Hi,

I'm new to the forum and I just acquired an old La Cimabli Junior/D for only 150$. According to the previous owner, the machine is in fully working condition, but I still intent to restore it and making some upgrades, even if the machine is in much better condition than I expected.

Since it is my first restoration project, I will probably need some help . Of course I will change all the gaskets/seals, replace all the wires and clean up everything with citric acid, but I'm wondering what else I should take a look at.

I will post pictures of my restoration project over the next few months and I hope it will help others in the future. Here's some pictures I took a couple of minutes ago.



Thanks.

Nice! I have this same machine. Mine took in water, heated up, and would make steam and I think the hot water tap worked but it didn't put water out the grouphead. I didn't have time to tinker so i set it in the garage a few years ago, I should dig it out.

Gosh, that machine looks like an "after" picture inside.

I'm buying a used Flojet tomorrow, so I will be able to plug it and test it. I'm giving you news as soon as it is done.

I was wondering a couple of things right now. First of all, I was wondering if most of La Cimbali's parts were compatible with the Junior. For example, can I use the double pressure gage or the boiler gasket of the M20 on the Junior?

Second, I've searched for a La Cimbali dealer in Montréal, but I didn't found one. So, I was looking for suggestion for a place to get parts for the Junior (needs to ship to Canada). Is http://www.cafeparts.com good ?

Thanks

Hello, i have the same machine. I havent put any time into getting it working but i did dig it up the other day, maybe ill get into it.

I'm in the middle of rebuilding a Junior S1. La Cimbali Junior, first one so will probably need some help The frame is finally painted and I'm getting ready to start reassembly.

cafeparts seems to have everything needed for Junior. From the home page go to Categories, then to Cimbali. There are several sub categories for 'M21-Junior'. What's nice is that each has an exploded parts diagram with parts list and prices and clicking on the part in the list adds it to your cart. The diagram makes it easy to find something if you don't know the name and also comes in handy as a reassembly guide.

Hi,

I've connected the machine to the FloJet and discovered that the water inlet valve was broken. It looks like water freezing damage to me (plastic was all cracked up), but the rest of the machine does not show any other sign of water freezing damage. I was wondering if other kind of damages should be expected in the case the machine actually froze (nothing else seems to be cracked up).

That said, I've cleaned the grouphead and ordered a new water inlet valve, gaskets and a shower in screen in order to test the machine. I'm keeping you in touch as soon as the machine is fully tested.

Also, I'd eventually like to add a dual pressure gauge, but I can't find how to connect it to get the brew pressure. Anyone could help with that ?

Thanks.

Hello:

M.White wrote: ... ordered a new water inlet valve ...

Throw it out the window. 8-)
It's just a glorified* standard issue washing machine inlet valve.



See here: http://www.repairclinic.com/PartDetail/ ... 6H/1268123

I got tired of the hassle these things gave me, so I replaced it with a sturdy and highly reliable VE161 Parker valve with a KT09 solenoid.



Haven't had any issues with it, works just great.

Cheers,

CIV

* Inexpensive enough but you'll pay 5X more because it goes inside your espresso machine.

I knew it was a water appliance valve so I ordered it from a water appliance parts online store. I paid something like 25$, shipping included. Way cheaper than the Parker (I wasn't even sure if it was compatible with my machine). But I'll keep that in mind just in case the valve I bought does not work properly.

Thanks