Retrofitting autofill on a Conti Prestina?

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FRQ
Posts: 12
Joined: 8 years ago

#1: Post by FRQ »

i am about to undertake my first full restoration, a Conti Prestina and am contemplating adding an autofill circuit. Two scenarios come to mind:

1) I install a simple, "dumb" autofill mechanism consisting of some sort of probe and solenoid valve. In that case: can anyone recommend the best bang for buck off the shelf parts to accomplish this? Ideally I'd like to keep the original, manual fill valve operational. How would I go about accomplishing this? Are there some diagrams I could consult (perhaps from machines that have this factory installed)? That would clear up a lot.

2) I'm considering adding an Arduino or Raspberry Pi PID with BT/Wifi. If I do this, it might be nice to control the autofill function with the Arduino as well. The point? I really don't know, just because. :D Is there any precedent for this?

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JohnB.
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Joined: 16 years ago

#2: Post by JohnB. »

Typically you would have a Level Control Box (Giemme?), water level probe & a small solenoid valve. My Sorrento has both the Autofil system & a manual fill circuit. They are separate assys. after the water inlet pipe & require two threaded fill takeoffs on the boiler plus the threaded opening for the level probe..
LMWDP 267

FRQ (original poster)
Posts: 12
Joined: 8 years ago

#3: Post by FRQ (original poster) »

A quick search for level control boxes comes up with a bunch of espresso specific parts ranging between $150 and $200. That's steep considering the slew of other parts needed to fit it and get it working. Perhaps my Arduino idea isn't that crazy after all?