Ahem.


It works.

Ok, "works" is a loose definition of what it's doing. The Good:

Heats up, although very slowly. I suspect that it's a 220V machine at its heart, rewired for the U.S. market as a 110V version.
Stops heating when the pressure builds to an appropriate level. The Sirai may look ugly, but it works.
Pushes hot water through finely ground coffee, producing a passable (even tasty) shot.
Steams like there's no tomorrow.

The Bad:

Won't stop filling with water. Don't know if this is because of the water level probe, the solenoid, or the Gicar unit. To work around, I simply pulled off the Gicar, and fill manually as needed.
Vacuum-breaker valve won't shut. The little latex gasket inside of it seems to have a tiny crack, which is probably keeping the teflon cone of the shuttle from sealing properly. As a result, the machine hisses quietly non-stop. Easily replaced.
The lever group cap leaks. I understand now why the replacement offered by EPNW doesn't seem to have an adjusting screw, as it's this screw that is causing the leak. Still, I'm going to try and find new gaskets for the adjusting screw.
Various drips all-round. A couple washers to be replaced, but easily fixed overall.

Oh, and the braided metal hose I bought to connect to the water softener doesn't connect correctly with the water softener fitting. I suspect that the softener has metric threads, and the compression fitting on the hose doesn't. They were close enough to tighten by hand at the store, but when I use a wrench, the hose pops right off. Gonna take the fitting back to Home Depot tomorrow and see if they have an adaptor; otherwise I'll call the mechanic at the local bean roaster and see if he has the right hose.

But again, for the most part, it works.

Drew,
Congratulations! I'm looking forward to hearing about the espresso your new machine makes. As for the problem at the water softener, you probably just have a mismatch of fittings. A knowledgeable person at Home Depot should be able to fix you right up.
By the way, my commercial machine also heats up very slowly and it's wired to 220. Not a problem, however, since commercial machines are meant to be left on.

bushnell_a wrote:Ok, "works" is a loose definition of what it's doing. The Good:

Heats up, although very slowly. I suspect that it's a 220V machine at its heart, rewired for the U.S. market as a 110V version.
Stops heating when the pressure builds to an appropriate level. The Sirai may look ugly, but it works.
Pushes hot water through finely ground coffee, producing a passable (even tasty) shot.
Steams like there's no tomorrow.

The Bad:

Won't stop filling with water. Don't know if this is because of the water level probe, the solenoid, or the Gicar unit. To work around, I simply pulled off the Gicar, and fill manually as needed.
Vacuum-breaker valve won't shut. The little latex gasket inside of it seems to have a tiny crack, which is probably keeping the teflon cone of the shuttle from sealing properly. As a result, the machine hisses quietly non-stop. Easily replaced.
The lever group cap leaks. I understand now why the replacement offered by EPNW doesn't seem to have an adjusting screw, as it's this screw that is causing the leak. Still, I'm going to try and find new gaskets for the adjusting screw.
Various drips all-round. A couple washers to be replaced, but easily fixed overall.

Oh, and the braided metal hose I bought to connect to the water softener doesn't connect correctly with the water softener fitting. I suspect that the softener has metric threads, and the compression fitting on the hose doesn't. They were close enough to tighten by hand at the store, but when I use a wrench, the hose pops right off. Gonna take the fitting back to Home Depot tomorrow and see if they have an adaptor; otherwise I'll call the mechanic at the local bean roaster and see if he has the right hose.

But again, for the most part, it works.

Looking very good.

A few insights from my Faema rebuild. My machine, even at 220v, takes a long time to heat. The boiler is a bit larger (11 liter) and takes a good 2 hours from a cold start. As you surmised, the vacuum breaker is easy to replace. There are two different common sizes, make sure you measure the old fitting so you order the correct size.

Hose fittings are tricky. Your machine will use BSP threads, don't know about the softener. If the hose fits your machine, then your hose is probably BSP on both ends and your softener is NTP. The threads on a ¼ and 1/8 NTP and BSP are so close that they will mate up and start to thread, but not seal. You can give the fitting a heavy wrap of Teflon tape to seal it, or get a BSP to NPT adapter (which is what I did).

I got my adapters from McMaster-CARR. Go to Pipe and Pipe Fittings, Brass Pipe Fittings and Pipe, Adapter and then under the pipe to pipe connection, select your connection type (NPT m to BSPP f, NPT m to BSPT m, or BSPT m to NPT f). You probably need the later, male BSPT into the hose to a female NPT to go onto the softener fitting.

Successfully dialed in the grind on my second shot this morning. Using some Papua New Guinea beans, a gift from Cafe Moto, I was able to get a lovely 2-ounce shot in about 30 seconds or so, using two pulls. Extremely intense coffee, with a sweetness that I only get from the machine at work on my best days.

Incidentally, I used our Solis Maestro grinder for this shot, as my new (used) Rocky is partially disassembled at the moment. Actually had to set the grinder back a few notches from its finest setting.

Oh, and I think I already have the correct adapter for the water softener. It came with the machine, as a bundle of pipe fittings that had simply been snipped off when the machine was taken out of service. While straightening up the workbench I found it, and it looks like the correct part. Gonna have fun fiddling with it (and other parts on the machine) after work tonight.

Still haven't solved all the problems, but here are some shots I pulled today. Beans are the "Giro d'Italia" blend from Cafe Moto in San Diego, roasted about 12 days ago:



completed shot on the right:

That shot seemed a little bitter, and I know from experience that the Giro d'Italia doesn't do well at high temps (it's our espresso blend at work). After knocking out the puck, I ran a blank shot through the portafilter and measured the temp using a kitchen thermometer; it read 210 F. After cranking down the pressurestat, I pulled this shot:



completed shot on the right:



The crema looks a touch paler than the previous shot, but the coffee tasted much better. Rounder, more balanced, slightly sweeter on the back of the palate, and not nearly as bitter.

A note about lever machines and clarity: I completely agree. We use a procon-driven Gaggia at work, and I've got the pressure and temperature dialed in for the Giro d'Italia. I've gotten some pretty good shots out of it, but none that match the depth and complexity of those I've been pulling from this lever machine. For example, this batch of beans was roasted about 12 days ago, and I can taste a slight rancid character in the shots. It's sort of like the smell of rancid flour, and it appears as sort of a light aftertaste to the caramel notes. When I use beans this old on the Gaggia, the shots simply taste flat.