by LaCrema on Tue Nov 18, 2008 4:18 pm I went to my favorite local espresso machine dealer (Espresso Services in Minneapolis, MN) and purchased a large bag of descaler, a new gasket for the grouphead, and filter/strainer for the grouphead. I returned home and started to take the Rancilio apart. I removed a bunch of scale deposits by tapping the boiler on the counter, then scraped a little bit out, then almost completely submerged the boiler in the descaler mix in a large pot on the stove. The water used to make the mixture was almost boiling and when the boiler and other pieces were placed into the mixture, you could see little bubbles forming from the breakdown of the scale. I let the pieces sit in the mixture for about a half hour. The directions state to leave them in for about 20-25 minutes, then make up another batch of solution and repeat if needed. I think I was able to remove about 95% of the heavy deposits of scale, good enough for me. The brass and stainless steel had a purplish tinge to them, most of that was removed by a scotchbrite pad and steel wool on the stainless. The stainless has a very minor purplish tinge left, but you don't notice it unless you're really looking for it.
I put everything back together and began to flush the system with regular tap water. After running about 2 gallons through the machine, then switching to RO water, I began to throw a few shots through the system to see how it worked. I decided not to sip the first few shots, then took a sip out of the next few shots from there. I've noticed that I have to tamp harder with this machine versus my La Cimbali Junior. I pretty much dose the same, and the final tamp level is level with the fill line in the filter basket. The overall quality of the shots was pretty good when I tamped with more pressure.
I've never seen a boiler in the Rancilio before, it was tiny in comparison to my La Cimbali. The time it takes for the machine to get up to temperature is pretty short, unfortunately it takes forever to steam water to 170 degrees (my test standard) and I can't imagine how long it would take to get that water up to boiling! I'm a coffee drinker, but my girlfriend is a tea drinker, it's important to me to have a machine that will heat water with the steam wand as well as it will make espresso... I'll just have to be happy with the espresso. I purchased the Rancilio to keep at my girlfriend's house to enjoy espresso over there since I spend most of my time there anyway, I know, how rough.
Well, enjoy the pictures. Give me some feedback on what you see, maybe I did a good job, maybe not? This is the first time I've taken a machine apart like this, so take that in consideration in your comments.
-Eric
Side by side comparison between my La Cimbali Jr. and my Rancilio Silvia
Top view side by side comparison between my La Cimbali and my Rancilio Silvia
Dirty filter screen from the Rancilio, look at all the clogged holes!
Portafilters from the La Cimbali on the left, the Rancilio on the right.
Disassembling the Rancilio.
Boiler and head group.
Dirty grouphead.
Grouphead and boiler.
Top of boiler. Sensors and heating element tabs.
Scale buildup inside boiler and on heating element.
Scale inside boiler, yum!
I'm going to say 95% of the scale removed, good enough for me!
A pile of scale with a couple coins and a snack size candy bar for scale.
I ran out of daylight to take a halfway decent picture of the two machines together as an "After" pic, but I'll hopefully take one today to finish off this posting. I hope you've enjoyed the pics, it was an interesting and educational experience for me to do this little project.
-Eric
