cuppajoe wrote:Also like the image of a bunch of caffeinated and well sugared kindergarteners running around. (I presume the espresso was for the parents)

Depends:

Hate to think what your welder charged for silver-solder, looks like he went through a few rods. Great job though, especially considering the sheer size and should last forever.

Sansibar99 wrote:The re-soldering is fantastic work!
I'd be very interested in measuring the lead pollution in some of our old machines. I just had a chance to meet the head of our local water plant last week, and he told me, a simple lead analysis would only be ~15€ each.
But I am not sure, if even more lead comes from brass fittings (old originals or cheap new replacement from (forgive me...) China)?
Any ideas on that ?

A friend who I sold a Lambro made two analysis of his boiler's water after the restoration job. The first had show an important percentage of lead and other "poisons". The only good way to get the boiler well rinsed has been when he leaved the machine full of water during a week of vacancies. When coming back he rinsed everything with fresh water, made a second analysis and everything was ok.

Paul_Pratt wrote:On the plate you can see the machine number 54/5982 and the Victoria Arduino name. But those 4 posts got me thinking, and then I realised what they may be. I think they held a medallion in place, the medallion is some sort of certificate for the boiler and/or safety valve. This medallion came from a Faema President I recently did (see I keep everything).



How cool is that! Looks like a perfect fit and there is that star logo again with ANCC. Amazing stuff.

Coming late on this one but I think I have the answer. Thanks to other clues found on Gaggia models and especially Pascal's Classica, I traced the ANCC serial numbering to origin from the early 40s (hence, it can't be the «Associazione Nazionale Cooperative di Consumatori» that was created in 1955).
The ANCC is the «Associazione Nazionale per il Controllo della Combustione». Created in 1926, they certainly started to number all boilers (for coffee machines but also generators and motors) during the 30s. It was a way to control the production and impose a tax on every boiler produced.

By the way, if you want the Duplex Group patent without paying 50€ to the Italian Patent Office, here it is (in Spanish).

Thanks for the info Sebastien and the patent docs. Will look over them in detail.

Well I came back from holiday and have been busy trying to get this machine done. I was able to fabricate a new boiler lid and all the appropriate gaskets. The end plate on the boiler is so big I had to buy a massive sheet of Klingersil gasket sheet. Oh well I now have enough for many more machines. I have yet to drill the holes in the boiler lid for the heating elements.

Anyway I was able to get the end plate on and block all the fittings, fit a pressure gauge etc...and try a pressure test using air. As expected there are a few areas that will need going over again with silver solder. This was to be expected since the work was very substantial.



I tested for leaks using soapy water in a spray bottle and the leaks showed up very well. I'll mark those areas tomorrow and get the boiler back to the welder.



So some progress at last!

And to usher in the new year a little present for myself in the form of a 60's La Carimali Jolly little lever. It has a great early boxy shape which I love.

Still my favorite thread on this site. Can't wait to see you in the home stretch.

I am still working on the boiler. I had it re-brazed but there are still a few small pinholes left. It is extremely frustrating as I need to again dismantle everything and carefully remove the custom gaskets on the end plate, the boiler lid and the 2 groups. Sometimes they stick and rip the paper when you remove them which means cutting a new gasket. Each time I test the boiler I hope it will be the final assembly, so the boiler is cleaned and I use sealant so it would last a few decades. So to have to undo everything again is soul destroying. Nevermind, it is a boiler after all and it should be done properly and safely.

Anyway I'll find time next week to get the boiler done again. In the meantime one of the last jobs left was to clean and polish the bakelite bits, and there are lots of them. Here are all the bits and pieces that have been sitting in a box all these months.



Some are cracked and will have to be repaired.



I usually just dump these in a hot solution of Puro Caff/Urnex in my ultrasonic cleaner and let them clean for half and hour. Then scrub and rinse them off manually.



And with all the dirt removed the broken parts are almost ready for repairs



Bakelite is quite amenable to repairs and I use either slow setting Epoxy or JB Weld. As long as you have all the pieces, you can make really good invisible repairs of even shattered steam knobs or handles. This time I used the slow setting 2 part Epoxy to fill in the cracks and add some strength. I gave it 2 days to harden.



Some repairs also to the steam knobs that had some cracks and the centre brass insert needed reinforcement.



After the epoxy has hardened you just sand off the excess and make a nice flush repair. After that you polish the bakelite back to its former glory. Bakelite is pretty easy to work with. In this case I used wet and dry paper up to 2000 grit and then after that buffing compounds. Here are a few items that have been done and they look fantastic.





And then on some of the items I can get away with leaving the excess Epoxy in place to add some strength. Here I filled in the cracks on the portafilter handle and because this end is unseen, I can leave it just like this. Also you can see that the handle has been sanded, but not yet polished.



So that's it for now. Hopefully I'll a) find time and b) find the will to undo the boiler apart again in the next few days so I can take it for brazing again.

As Said Tom, I love this thread too

The guys that do repairs to the scales on straight razors will mix Bakelite powder from sanding them in with the epoxy before filling cracks. Great thread btw.

Yes thanks Geoff, I also read people do that but have never tried it myself. WIll have a go next time.

Today I finished up the last bakelite pieces. All done, and no dramas on the buffing wheel. Run at very low speed so it doesn't grab the parts.