New Olympia Cremina owner. - Page 2

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orphanespresso
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#11: Post by orphanespresso »

you may have already figured it out but....the microswitch part of the pstat has 3 spades. it can function in either format: light on white heating or the opposite as in your case. with machine off pressure identify the 2 spades for light on with a continuity tester. Pretty simple. The switch has a little neon tube that can roll just like on overhead fluorescent when it gets old. Hope this helps.
Doug

Dev (original poster)
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#12: Post by Dev (original poster) replying to orphanespresso »

After tracing the wiring and looking at the schematic on the micro switch I came to that conclusion but I was still not 100% sure. Thanks for conformation.
Also thanks for answering the question on the switch. I actually like it this way as it has a nixie tube like charm about it.

And last I really enjoyed going though that journey of watching you and Barb document the whole process. Even though Im mechanically inclined I would have beaten myself up especially on the glass tube if I didn't know the little trick that you show in your video.
I have already rebuilt a few other machines over the many years but this one the most enjoyable so far.

Its been a great weekend and I look forward to finishing up.

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Dev (original poster)
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#13: Post by Dev (original poster) »

I removed the asbestos today and descaled and cleaned up the other brass parts. A very good metal polish that works quick is Chemical guys heavy duty meal polish. The only problem I had was removing an imbedded cooper crush gasket on the other side of the boilers steam knob attachment that required heat and a small screw driver to pound out.

For the front face and top it has fine scratches that I will probably have to steel wool or use fine sand paper before polish. The piston was buried in caked on coffee stains and now it looks like a jewel after a some clean up.
Plan is to now soak the chrome parts in Jo glow and have them polished up.

After that I will be working on the frame. I have a loose leg that needs to be tightened. Apart from that its been a good day as things are progressing well.

forbeskm
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#14: Post by forbeskm »

I'll defer to Doug, he helped me long ago when I started. I have a La Graziella from his close out sale, and rebuilt a La Cara I got for parts from the sale.

I did notice the extra prong on the pressurestat. Just never thought of it that way, my three Cremina's all work the opposite of yours :)

Post some pictures when its all complete.

Dev (original poster)
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#15: Post by Dev (original poster) »

forbeskm wrote:I'll defer to Doug, he helped me long ago when I started. I have a La Graziella from his close out sale, and rebuilt a La Cara I got for parts from the sale.

I did notice the extra prong on the pressurestat. Just never thought of it that way, my three Cremina's all work the opposite of yours :)

Post some pictures when its all complete.
Absolutely. One thing that has worked out well for me is my custom wood handles that cannonfodder made for my La Pavoni work for my Cremina so I don't have to give those up. Seeing how hard its going to be to remove Cremina handle from the lever rod I just bought a new one which to my surprise is only $20. Some of these parts are cheap where as others are high but I suppose that is to be expected. I just hope they continue to make parts for the old machine and I might pick up the rare spares just incase as a back up.

I

Dev (original poster)
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#16: Post by Dev (original poster) »

I haven't had an update for a while because I was waiting on parts.

The stainless steel bits were badly scratched by what looks like someone trying to clean it with steel wool. I had to wet sand most of it and now I plan to polish it using a light cutting compound to shine it up.

Fixed the bum leg was an 8mm wrench, rebuild the head and steam knob and I have mounted the boiler on the frame.

This is where it gets weird I traced the wiring to find out why the ready light only comes on when the boiler is upto pressure it didn't make sense because the leads were on the correct position on the micro switch so it had me scratching my head. After installing the new wiring harness I briefly tested operation and now it works as its suppose to. I also tested the pressure state by pushing down on the micro switch and the light goes out. Im sure if I traced the wires I can find out why but Im not interested in mysteries at the point because it works as it should.

Its all down hill form here and I just need to machine buff the stainless steel and reassemble everything. After that I will be turn it on and observe any leaks.

BTW the harness is very nice quality with fresh connectors that lock in tight. I also sanded down the spades to remove corrosion and applied red Dioxit.

Dev (original poster)
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#17: Post by Dev (original poster) »

Im now pulling shots and everything is starting to stabilize but I had some wired behavior.

When relieving false pressure I would hear a loud creek. Also when the element is turned off I was hearing a ticking sound. And the last sound I heard that concerns me is a bit of a arcing sound ever few cycles of the heater.

After two days the machine as settled out and there is no more creaking or ticking. I did had to increase the pressure because it dropped from 1 bar to .8 bar so I raised it to .9 bar and its seems to have stabilized. I did noticed that the shots were more tasty at .8 bar so Im thinking of dropping the pressure back down because the steaming performance was just fine.

Although the arcing is less frequent now I decided to be preemptive and change out the power switch and the micro switch on the Pstat.

I did have the body wrapped in satin white and with the brown base it looks contemporary now. Im happy that this was a better option than painting because I couldn't stand that 80s brown.

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Dev (original poster)
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#18: Post by Dev (original poster) »

The Cremina has been running stable for two weeks. In the beginning it was a little unstable as far as pstat goes because I cleared out the scale and the wand was spitting water but now everything works well.

I think its time to post some pictures.

Here is my starting point. It wasn't too bad compared to others I have seen around here, just needed to be cleaned up, polish and a rebuild.


The wiring was a mess, lots of corrosion the green wire that went to the switch only had a few strands.


The switch was burned badly. It looks like someone fixed it but it wasn't a good fix. I used the switch initially after cleaning it up but removed it because I was hearing it arc.


You can see here the evidence on the asbestos that something caught fire.


The head was in very good shape, just needed to be cleaned.


Dev (original poster)
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#19: Post by Dev (original poster) »

So basically I rebuilt, cleaned and added new components including a new wiring harness. I also had to replace the microswitch because it was arcing badly and I could see burn marks on the new connector.
I replaced it with the Cherry DX45 that is on the new Cremina but I believe the original Swiss made Miltac miroswitch is better so I was able to locate something similar from the same company.

Anyway Im sure you guys have seen several rebuilds so I will spare you all with the details and just post the finished product.






Stanford55
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#20: Post by Stanford55 »

I enjoyed reading this, thanks for sharing. I am not particularly mechanically inclined, but marvel at the innate curiosity and confidence of those who are.