The Caravel 1.0 has a small temperature dial seated inside a larger one. You might have thought it was all one knob.

The Arrarex Caravel - on the Page 199 and still continuing goes.....Wow, Truly timeless machines

drgary wrote:The Caravel 1.0 has a small temperature dial seated inside a larger one. You might have thought it was all one knob.

+1

There was a thread about Arrarex thermostats, but it's closed for comments, so I'll just add on here...

I've become the proud owner of 2 of these machines, VAM version 1.0 and Caravel version 1.2 according to Francesco's classification.
I put in 110v elements from Brooks and new US style 14 gauge power cords and new suction cups in both of them.

The VAM "just worked" with no fiddling around but I had some trouble with the Caravel and just figured out what was wrong.

On the Caravel, the heating element (and the red light) would not turn on by itself. I found that if I pushed on the little adjusting screw near the top, the element would kick in, and it would stay on until the temperature was near boiling and then shut off. It would not turn on without my pushing the little screw knob.

Finally I debugged it. The problem was that when I put on the new thick power cord, the steel tab that the cord attaches to, got bent down a slight bit.
That interfered with the rocking motion of the thermostat lever assembly. Once I bent up that power cord attachment tab, the lever rocks back and forth easily and the coil spring on the bottom vs. bimetal tab on the top work as designed. The element turns on at 85C and turns off at 95C, which seems ok for a mechanical system like that.

Another issue that confused me is that at 110V the Caravel light is very dim, to the point that I didn't notice when it went on and thought it was broken. The VAM light is much brighter. I bought a 110V led indicator lamp with a 1/2" diameter, but it turns out the Caravel hole is just slightly smaller than 1/2" and I didn't want to drill it out, so I've kept the dim (at 110V) lamp, once I realized that it was not broken, just dim.

While searching for info about the VAM/Caravel I found some things that perhaps are not known to readers of this thread.

Besides that US patent granted to Dr Emidio Salati, there are patents in a bunch of European Countries to be found here:
https://worldwide.espacenet.com/searchR ... mit=Search
(If you click on the links to the patents, you get the summary and then in the left margin, there is a link to a scan of the original patent.)

One of the patents is even assigned to Amos Beltrami, who seems to have been the founder of VAM and Arrarex, together with his brother Atos Beltrami. It looks like the inventor (if there is one listed) is always Emidio Salati.
A grandson of Atos sent a message on this thread here:
The Arrarex Caravel

I also found an article about Arrarex (ARRA REX). It seems like besides espresso machines, they were into motorized bicyles:
http://gazzettadireggio.gelocal.it/regg ... refresh_ce
(You can paste the URL into google-translate for languages other than Italian.)

The very earliest VAM machines do not say Arrarex on them anywhere, not on the power plug and not under the drip tray.
The very last Caravels do not say VAM on them anywhere. Even the pattern of holes on the drip tray is missing 2 holes so they no longer spell out VAM.

There is still a company named VAM in Milan and they make heating elements, but I couldn't figure out if they are related to Vetraria Ambrosiana Milano.
http://www.applicazionivam.com/en/index.html

Nice update for the old Caravel thread. Great design never goes out of style.

redbone wrote:Received another Caravel but this time decided to keep the original plug and used plug converter 220v to120v. I replaced some of the internal wiring. Soaked and cleaned the machine. Replaced the piston seals. The PF gasket seemed fine.
This is the Caravel 1.1 with the plastic on/off at bottom and the metal twist boiler release at top. It's the most temperature stable of my three VAM 1.1 and Caravel 1.0 since it has the small temperature dial knob.
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In your photos the Caravel is missing the little locking part where the Caravel logo normally is- the part that locks the boiler in. This part is not just cosmetic it's actually important to the 'SEPS' system on the Caravel- it is the final lock that forces the kettle down to get a good contact with the element. Perhaps you just left it off? Or is it missing?

I take it off prior to removing the boiler out for rinsing. Interesting point as I've been leaving it off for ease of use. I've left it off on my ver. 1.1 also and was still able to function the same.

On another note it's incredible how much the temperature of the water varies within different location inside the small kettle. I use a Thermoworks thermocouple pen and notice up to 8F (4.5C) 192-200F back to front and top to bottom of heated water. I've started to stir the water prior to take temp reading.

redbone wrote:I take it off prior to removing the boiler out for rinsing. Interesting point as I've been leaving it off for ease of use. I've left it off on my ver. 1.1 also and was still able to function the same.

\\The machine still functions- but if you touch the walls of the Caravel you may notice that they become hotter without that piece installed. It locks the kettle down onto the element firmly. Without it the element may burn out quicker.

redbone wrote:On another note it's incredible how much the temperature of the water varies within different location inside the small kettle. I use a Thermoworks thermocouple pen and notice up to 8F (4.5C) 192-200F back to front and top to bottom of heated water. I've started to stir the water prior to take temp reading.

I've noticed the same thing on mine. I use the Thermapen and it's become a habit to always take my readings at the same place in the kettle. Maybe I'd be better off stirring though.