Hi guys, I'm new to the forum, and although I'm a coffee fiend, I'm relatively new to espresso. I was looking through my basement with the understanding that my dad had an old burr grinder I wanted to look into for my french press when I came across this beautiful machine.





From what I can tell, it's in very good condition. There's a bit of white (scaling?) stuff in the glass sight, and the plastic power switch is broken off. Cosmetically, with a little spit shine, it'd look great. The chrome is well in tact.

I'd like to get this beauty in working order. I'm not sure of the state of its internals, although before it was put into storage, I believe it worked fine.

What does a decade of basement storage do to something like this, and how should I go about giving it a good checkup?

Also, is a Faema Faemina in good condition as good an espresso machine as I think it is? I'm quite excited about it.

Thanks guys and gals.

Congrats on the find. I would recommend contacting Doug and Barb of Orphan Espresso. If anyone can help you with all things lever, they certainly can.

Edit: Actually, just searching their site for Faemina returned these parts.

jordanzed wrote:Hi guys, I'm new to the forum, and although I'm a coffee fiend, I'm relatively new to espresso. I was looking through my basement with the understanding that my dad had an old burr grinder I wanted to look into for my french press when I came across this beautiful machine.

From what I can tell, it's in very good condition. There's a bit of white (scaling?) stuff in the glass sight, and the plastic power switch is broken off. Cosmetically, with a little spit shine, it'd look great. The chrome is well in tact.

I'd like to get this beauty in working order. I'm not sure of the state of its internals, although before it was put into storage, I believe it worked fine.

What does a decade of basement storage do to something like this, and how should I go about giving it a good checkup?

Also, is a Faema Faemina in good condition as good an espresso machine as I think it is? I'm quite excited about it.

Thanks guys and gals.

I'm not the one to recommend the checkup but I'm giving a whole lotta thumbs up.
That's some kind of basement find.
OO

So I opened the top of the boiler, lots of scaling. Filled it up with water (didn't turn it on though) and the first the I noticed is a bit of water leaking out of the glass window. I assume this means I need a new gasket, but I'm not sure water's even supposed to touch the window, is it? I was under the impression that it went through the coil behind the glass. Also, the lever was up the whole time. Isn't water supposed to stay in the boiler until I pull the lever down, or am I completely lost on the concept of a lever espresso machine?

Thanks for listening to me ramble, and thanks even more for any responses.

The sight glass does indeed come into contact with water. Most likely that gasket (really all of your gaskets) are shot. OE sells a gasket kit which, while not super easy to install, will give you a chance to get to know your machine. They also sell a power switch which will work just fine. The electrical is very simple on that machine.

The real question is whether the elements work. There are two in that machine (a high and low). Determining if they work will let you know about the big pay off on repairing. Damaged elements can be fixed or replaced but it dramatically changes the cost of inputs on this particular repair.

You can use a multimeter to verify function, or make sure there are no frayed wires, fill with water and turn it on. This may not be possible with your lack of switch.

Yeah, I figured if that gasket was shot they'd probably all be shot. I was hoping that wouldn't happen so I could test out the elements. Unfortunately, in spite of my interest in electronics I don't have a multimeter. For simple circuits I usually just make a simple continuity tester with an LED and some wires. As for the power switch, the plastic part just broke off but I still have it, so I may still be able to turn it on and off, let's just hope it was in the on position when it broke.

Lucky you. It's funny you post this because I did the same thing back at my parents' house while home for the holidays. Going through the basement I found an old Vesuviana. I'm going to clean it up and try to use it. It's a neat toy to play with, but not nearly as sweet as yours

So how likely do you think it is that the elements would be damaged? I understand turning it on without water would be a problem, but assuming that never happened, are they particularly prone to damage, and would a decade or so of storage contribute?

Sorry for all the questions, but I can't seem to find the details I want on the net.

EDIT: Also, since I'm in Canada, should I be using a transformer of some kind to bring my output to 110v? My knowledge of electronics has its limits

I obtained a very soundly abused Faemina. Elements were fine under all of the crud. This particular model is pretty hard to run completely dry unless you are trying, since the outlet from the boiler to the piston chamber is at about the top of the elements. When it is running, it is pretty hard to ignore since it sounds like a circus calliope.

Yours may or may not be 220. Looks like your information plate is intact, take a look. The plug may not give you that answer as there are a lot of conversions on these. You can get a cheap travel converter, or a nicer one if you are planning on keeping this for a while. The total wattage is pretty low for this machine.

As for running a 110v machine on 220v, it may cause problems with the elements (running hot), switches, and light bulb. There are many folks better versed on the electric issues than me who will hopefully chime in.

Good news! My dad tells me he used to use this a lot, and the elements never had a problem. It has a Canadian plug on it so I'm not sure if that deals with the power issue or not but he insists it does. I'll head to my go to engineering forum for that info.

With a bit of tightening on the window, it only seems to let out a couple drops (machine still off though) so I think that's the biggest issue. I'm still going to replace all the gaskets though, just 'cause. After that, a nice polish and some citric acid and I think I'm good to go.

I'm going to check the elements anyway though.