

I actually have it striped to the frame and descaled. I will be adding content over the next few days. The old red frame is going to the body shop to get repainted, probably cobalt blue.

This is my first rebuild so if anyone wants to chime in with advice or corrections please do.

I am cross posting this on my blog with more photos.

[HAL9000]

This looks like the E64, E66 or no-stop group (these are roughly the same). Has a good rep.

It's not the no stop, fwiw.

[cannonfodder]

Faema rebuild project part two, the boiler

Now that the groups are clean, it is time to disconnect the boiler. Once again I was relatively lucky and none of the boiler lines were stuck. Everything disconnected relatively easy and without much additional pressure. The only things that needed disconnected were the heating element electrical, pressurestat, boiler level sight glass and HX input lines. The boiler itself just sat on two supports, so once disconnected it just lifts out of the frame.



The heating element was the only part that required any effort to remove. The two element bolts needed a squirt of penetrating oil. A half hour later they released with a bump of the palm on the ratchet. The element itself was not in bad condition but I am still going to replace it. One of the ceramic element insulators had a crack in it. While it would probably work, why take the chance. Elements are only about $50.

The element markings were a bit puzzling. The element end-cap had a Faema stamp on it, but it only showed 1300W at 220v. That can't be correct. A little math (volts X amps=watts) tells me that this should be running around 2600W given the amperage rating on the machine. The element was 390mm long and matches up perfectly to another Faema element, that just happens to be rated at 2600W, what my math suggests it should use.

Now it is time to descale the boiler. I had thought about capping all of the fittings and simply fill the boiler up and let it sit for a day. Metric plumbing fittings are nearly impossible to find in Dayton so finding plugs could take weeks. So I just decided to leave it as is and submerge the entire thing in descale.


I managed to find a drum at work that was the correct size. So I put twenty gallons of very hot water into the drum, added and dissolved my descale powder (yes, twenty gallons of water takes a LOT of descale agent) and submerged the entire works, including all of the other copper lines on the machine. If you submerge a boiler like this, you must rotate the boiler to make sure all of the air pockets are out of the lines and HX. Half way through the soak I flipped the boiler so and remaining air would shift and expose the entire works to the solution.


Five hours later it was clean as a whistle. I was quite surprised it went that quick. So now it is time to drain the drum and rinse everything off. So I put on my jacket and elbow length chemical resistant gloves and drag the entire thing to the end of the driveway to empty it out.

About half way through draining the drum it happened dawn on me. It is 11pm, dark, I am standing at the end of my driveway wearing a jacket and large black chemical gloves emptying out the contents of a big red drum that is emblazon with big yellow letters 'HAZARDOUS WASTE'. If the police drive by, they may not find the humor in the situation. So I quickly empty the drum, grab the garden hose and thoroughly flush out the boiler and lines, rinse out the drum and get back into the garage.


I now have a very clean boiler. Not a spec of scale in it. I was going to wash the exterior a bit more with some Joe-Glo but there is really no need. I plan on insulating the boiler and there is just no need to have it spotless on the exterior.

[Balthazar_B]

About half way through draining the drum it happened dawn on me. It is 11pm, dark, I am standing at the end of my driveway wearing a jacket and large black chemical gloves emptying out the contents of a big red drum that is emblazon with big yellow letters 'HAZARDOUS WASTE'. If the police drive by, they may not find the humor in the situation. So I quickly empty the drum, grab the garden hose and thoroughly flush out the boiler and lines, rinse out the drum and get back into the garage.

Yuck! I guess that's what makes the Stillwater still (i.e., no nasty fish splashes...).

[cannonfodder]

Faema rebuild project part three

Steam and water wand rebuild


First you have to remove the control knobs. These had a cap that unscrewed to reveal a cotter pin through the valve shaft and a washer. Pull the pin, remove the washer and unscrew the handles.


I have always wondered what the inside of a commercial steam/water valve looked like, now I know.

