I took a chance on eBay and purchased this EMI Emina, the Faemina knock-off. The seller listed it as having a 110V cord but could not read the voltage on the elements. The blue label clearly states 220V.

She arrived today

Cosmetically, nicer than my Faemina. The chrome's not rubbed off the corrugated sleeve and the base was originally aluminum, so no flaking chrome there. Chrome's flaking on the post. Drip pan is intact, with a bit of corrosion on the cover tray. Unlike perfectwheels' machine, the boiler cap does not have the Faema imprint.



The heating elements, after de-scaling, are indeed 110V.

She came with extras - a single and 3 double baskets that fit the machine and also a couple of 58mm baskets and a couple of aluminum portafilters that are larger, very lightweight, and have a little tab that apparently thumbs up to hold the basket in. Plus a bunch of odd gaskets with a masking tape price tag on them of .90.

The piston won't push down, which I assume may be due to old, hard seals. Maybe a bit of heat would free things up? If the elements test as good I'll try heating water in the boiler. I actually have a spare set of 110V heating elements and a full gasket kit! (I could stretch things and rationalize the purchase by telling myself that I needed another machine to use up the spare parts ...)

The switches may need to be replaced, from what I've read, with some that are more sturdy. For the post - has anyone sanded off the chrome and painted theirs? Removing the base on the Faemina was a MAJOR project and not one I'm willing to repeat.

Such Fun!!!

Nice, I was the other bidder on that . Glad it went to a good home.

Great find. It is not a knock-off but from the same Faema family. EMI's are very rare and highly sought after.

Elements are fine, but on/off switch is toast. I've ordered the replacement 15 amp one recommended by Cuppajoe from McMaster-Carr.

Is anyone familiar with a machine that might take the odd aluminum portafilters?

I would double check the element to make sure it is a 220v before you plug it into a 220. I had a machine imported from Italy that stated 220 and after I fried it, found out that it was actually a 125v element. Never hurts to double check!

Susan,

Thank you for showing us that great machine! No one has answered you about why the lever won't move. Since I haven't had anything be that stuck, what's the usual cause? Is it old, hardened seals, scale? a rusted spring, possibly any and all of those? Maybe someone will chime in on how to get it moving and disassembled.

Thanks, Gary

There appears to be gunk at the top of the rod - dental floss barely gets through it - so I'm extrapolating to think that there might be gunk at the other end, as well. I have penetrating oil working on it now. I haven't tried to compress the spring with a clamp yet, just with the lever. And not very forcefully with the lever because I don't want to damage the pins.

DucaiMann - the elements are labeled 110V and the meter confirmed that.

Update:

After a day of oil, my husband walked up to the machine and nonchalantly pushed the lever down. After a few repetitions it's fairly free now, but with significant squeaks - dry rubber against bronze is my guess.

So the next step was to remove the cylinder - a 3-day production with my Faemina. Whoever was into the Emina last apparently went with the awl-and-hammer approach and beat the stuffing out of the spanner wrench holes:


But astonishingly there were no issues in removing the cylinder with our home-made spanner tool


So now the last lever pin is soaking in oil and tomorrow will bring the removal of the piston assembly. I shouldn't tempt the fairies, but this project is going far more smoothly than I envisioned.

Coffeecritter wrote:Update:

After a day of oil, my husband walked up to the machine and nonchalantly pushed the lever down. After a few repetitions it's fairly free now, but with significant squeaks - dry rubber against bronze is my guess.

The spring in the Faemina is substantial, so he should have had to lean on it. How did it behave when he released it? These things have knocked out teeth. Do you have a shot looking into the sight glass?

I have found that using a small scissor jack is less stressful than the big C-clamp method to compress the spring, as per Francesco - http://www.francescoceccarelli.eu/Faidate/diy-faema.htm. He also has an alternative method for replacing the piston shaft seal by removing the piston first. This eliminates having to compress the spring.

Regarding the bag of portafilters and baskets - They seem to just be a collection of stuff the seller no longer wanted and unrelated to the Faemina. One is for a pod machine.

The EMI Emina spent the weekend at our kitchen table spa and now has a new set of seals and a Cafelat spring.

David - here's the sight glass shot:


The lever pin rollers were completely stuck. Here's the result:


Fortunately, not too much damage and all's well now.


Here she is with her Faemina sibling and one of the Creminas. It's definitely time to re-home some machines!