La Cimbali - possibly Junior R for $250 - worth the risk?

Recommendations for buyers and upgraders from the site's members.
wolfandfinch
Posts: 2
Joined: 7 years ago

#1: Post by wolfandfinch »

Total newbie here. I have the opportunity to buy a La Cimbali machine, model unconfirmed but bad newbie internet sleuthing points towards a Junior R. The machine needs to be plumbed in and uses 220V. The seller lives on a small island with me, so although she can't confirm the model and doesn't have it plumbed in to test it I can easily find her if things don't work out (somewhere between she's a friend and possible craigslist scammer ha!). The sale post (on a facebook buy/sell group for the small island we live on) says:
Manual commercial espresso machine (Spring piston lever). Cimbali made in Italy. Used in the cafe for a few years, upgraded to a larger machine.
Needs a bit of TLC, it has been sitting for a lil while.


The machine is listed for $250 because a) it's older b) it's been out of use for a while and needs "TLC" c) she is having trouble finding a buyer because of the electrical and plumbing requirements. It was originally listed for $500.

I'm willing to do the work to plumb it and find the 220V I would need.

What I can't figure out from searching the internet is just how bad having it restored could get. Is it possible for restoration to cost more than $1000? Keep in mind my husband is very handy with electronics but/and we are not afraid to hire a professional if we have to get in too deep.

Is this a ridiculous risk? Or a fantastic opportunity? Open to all thoughts, and my apologies in advance if this is an annoying post.

Found a comment where she says a tiny bit more about the state of it:
We purchased used for $900 Machine is cimbali made in Italy. Leaks a bit of water, but works. Needs to be plumbed in and requires 220 amp

User avatar
MNate
Posts: 957
Joined: 8 years ago

#2: Post by MNate »

I would think they would have trouble getting rid of it and may be glad for $50. I bought a used machine off Craigslist that I knew wasn't working and viewed it as a good learning experience on the internals of an espresso machine. I finally got it working and now it's great.

I think that machine would make very good espresso/lattes if it were up and running. A leak may not be bad. At the least you have to expect to take all the plumbing out, descale it, buy replacement seals (generally cheap), and of course wire your house. Then it's a matter of troubleshooting what still doesn't work quite right. I didn't even know how my machine was supposed to work so sometimes that in itself was a challenge.

But yeah, for cheap enough there isn't much risk!

If possible you could take a few more photos, especially of the inside. There may be a few ways to check somethings there without hooking it up... some threads on here may have that info, especially about a cracked HX as that can be a significant cost.

Good luck!

wolfandfinch (original poster)
Posts: 2
Joined: 7 years ago

#3: Post by wolfandfinch (original poster) »

Thanks very much! I will try and get out to look at it tomorrow if I can, get some photos.

vg
Posts: 43
Joined: 9 years ago

#4: Post by vg »

I'll second Nate to offer quite less. From the picture, the condition seems passable and the description, well..., this machine is not a spring piston lever!

Otherwise, I just wanted to chime in that the Cimbali Canadian importer is located in Vancouver, if this can be of any help. Contact James at Bravo Coffee. He was real helpful when I bought my M21.