A few of the issues/troubleshooting topics that I've run into so far:

The water/steam valves dripped a fair amount in the initial startups, and with the help of Ryan, I discovered I assembled the water/steam valve stems ("hutmutter") incorrectly. The platform/shelf on the valve should be sandwiched between the gasket and the gasket cup, not beneath it!

right way:


wrong way:



The original preinfusion valve used a rather weak spring. As I began testing, the valve opened around 0.5kg/cm2 and water gushed through the group. This messed up the puck and resulted in channeling and pretty fast extractions. I replaced the spring with a stronger one, and now the valve opens more slowly and around 1.0kg/cm2 - this helped a lot with the extractions. I've been trying to find spacers to preload the spring and slow the valve opening to around 1.3-1.5, but so far no luck - there seems to be very little tolerance in the preinfusion for spacers. I don't suppose anyone has a spare piston/plunger mechanism for this group lying around they want to part with?




Boiler pressure: the markings on the mano imply ideal boiler pressure range around 1.4-1.6 (is that what the markings mean?) At around 1.0 there seems to be plenty of steam pressure - but once the boiler gets to 1.2, something seems to happen inside the steam and water valves, where the steam/water released is just a trickle. The pressure in the boiler keeps building, but for whatever reason, the water/steam exit is partially blocked. Only when I switch off the element, and the pressure drops back below 1.2 will the steam/water come out at full blast again.
This behavior just doesn't feel right, but I'm not sure what's happening. Is it possible the gasket is unseating from the cup due to the boiler pressure pushing back against the valve cam? Has anyone experienced this before?


Between this odd valve behavior at around 1.2, and the preinfusion dynamics, I'm wondering if this machine's optimal pressure state is really around 1.0 and not 1.5 as the manno would imply. Thoughts?

on mine the red lines show a different band, for what it's worth...Have to say that I'm using it at 1.2-ish (never checked the manometre accuracy, just dialed in pressure by taste)

are you shure about the hutmutter in the water/steam valve? When I rebuilt mine due to leaks I used this diagram and I do not think I see similarity to your first picture but it may be mine had a slightly different part.
Faema Urania steam switch, needs some TLC

https://www.tse.at/nl/shop/index/cat/c2 ... tml#p26534

Thats the exact range i seem to be settling in on where everything makes sense for this machine - quite interesting!
Out of curiosity, what size and kind of boiler do you have?
Does anyone know how they determined the pressure bands?

Marcelnl wrote:on mine the red lines show a different band, for what it's worth...Have to say that I'm using it at 1.2-ish (never checked the manometre accuracy, just dialed in pressure by taste)

The valves/fittings in my machine are identical to Ryans Mercurio here: /levers/fae ... ml#p748722. In fact I have the same group with printed spring, and mano band (1.4-1.6) as this Mercurio as well. The Urania appears to be 4mo younger, but maybe was made in the same factory?

The valves have a solid stem with a 'shelf' sandwiched between the cup and the gasket, it looks like the newer ones are a complete unit, where the triangle/square appendage unscrews instead.

@iamoiman, have you experienced the steam/water valves blocking up at pressures >1.2?

Marcelnl wrote:are you shure about the hutmutter in the water/steam valve? When I rebuilt mine due to leaks I used this diagram and I do not think I see similarity to your first picture but it may be mine had a slightly different part.
Faema Urania steam switch, needs some TLC

https://www.tse.at/nl/shop/index/cat/c2 ... tml#p26534

I have not

interesting development! I'm using what appears to be 1.2-1.3 on the manometer, and I roast my coffee to 207-208C so fairly light. (hate overly acidic coffee)
Mine has the 5 L boiler with the old style flange (9 holes)

Thats a seriously blinged-out Urania! Is it a special edition? What is its story, and what does the front look like?

There must be some math we can do on the wobbler opening size and weight of the weight - have you found anything @paul_pratt?

In other news I disassembled the water and steam valves and rebuilt them, reapplying sealant, etc. The work a lot better now at higher pressures around 1.5, but they do still 'block up' at times. I think it has to do with a vacuum situation after a release of steam. It makes me think i shoudl give some consideration to an anti vacuum valve, which would force a replacement of the wobbler to use for the fitting.

Thanks for sharing your restoration story, amazing progress and a beautiful machine. Enjoy!