I have some wicked insomnia going on here...so you get the 'before' pix to the Sama Club clean-up. I've taken it into the office for use (ahhh, inter-shot temp stability!) so I'll post some 'afters' when I get in.
This was an e-bay flier. Note to self: ALWAYS check if they have the dispersion screen included. It took me a year to find a dispersion screen that fit sufficiently to give me good use. In the end, I found it in someone's basement rifling through parts leftover from goodness-knows-where.
Here are a few basic pix from the initial take-down. As I may have mentioned elsewhere, it is the two-seal version. I haven't traced the year but assume somewhere in the 70s. The cowling was either a red or a brown, it wasn't clear it had faded and rusted considerably. So I had the cowling electroplated chrome, which gave it some bling, and I did a powdercoat on the frame in black - as did you, I think. The rest of the machine I didn't need to do anything but clean thoroughly - I was pretty pleased, because someone had neglected her badly for some years. The rusty soup of primordial grunge that emerged from the boiler - shudder.
Oh - I lied. I replaced the heating element (thanks Doug) because I didn't want to live with a 220 v step-up converter in my office. But the old element looks in useable shape - not sure where I'm ever going to use it though. It's in my loose lost parts drawer where, if karma works, someone will find it in 50 years and wonder where the dispersion screen is.
One happy surprise was all functioning electricals, including the pstat, which looks bad but seems to work well.
Here we go:
I suppose the tips/observations from the take-down were:
-very easy disassembly and reassemby - once you've walked through it once, you can take it down in minutes and make minor adjustments. The group is a joy of simplicity.
-ensure you use a good sized clamp on the group when removing the piston to ease the effect of the spring.
-be wary of lime/calcium/crud buildup between the bottom of the boiler and the heating element, which might sit an inch or so off the bottom, but if bent etc., could have fused. Mine was fine but I know of another that was not. I de-scaled as best I could sans electrics before wrenching the element out.
-make sure to use the thin plastic shim provided by Doug in the lower piston seal - crucial to ensuring there is sufficient flare of the seal on the downstroke. Even with the shim there is a slight tendency to leak/drip from the group from time to time which can be solved by a flush or toggle of the lever. A little experimentation with the seals and you can get it right.
-most of the cleaning was elbow grease, wire brush and sand paper as appropriate.
-I replaced some key nuts and blots with stainless - the old ones were rusted to crap - which made me wonder what the original parts were, but anyway, the group nuts and the bolts holding the boiler to the frame I replaced. The trick there if you live in Can (not sure about Aust) is the f^%&^*$ war between metric and imperial which never seems to end. When can we all just use base 10 and push on? The bolts/threads are metric in various sizes and imperial can work maybe sometimes if you force it, but if you can obtain metric all the better. Some stores here do carry metric, but usually in limited sizes. One thing I could not easily replace were the screws on the frame to the cowling - the frame that holds the top tray. There are smaller than 4-40 (imperial) I believe and I'm damned if I can find them. Not a big deal, as it is possible to jury-rig a solution.
Wish list? All things others have said again and again: a more rational boiler cap/feed system and steam wands that don't blow a hole in the wall. I love the pressure and the toggle mechanism, but as you said, about zero seconds of thought went into the actual exit of scalding gas into a small parabolic surface held directed at the eyes.
Funniest quirk: I dig the heavy gauge copper wiring used in these old machine - stiff, thick wires that bend to a shape and stay that way against casual pressure. It was fun to be able to retain the old wiring and re-use it.
Since I've had it running, I've found that learning spring lever technique/pulling is important before I fine-tune the machine. So, for example, I'm slowly upping the pstat because I find I'm wanting a slightly hotter pull and I'm not too worried about the group head overheating. I have it set 'on' at about 1.2 bar and 'off' at 1.4 bar. (Normally I'd be looking for something like .9-1 on a lever, but with the lower pressure on the pull, I'm experimenting with compensating in the water temp and grind/dose). The pressure gauge/manometer is a very useful item.
I also find it takes about 10 minutes to heat properly and I flush once just to, I don't know, sort it out, but i try not to flush too much to conserve water, because re-filling it is such a pain in the ass. It wheezes a bit and I'm still tightening up the safety valve to the right tension and making sure other joints are properly set.
With the grind/dose, I'm only one pound of beans in, but using Sightglass Owl's Howl (my new fave - a relatively light roast blend) at 10 days old I started with a powdery grind and ~15g with a strong tamp, and had to back off considerably before the machine "unjammed" and would push water through. A waste of good bean but I wanted to get the feel of what that spring could do before I dialed it into a sweet spot. If you're a manual lever user, it will surprise you, the difference in pressure on the puck (I've read manual levers pull around 9 bar and the Lusso or Riviera around 6 bar). That's a what, 30% difference in pressure which means you have to make the adjustments on other variables. The upside it it is a stable temp/pressure per shot, so once you dial in, you can do multiple shots with relatively little further attention.
So I backed the grind off to a relatively coarse size and a light tamp, but I prefer to overdose the basket (double basket) because it has low shot volume, and I end up pulling two to three pulls per shot. I have not got enough done yet to have any real conclusions - its just fun noodling through.
I've had a little trouble with muddy pucks - not a big deal in itself, but in an office its a little easier to manage the whole op if the pucks are dry - and this is also why the overdose is my preference if I can pull it off, so to speak. If not, I'll be back to 14g / 6mm clearance and getting the grind a little finer.
I suppose that's been one of the real pleasures of this machine - it forces you to pay more attention to grind, and dose and it forces you to pull in a difference way. So far, I've used manual levers only - my Cremina, Peppina, Caravel and a couple of dirty nights with a Pavoni Pro - and this girl wants to be handled differently. As I get into the office in the mornings I find myself thinking about ambient temperature and humidity (it's just starting to drop here in the north after a very wet summer) and wondering how it is going to play on the machine today. A bit fanciful probably, but I'll try anything.
So, I'm getting some passable pulls but no magic yet. Not enough oils suspended and crema is thin, the shots are a little fast (10-12s or so, where I think the benchmark on this machine is around 15s per pull). I'm going to make grind slightly finer and see where that takes me. I think
More pictures in a few hours when I'm at work. Cheers, sa
by simonarcher on Mon Sep 05, 2011 8:12 pm 
