Found a good price on a new V5 Rancilio Silvia (open box). Looking forward to playing with it, however I've a usage question. I understand temperature surfing and I am reasonably confident that the following video is a good guide, but I'm looking to compare it against usage with a PID to try and decide if I'm going to bother. Anyone have any links on the subject?

Note that this is not a pro/con PID argument really, if I opt to do it I would be building it myself mostly from existing parts, so there's not much cost associated with it (though the meCoffee kit is interesting and I may go that way). It's more a level of effort question, comparing steps & execution time.

Hi i have a latest V silvia and i have managed to get it going without pid and now i realise some things cannot be remedied which is a design issue i think... in any case try this (I run shot first then froth/steam).

- Turn machine on put porta in grouphead and basket upside down on top of the machine for 45 mins.
- I turn brew switch on and flush water until boiler light goes on and turn off the brew.
- As soon as the light goes off i start the timer.
- Between 30-45seconds (some days i do 30 some days i do 45seconds) I do a quick flush from the brewhead so no flashing is happening.
- Put the coffee in the group head run shot and run my timer etc to the desired yield.

- I run hot water through wand until boiler light goes on, then i turn steam switch and turn hot water off and run timer.
- At about 1min 15sec i purge the wand from any water.
- By 1min 30 i am frothing.

Start with these times and see how you like the flavour.

Kujako wrote:Found a good price on a new V5 Rancilio Silvia (open box). Looking forward to playing with it, however I've a usage question. I understand temperature surfing and I am reasonably confident that the following video is a good guide, but I'm looking to compare it against usage with a PID to try and decide if I'm going to bother. Anyone have any links on the subject?

Yes, basically the routine she did is the standard one, more or less, with or without the PID. Good links are on the main review section on H-B:
/silvia-flash-review.html
/rancilio-s ... eview.html

You can certainly get good performance from the Silvia without PID, it's just a bit better with it, especially if you want a specific temp for your brew water (and usually the PID sets the element to cycle on/off more quickly to reduce the temp band).

I still use my Silvia for trips when I have room in our car. Last month I used it for 5 of us and was reminded that it does make good espresso and lattes, it just takes a bit more time.

I bet you'll build a PID sometime, but you don't need it to make good espresso.

Also a good link below that was relinked in one of my posts by erics, a good read to understand the downfalls of silvia.

Rancilio Silvia Performance with/without PID

I bought a used V3 and temp surfed for a while, but finally caved and got an Auber PID with Steam control. Wasn't too hard to install and man-alive, it makes life so much easier. Temp surfing isn't hard, but being able to just set the temp and it's ready to go, is such a delight. Highly recommend.

Exactly. Plus, at least one PID (meCoffee) monitors the brew switch and starts the heater for the next shot as soon as you start pulling the current shot. Basically, it anticipates the temp drop before the drop is registered. Because of this, you can pull quite a few shots at a time...I tested it up to 5 back to back with them all at perfect temp.

Yeah I like the feature set of the meCoffee, but I'm iOS based so the lack of bluetooth v3 is an issue and the dollar is weak against the euro right now.

I am in same boat here. If i don't get a different machine i may order the mecoffee and buy a cheap android tablet.

Kujako wrote:Yeah I like the feature set of the meCoffee, but I'm iOS based so the lack of bluetooth v3 is an issue and the dollar is weak against the euro right now.

Radio.YYZ wrote:I am in same boat here. If i don't get a different machine i may order the mecoffee and buy a cheap android tablet.

I used an HP Touchpad I got for free 6 years ago. Doesn't need much.

Dang, all this talk of Silvia + meCoffee is making me nostalgic. I might need to keep my eye out for a cheap used one

Hah... i wouldn't go back to it. I recently bought the latest model and i am not happy with it so i am juggling jumping ship or pid'ing it.

I find the results are unpredictable at times and i have been controlling mostly all variables except the machine, it really is not a great machine for people like me who like consistency and are a bit of a perfectionist.

P.S. If it wasnt my silvia purchase i would have never been on here, i suppose thats a positive.