San Marco 100E Sprint 58mm upgrade
-
z7th
- Posts: 4
- Joined: 2 years ago
Hi,
TLDR summary: Bought San Marco machine, modded to accept 58mm portafilter so I can use VST baskets and my beloved 58.5mm motta tamper. It works great
Details follow.
Background:
I bought a cheap, internally good looking but broken electronics San Marco 100E Sprint. I fixed the electronics (luckily just a defective cap after the rectifier) but was very sad to find that, apparently, San Marco does not use standard 58mm portafilters.
Not only are the portafilters they do use smaller, but they also have a very high rim above the lock tabs and then a shower screen that in turn reaches very far down to make up for it. It's all very strange and wrong for me...
I noticed that the group head has quite enough space to fully insert a 58mm portafilter. So I simply bought a 58mm 3 tab ( https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0B7RBN2HV ) portafilter and tried to fit it. No, of course it doesn't just work. The taps are right at the top and so the rim doesn't even come close to reaching the gasket and if i just hold it up against the gasket the shower screen reaches inside the portafilter too far.
So, I though, why not simply get a gasket that fits the groove but also extends out further and becomes bigger so that the 58mm basket will be further down and the rim of the portafilter does not need to extend to reach it. Of course that's a custom part. So I just 3d printed from TPU. But is TPU safe? A quick google showed it is so safe it's used for all the baby products that will be chewed on. To make sure I got safe TPU filament, i just bought BASF Ultrafuse TPU 85A with the expectation that it is fully made (including base) in germany and not china (and hence safer...). First print with this filament fit perfectly, the portafilter closed well, the seal held 9bar pressure without leak!
However, the shower screen still reached down into the portafilter and I also didn't like how small it was, so I wanted to fix that. During cleaning I noticed that the diffuser/water distributor just comes off completely and then the group head top is fully flat, except for the groove for the gasket. I actually had another new diffuser around for a nouva simonelli (58mm, part no. 1326037). It looked like it fit so I changed my 3d print to accommodate the large diffuser, put on an ims shower screen that I also had lying around and it just fit. Well, except for the screw that was now too long. I didn't have a proper shorter one and didn't want to trim the original so i'm waiting for a new one and using a short but flat one for now.
It works great and I am very happy with this machine. It has pre-infusion and thermosyphon valves to adjust temperature without changing boiler pressure/temperature and, most importantly, now makes great espresso on standard 58mm. I don't need a new tamper etc. Obviously this machine is perhaps not ideal for home use but I have fun with it, so whatever ( I do have two other one group machines, so no worries, it's not my only option ).
Models for the adapter gasket: https://www.printables.com/model/401054 ... ter-gasket
Here a short video of the mod:
TLDR summary: Bought San Marco machine, modded to accept 58mm portafilter so I can use VST baskets and my beloved 58.5mm motta tamper. It works great
Details follow.Background:
I bought a cheap, internally good looking but broken electronics San Marco 100E Sprint. I fixed the electronics (luckily just a defective cap after the rectifier) but was very sad to find that, apparently, San Marco does not use standard 58mm portafilters.
Not only are the portafilters they do use smaller, but they also have a very high rim above the lock tabs and then a shower screen that in turn reaches very far down to make up for it. It's all very strange and wrong for me...
I noticed that the group head has quite enough space to fully insert a 58mm portafilter. So I simply bought a 58mm 3 tab ( https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0B7RBN2HV ) portafilter and tried to fit it. No, of course it doesn't just work. The taps are right at the top and so the rim doesn't even come close to reaching the gasket and if i just hold it up against the gasket the shower screen reaches inside the portafilter too far.
So, I though, why not simply get a gasket that fits the groove but also extends out further and becomes bigger so that the 58mm basket will be further down and the rim of the portafilter does not need to extend to reach it. Of course that's a custom part. So I just 3d printed from TPU. But is TPU safe? A quick google showed it is so safe it's used for all the baby products that will be chewed on. To make sure I got safe TPU filament, i just bought BASF Ultrafuse TPU 85A with the expectation that it is fully made (including base) in germany and not china (and hence safer...). First print with this filament fit perfectly, the portafilter closed well, the seal held 9bar pressure without leak!
However, the shower screen still reached down into the portafilter and I also didn't like how small it was, so I wanted to fix that. During cleaning I noticed that the diffuser/water distributor just comes off completely and then the group head top is fully flat, except for the groove for the gasket. I actually had another new diffuser around for a nouva simonelli (58mm, part no. 1326037). It looked like it fit so I changed my 3d print to accommodate the large diffuser, put on an ims shower screen that I also had lying around and it just fit. Well, except for the screw that was now too long. I didn't have a proper shorter one and didn't want to trim the original so i'm waiting for a new one and using a short but flat one for now.
It works great and I am very happy with this machine. It has pre-infusion and thermosyphon valves to adjust temperature without changing boiler pressure/temperature and, most importantly, now makes great espresso on standard 58mm. I don't need a new tamper etc. Obviously this machine is perhaps not ideal for home use but I have fun with it, so whatever
( I do have two other one group machines, so no worries, it's not my only option ).Models for the adapter gasket: https://www.printables.com/model/401054 ... ter-gasket
Here a short video of the mod:
