Hi All..I've the following clarification regarding Silvia :-
1) Will warming up the Silvia for hours caused the water in the boiler to go empty?
2) Do I need to re-fill the boiler (by pressing the brew switch) everytime I used the steam wand?

Thks.

1) No. 2) No, you can steam several cappuccinos before the boiler needs to be refilled. Obviously if you want to brew espresso, you must turn off the steam switch and refill the boiler completely.

blueface wrote:Hi All..I've the following clarification regarding Silvia :-
1) Will warming up the Silvia for hours caused the water in the boiler to go empty?
2) Do I need to re-fill the boiler (by pressing the brew switch) everytime I used the steam wand?

Thks.

1) No. But (especially with "new" OPV settings) you will lose a bit of water over several hours. I recommend to my customers that they can leave Silvia on as long as they like, as long as they pull a shot or flush a few drips of water from the group every couple of hours. As long as the element remains fully submerged, you will rarely get problems.

2) YES. YESYESYESYESYES! After steaming, turn OFF the steam switch, turn ON the hot water switch, leave the steam valve open until water runs from the wand. I can't believe Dan said no, he's obviously forgotten the first rule of single boiler, non-HX machines, KEEP THE ELEMENT WET!

Alan

Alan Frew wrote:I can't believe Dan said no...

Huh? I said "you can steam several cappuccinos before the boiler needs to be refilled". I think the boiler loses around an ounce of water per cappuccino.

You don't steam "per cappuccino" on a Silvia, you steam to the volume of your jug. Need 6 cappas, get a big (1500ml) jug. Regardless of the volume of the jug, and in my experience 1500ml is the max, it's a "per session" thing, you must ALWAYS refill the boiler after each steaming session. Which I think is the question Blueface was asking.

Don't forget that 1oz is 10% of the total boiler capacity!

Alan

Alan Frew wrote:2) YES. YESYESYESYESYES! After steaming, turn OFF the steam switch, turn ON the hot water switch, leave the steam valve open until water runs from the wand. I can't believe Dan said no, he's obviously forgotten the first rule of single boiler, non-HX machines, KEEP THE ELEMENT WET!

Alan

Can I turn ON the brew switch instead of hot water switch...activate either one will actually re-fill the boiler right? Thks.

blueface wrote:Can I turn ON the brew switch instead of hot water switch...activate either one will actually re-fill the boiler right? Thks.

I think most people just find it easier to turn on the hot water and purge the steam from the steam wand. You can see exactly when to shut off because the water will start to stream from the wand in place of the vapor.

No good reason to purge a bunch of steam through the group that I can think of.

andrewpetre wrote:No good reason to purge a bunch of steam through the group that I can think of.

Yes, there is.

After steaming, the grouphead gets pretty hot and it is a good idea to flush ABOUT 4 oz of water through it to lower its temperature down to something more manageable.

I personally think activating either brew or hot water switch doesn't really matter...both will actually re-fill the boiler

There are difference between refilling from the brewhead or steam wand. In theory, the steam wand method will put more water into the boiler because of where it draws off the boiler. Running steam through the brewhead could overheat that area possible adding a burnt flavor to the next brewed cup from steaming the coffee residue in the brewhead and shower screen area.