These were the most difficult part of the entire tear down. Not in complexity, even though they are one of the most complicated parts of the machine, but in getting the locking rings to let go. I put a bit of penetrating oil on the locking rings, they were not corroded, just very, very tight. I had to really put some strength behind these but they did let go. Once the lock ring is removed the valve just slides out of the mount and removes from the chassis.


If you decide to take one of these apart, you may want to do it at a table with a towel under everything. That way if you drop a small part, say a spring or ball bearing, it does not bounce everywhere. The terry cloth dampens the bounce and parts tend to stay put when dropped (a lesson I learned the hard way while rebuilding a carburetor). I don't know about your garage, but in my garage there is a pack of gremlins that steel any small part that happens to fall on the floor. All of those little nuts, springs and pins are probably keeping the dryer sock gremlin company.

The steam valve was relatively clean, the steam wand was a nasty mess, but I am replacing it. The water tap is another story. It appears that it has been rebuilt but was full of some kind of greasy gunk. A water proof lubricant would be my guess but it looked more like plumbers putty. It took quite a bit of scrubbing to get all cleaned up.

The steam valve had a spring and ball in it. The water valve did not. I don't know if that is normal or if someone had lost them when rebuilding it (remember those garage gremlins). If anyone can answer that, please do.


The inside of the valve consists of 7 parts, 4 of which you can see here. I did not realize that there was a brass insert and two O rings in the end that holds the valve stem until after I took the photo. So laid out in order, you would have a brass insert behind the spring (to the right of) and two small O rings after it, then the stem housing.


A soak in descale to clean everything up and a trip to the hardware store to get some more O rings and everything was in ship shape.

[barry]

The inside of the valve consists of 7 parts, 4 of which you can see here. I did not realize that there was a brass insert and two O rings in the end that holds the valve stem until after I took the photo. So laid out in order, you would have a brass insert behind the spring (to the right of) and two small O rings after it, then the stem housing.

except for that little steel ball and spring, the steam valves are identical to marzocco steam valves. it looks like the wand is kept on by a threaded cap, instead of the snap ring that marzocco uses.

[konkers]

The steam valve had a spring and ball in it. The water valve did not. I don't know if that is normal or if someone had lost them when rebuilding it (remember those garage gremlins). If anyone can answer that, please do.

I'm currently rebuilding a 2 group La Pavoni. My water valve did not have the spring and ball causing me to wonder the same thing. Good to know this appears normal.

-Erik

[jeru]

Hi there - what do you use for a descaling agent? I'm performing a similar rebuild on a La Cimbali M20 using citric acid but it takes forever to descale. Maybe my concentration is too low?

Thanks,
Craig

[cannonfodder]

I am guessing that it has to do with pressure in the steam wand. The ball seats against the inlet from the steam valve assembly to the steam wand. I would surmise that the spring holds the ball in place until an adequate amount of pressure is released. Then the valve essentially opens up at almost full pressure. The reverse would be true as well. When you close the valve, the spring pops the ball into place which would abruptly stop the steam flow, no slow gurgle from the steam wand. It would also keep anything from being drawn up the wand and into the boiler (reverse vacuum breaker) when the machine cools down.

[Reighlok]

Hi there - what do you use for a descaling agent? I'm performing a similar rebuild on a La Cimbali M20 using citric acid but it takes forever to descale. Maybe my concentration is too low?

Cannonfodder,
What are you using to descale? I have searched espressoparts and chriscoffee and haven't seen much. I am thinking about using some CLR or something like that and just rinsing VERY well. What worked for you?

[cannonfodder]

Well, I work for a restaurant supply company, our primary customer has a slew of cleaning chemicals. Unfortunately, these are proprietary and not available to the public. They have a delimer solution that they use on everything, coffee machines, ice makers, etc... you just mix it at different ratio's depending on the item to be cleaned and extensiveness of the buildup.

Some folks use citric acid, and I imagine this delimer contains a lot of it. The hotter the water used, the better it works. I also use Joe-Glo to clean everything else, very good detergent, and wonderful backflush detergent.

