Restoration of a 1964 2nd Series Faema President [Finished] - Page 14

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dominico
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#131: Post by dominico »

I should have prefaced my comment with the fact that I don't manually assist the lever on a regular basis :) merely that it was possible.

I did however test it when I was testing the spring pressure with my portafilter pressure gauge: gently leaning my weight into the lever without any muscular effort adds roughly 1 bar of pressure assist to the piston. I'll do that every once in a blue moon if my shot is flowing a bit slower than I'd like.
Your mileage may vary due your weight and height with respect to the height of the lever.

Looking forward to reading more about your experiences with this beauty as you get into pulling more shots with it.
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IamOiman (original poster)
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#132: Post by IamOiman (original poster) »

I've made about 20 shots at this point, and due to some house projects it's the primary machine for me right now. I hooked up my FloJet for the first time to test the fittings for the inlet. Make sure you can quickly turn off the pump so if there are fittings needing tightening you can do so without too much leaking. It's really simple to fill, just push down on the handle in the front and flick it back when done. Since this does not have autofill I watch the water sight glass more closely, but you are basically fine as long as the level does not go below the visible glass. I intend to keep it filled about a third up the glass and do it before I turn it on, which brings me to the other thing I noticed.

Even with a bigger boiler and smaller heating element the President is ready for use in 45-60 minutes. It reaches boiler pressure in 25-35 minutes depending on water level and through the thermosyphon system the groups heat up pretty quickly with the cycling water. They also weigh less than the Astoria/CMA group by 1 or 2kg. As a result if I telework a lot I might just turn on the machine when I get up rather than use a timer and proceed from there.

Outside of that there is not too much to say besides it is incredibly convenient 3/8" BSP was used back then and I can just connect my water pump to all my machines without hassle.


No sink shots have been pulled so far! I switched grinders to the Eureka and I use the same grind setting for the President as with my Bosco. I just adjust weight by .5g if needed.
-Ryan
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IamOiman (original poster)
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#133: Post by IamOiman (original poster) »

Now that the upstairs room the coffee corner is in got painted I moved back to the Bosco for now. When a new table I ordered arrives I'll bring the President to the main setup. Over two and a half weeks the President worked beautifully and nothing leaked outside of the initial warm up test and post tightening session. The heat patina has developed very nicely in the boiler and pipes, being a very purplish colour now.


The shop fixing my Faemina shaft got off the stuck bakelite lever handle. I still do not have a bolted down vise and what he did was take a flathead screwdriver and whack the slot with a hammer pretty hard to shock the threads loose. No charge added! Unfortunately the levers themselves are too corroded/gone in the thread connecting to the lever fork without serious repairs and I will be buying reproduction SS levers for a lower cost. Of course the originals will be kept with the machine if I ever decide to let go of it.


Lastly here is a comparison of the three bakelite handles. President on top, Zodiaco middle, and Faemina bottom. They are very slightly different in style but the portafilter handles are basically the same.

-Ryan
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IamOiman (original poster)
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#134: Post by IamOiman (original poster) »

Finally got the back lights added. I used some LED strip lights and 1" OD acrylic tubing to hold them. I put wire insulation for protection from the boiler and will plug separately from the heating circuit. I had to widen the original wiring hole very slightly to fit the 9V plug to the LED controller, which is zip tied to the tube.

Outside of getting new levers and putting the attenzione sticker on the front I consider this project to be complete and will focus on the Faemina and Faema Zodiaco now :mrgreen:



-Ryan
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IamOiman (original poster)
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#135: Post by IamOiman (original poster) »

I got two reproduction lever rods yesterday evening. They come from Vintage Espresso Machines in the Netherlands. They did a good job I thought with the machining. There is a slight difference in the base contour that screws into the lever fork and I had to request the levers to have a small filed top to fit the bakelite. With shipping it was €220 total and got here in 12 days.

The thread for the nut is different than the original thread. It is M8 1.25 instead of the original SAE 5/16 thread, so I ended up using acorn nuts with washers as a replacement to the aluminum caps. There is just enough space to fit a 13mm socket to tighten the nuts in the rod. If I ever decide to try it out I will keep the original lever rods for a thread repair attempt but they are pretty buggered and would also need rechroming. Overall I am a happy customer.

-Ryan
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#136: Post by IamOiman (original poster) »

I was planning on taking the machine upstairs to the dining room as my main driver, but I discovered an issue during a final personal safety check and will likely affect the Faema Zodiaco and Gaggia LL. :x

The wiring insulation near the contacts has melted that attaches to the safety switch on the boiler. I also did a touch check on the terminals by turning on the machine for a minute and seeing if any where very hot. I counted four before just deciding to redo it. Whether that is due to bad crimping or inadequate wiring I intend to strip it all and redo it properly. After digging around the forums and internet I am proposing the following.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0069TRKJ0/?c ... lig_dp_it I want a ratcheting crimp tool to replace my old hand crimp.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001ALK97C/?c ... _lig_dp_it 12 AWG teflon wiring. I can go to a higher gauge if deemed overkill for ~1800W.

https://www.amazon.com/Ancor-211418-Ele ... th=1&psc=1 I want to ensure the connectors I use are rated for high temp potentially humid environments. I might even throw heat shrink tubing over it, but if I am not looking at this right I would love to know a better product/method. In the end I want the machine to be electrically safe for long duration use whether if it's me or someone in the future.
-Ryan
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Bluecold
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#137: Post by Bluecold »

The element connections are not, or at least should not be 'high humidity'. It's way too hot over there, everything will be bone dry.

I'm not well versed in awg ratings. Here in Europe we have the luxury of 230v, and the resulting lower current, makes wiring thickness usually a non-issue.

As for the crimp connections, the good pliers are super expensive. I haven't done many crimps, but the ones I did were with some care, normal pliers, and a bench vise. I usually take off the insulation before crimping, and then reinstalling after crimping. Never had any issue.
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IamOiman (original poster)
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#138: Post by IamOiman (original poster) »

For 20A circuits I would use 12 AWG, which is 4 mm2 equivalent wiring and 16A circuits would use 14 AWG, which is 2.5 mm2.
-Ryan
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JohnB.
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#139: Post by JohnB. »

Why not solder the connectors on instead of crimping? If you thoroughly coat the wire strands with solder you won't have to worry about the typical crimped connector issues.
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IamOiman (original poster)
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#140: Post by IamOiman (original poster) »

I have heard arguements for soldering after crimping, just crimping, and just soldering here on HB between you and OldNuc and elsewhere. I think for my issue I did not have the proper tool and practice to do a sound crimp. If I were using solid core wiring I would be more open to soldering the connection but I am not as comfortable with soldering stranded wiring.

If it is properly done I believe just a crimp is satisfactory on my lever machines as there is nothing on the machines that vibrates like a pump/E61 machine would.
-Ryan
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