Hello all Home-Barista's!

This is my first post, although I have been lurking a little while and reading all of the other informative rebuilds that people here have done.

I recently stumbled across a (seemingly) great craigslist deal on two Astoria Jun/Sae 1 espresso machines as well as a bunn pourover drip machine and grinder. They were all sitting in this guys garage for a year or so collecting dust and grime but looked to be in decent condition. I ended up talking him down to $250 for the whole package and decided that I was going to learn how to fix up espresso machines!

I only started tearing one of the astorias apart recently and It actually didn't look too bad on the inside. But I decided to completely disassemble and descale the boiler and such anyway. I cleaned and painted the frame with engine enamel paint and started putting it all back together the other night. I just need a few more parts to complete the project, but I have a few questions...

First, I kind of destroyed the cover of the pressure relief valve (that has an orange line leading to the drain tub), and I'm wondering if the cover is really necessary or not. I think I've seen pictures of similar machines without the cover... I can throw in a few pics once I figure out how to do that whole thing.

Also, There is a screw in the back of the "group assembly" (where it connects to the boiler) which I tried to remove but ended up slightly stripping. If anyone knows what I'm talking about, what is the purpose of said screw and is it under significant pressure? because I couldn't quite drive it back in the entire way.

So, If anyone could provide some insight into those questions that would be awesome and I will be able to finish this machine soon!

Thanks,

Tom

Here's the pressure relief cover I was referring to

And here is the current status of the astoria. you can see its brother lurking in the background. he's gonna be next!

GREAT PURCHASE. I saw these on craigslist and considered asking my parents to buy them. (They live in PA, and I am in TN). Anyway. I have a 90s version of this machine. My plastic guard over the relief valve is completely missing. I wouldn't worry about it, or scavenge something from a piece of PVC at home-depot.

The screw on the rear of the group head: I posted a message about this a few weeks back. The response was that this screw is used in the manufacturing process. It is used to hold the group head in place while other portions are machined. I tried to loosen mine and couldn't. I would leave it in place.

Cheers.

Thanks! yea, I was pretty excited about the deal, although I did have to drive a good 3 hours there and back to get it. I'm pretty happy that I did though. Thanks for the responses on both of my questions! Looks like I get to finish assembling and start testing when I get a couple parts in next week!!!

Hello all!

I have made a good deal of progress since I last posted and now have a fully functional espresso machine on my hands! I am in the process of tightening and re-tightening and teflon taping then re-re-tightening everything that leaks haha. There are a few times that I thought I would lose my sanity. (I was fine once I had some of the first shots though ) I'll have to post some pics later.

Anyway, I have a question regarding the auto fill solenoid and level probe. I think one of them is malfunctioning, but I'm not sure which. basically, If I drain the machine and manually fill the boiler to the "minimum" level, I can turn the machine on and the pump will fill it the rest of the way (although this level seems high to me as well.) But, If I turn the machine off and then back on, while at the previous level, the pump will proceed to fill the boiler indefinitely (I only let it over fill and spurt out the anti-siphon valve once... oops). Do you guys think I am having a level probe problem or a solenoid problem

oh and by the way, I did check the level probe for scale and even sanded/cleaned it just to make sure. Thanks so much for the help!

I finally figured out what my problem was with the level probe. One of the ground wires wasn't making full contact with the metal frame because of some paint that I had previously applied to it. it works just fine now!!! maybe i'll post a picture of it in action tomorrow