While I am waiting on some panels to return from being re-chromed on my conti empress I thought it would be a good time to get stuck into my next project.

This fellow is called a Faema Lambro. It is essentially a rebodied faema president:






I started by removed the body:




Then unfastened all pipework and boiler:






Yup, the element is encased in a solid chunk of calcium! After boiling in a citric acid solution for 1hr they came out like this:






I will strip and repaint the frame this weekend. The group will wait until my next parts order comes in from Italy. Will post more pics soon.

Fantastic stuff, keep it coming. If others don't know Paul and I have the exact same machine and started tearing it down the same time. If Paul doesn't mind here a few pics of mine.








Fortunately for this little machine I have a dodgy back otherwise he would be floating in Hong Kong harbour by now after I threw him out the window. What on earth were Faema thinking when they designed the boilers on these things? It took me 2 days to get the boiler apart and then a further morning removing the aluminium rings. Arghhhhhh.

It is remotely possible that the boiler has never been taken apart since it was made. I found a date stamp on the heating element of 1962.

I've just sorted through parts for rechroming and polishing and like Paul the frame (already stripped) will be painted next.

Paul

thanks for your pics Paul. With regards to the Alu boiler rings, my half ring set is now in about 10 pieces . The bolts had solidly fused to it. I used a junior hacksaw to saw thru them using newly created gaps in the gasket. I then used a punch to break loose the bolt reminants. Great fun. When I reassemble I plan to use s/s bolts and copper grease.

What is the purpose of that big tube (?) inside the boiler? Puzzling over the pictures, it seems that it brings water to the group?

Is this standard for commercial levers? Much different then the thin tube in a Pavoni for example.

Could it be to isolate the brew water from the element? Keeps the temp more stable?

Ok, too much thinking. Thanks for posting the pics!

Henry

Two questions please, Paul.

What is the smallest footprint machine you know of in this class?

What does each of these tubes do?



Regards
Timo

That looks like a heat exchanger or thermosyphon.

The big tube is the thermosyphon. Kinda like a normal HX in a pump machine except it is fed via a small hole below the water line. Pump machine HX's are fed from fresh rather than boiler water.

The top fitting on Timo's pic is the group feed and beneath that is the return. I have not disassembled the group yet but assume that it has a passive circulation system to keep the group hot. A few of my machines have HX. They are a later feature although not all makers used them. For instance, I don't think the modern astoria group uses one (I welcome correction though ).

I am not convinced about the merits of an 'open' hx (thermosyphon) vs straight boiler fed system in lever machines with regards to thermostability. I suppose they provide a little insulation from cooling during refilling. A passive circulation system is probably necessary here though as the group is not bolted to the boiler.

The boiler and frame (I think) are standard e61 components. By 'e61' I mean the model of faema machine, not now ubiquitous group or copies thereof. The frame has a footprint of 345 x 360mm. This is a little smaller than the conti empress of 350 x 390mm although the conti contains its bodywork to this diamension. The lambro boiler overhangs the rear of the frame somewhat (see other Paul's pic).

The group on mine came apart quite easily once the damn spring was out. Not looking forward to the assembly. I had a pretty relaxing day with the Lambro as I have far too much else to do at the moment. Around lunchtime I decided to have an hour or so of pure pleasure - lathe time. My bigger lathe is set up for my tampers so I used my little mini-lathe perfect for this kind of thing.

The alumninium feet on the machine were in bad need of some TLC. They were a bit dirty but had some major damage to the bottom, a few chips here and there.



Dirty and chipped feet.






Well I'm certainly no machinist but am happy with the result. All that's left is to find some rubber for the base and cut a groove for it to fit into.

Paul

timo888 wrote:
What is the smallest footprint machine you know of in this class?



Regards
Timo

Tim,
I don't know if Grace, my Conti Prestina is in this class or not. She has a footprint of 12" x 15.5".

Paul wrote:The big tube is the thermosyphon. Kinda like a normal HX in a pump machine except it is fed via a small hole below the water line. Pump machine HX's are fed from fresh rather than boiler water.

The top fitting on Timo's pic is the group feed and beneath that is the return. I have not disassembled the group yet but assume that it has a passive circulation system to keep the group hot. A few of my machines have HX. They are a later feature although not all makers used them. For instance, I don't think the modern astoria group uses one (I welcome correction though ).

Thanks for the explanation Paul!

Am I getting this right? -> the big tube and pipes 1&2 act both as a thermosyphon and as the brew water supply?

Henry