[danblev]

What are you using to descale?

Use any acid you can get your hand on cheap.
Acid removes scale. The process is endothermic meaning it requires heat, so use hot water and if you can also heat it up.

[Worldman]

Man, Fodder, this is some "cool" project! What are your intentions for the thing after you have rebuilt it?

Len

[cannonfodder]

Evening Len.

Well, that is a good question. I was going to take it to work and put it in my office and bring my lever home, but it is just a bit over the top. So I was going to take my Isomac from home to work, my Lever from work back home and set this monster up in the house. Now, as I grow closer to completion, I am starting to second guess that.

For a guy that only pulls a couple of doubles a day (plus a couple at work) it is almost overkill. Ideally, a single group rotary pump duel boiler would fit my need perfectly (I dream of a LM single) but realistically, an Elektra A3 or Wega would almost be perfect (yes I know they are HX). But as it stands now I am putting it in my kitchen.

After putting so much work into something, it is hard to give it up. I will say it has been a wonderful experience. It really helped me get a better understanding of the mechanics behind the process not to mention the new friends I made while working on it.

[cannonfodder]

Time for an update. I never posted a finished photo of the steam/water valves after the rebuild and clean, so here it is...

Dirty


Clean

I am getting a new steam wand to replace the original. The chrome finish was worn off and the inside of the wand was unbelievably disgusting. Black and caked with milk residue.

[cannonfodder]

Boiler level glass

I have been staring at that nasty, crusty boiler sight glass. The glass had lime caked in it so bad that it looked like frosted glass. The brass was green and crusted with, well, I am not sure what it was crusted with. But I am positive it would not have passed a food safety inspection.


The assembly is relatively simple. There are two bolts holding on caps at either end. So I unscrew the bolts to disassemble everything. To my surprise, after unscrewing the last hex bolt, the bottom cap, bolt, and spring shot across my workbench. I did not realize that there was a very stiff spring in there. That spring holds a seal in place and the sight glass passes through that seal.

Unfortunately, I did not take any photos of the disassembled unit. You have a top and bottom assembly. Each assembly has a ball bearing in the intake, a seal sits in a brass 'cup', a very stiff spring that keeps that packing seal tight against the base and a the sight glass goes through the hole in that packing seal. The top of the glass has an additional fitting that allows the boiler water level sensor to pass through.



I had to soak the entire works in some descale overnight to get it clean. There was a painted stripe down the back of the glass that you use as a level indicator. The water in the glass magnifies the stripe so you know exactly how full your boiler is. That stripe was about half there. So I scrapped it off with my fingernail, the paint was so old and brittle that it came right off. I taped up the glass and painted a new black stripe down the glass. I also cleaned and repainted the glass mount.

A trip to the hardware store and I got new packing seals to put in those brass 'cups' and some new stainless steel bolts to replace the crusty zinc bolts that were on the bases. Carefully reassemble the ends and put the sight glass back in then bolt it all back onto the newly painted mount.

Hard to believe this is that nasty crusty thing in the first photo.

[cannonfodder]

Now that I have the machine completely disassembled, it is time to turn to the frame. I decided to take on the stainless steel. It was brown and covered with residua. It appears to have done battle with a scotch pad. These panels are brushed stainless, the brush grain runs up and down. You don't take an abrasive scrubbing pad and rub cross grain. If you do you end up with a marred and ugly patch of scratches.

I got out the old high speed buffer (use to detail cars in college) a big bag of bonnets, light grit polishing compound, aluminum polishing cream and some carnauba wax.

I secured the panels to my workbench with some rubber padded clamps. I started with the light grit compound to buff out most of the scratches. You have to buff with the grain in the steel. After a couple of passes I switch to the aluminum polish. Now things get nasty. The oxidation starts to come off, the jewelers rogue in the polish does its job nicely. After another couple of passes and some very dirty bonnets...


I have some respectable brushed stainless steel.

[Worldman]

Sweet! This will be a "nice" home machine!

Is it 220v or 110v?

Len