Thanks guys. Better late than never!

I'm polishing the outside of the boiler at the moment, a whole lot of elbow grease. I've bought a range of fine grit sandpapers to buff out some of the deeper scratches and what looks like surface oxidization.

I can't think of a way to tackle the top of the tank. It's really tight and awkward so can't access it in any real way.

Anyone got an idea of how to handle this? Media blasting maybe?

I'm no expert, but if I wanted to tidy that up I'd use the end of a 1cm square stick with some flour grade paper, and work it very gently in figure of 8 patterns.
I have a question: I've been fortunate in acquiring a very well restored late model MicroCimbali, with a magnesium sacrificial anode strapped to the column with stainless steel clips. I love it. When I empty it, each time there are a few little dark grey particles in the water. Does anyone know whether they are likely to be from the boiler, or from the anode?

Thanks. Yeah, I guess sandpaper and patience is my only option!

What is involved in renewing these parts? I've polished the exterior but wondering if I should wash and scrub out the insides and the screw part. My only hesitation is whether I would then need to grease up the internal thread again, and if so, do I need to use food safe lube?

Can anyone clear up the differences between the switches on the Microcimbali?

I have seen photos where both switches are the bakelite style (black stick) but on my machine one of the switches is a different style - metal with a little ball at the end. I thought it might have been a repair unique to my machine as it looks like the instruction plate has been cut to accommodate it.

Then I found this listing https://www.ebay.com/itm/La-Cimbali-Man ... SwTpZduyGT when sourcing a matching bakelite replacement.

Same setup as mine, one metal switch, one bakelite and same cut plate.

What gives?

It looks like the eBay machine has one side where the switch was replaced with a steel toggle. Yet the version 2 that I restored appeared to have switches that were metal and looked factory original.



This shows the same type of switch on each side. The group cap was the original in this second photo. I tightened down too hard and the cast aluminum cracked, so the photo above was actually later with a replacement cap when I had it up for sale.



The best reference is usually the Francesco Ceccarelli site. Here's his page:

http://www.francescoceccarelli.eu/m_lacimbali_eng.htm

Thanks. My machine has one of each type of switch. The type on the machine you posted and the type on Francesco's site. All the photos on that site show the black switch style.

I wonder when/why the switch style was changed.

Francesco probably knows. He responds to questions like this.

I'm down to the wire now with my rebuild.

I have a couple of decisions to make that are holding me back from getting this done.

Firstly, my machine has had one of the switches replaced at some stage. It's a different style to the original and from what I am guessing had some additional wiring added to accommodate it. See below:



I have read through the thread from Gary here (Rewiring a La Cimbali Microcimbali), and drawn up a diagram showing the wiring on my machine. Note my unit doesn't have the heat shut-off included. You can see the switch with the asterisk has four contact points, and it looks like those have been connected in a way that they are essentially acting as two.



I want to replace my non-OEM switch with an original switch that I have bought. The original switch only has two contact points, the non-OEM one has four. What I want to confirm is whether I can wiring in the new 'two contact' switch as follows:



As the non-OEM four contact switch was wired to essentially work as a two contact switch I am hoping the above is possible.

Second question relates to the ground. You can see in the original euro wiring that the ground is attached to the body of the machine, but does not attach to the central pin on the plug. The US plug and cable I have bought to replace it has the ground wired to the ground pin. Is it fine for the ground of the new plug to be wired to the body?

I have polished and sanded and cleaned and buffed this thing back to life and now this wiring is the last step in the process. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers