Hi Folks,

I finally started to tear down my Olympia Coffex today. And in doing so, I discovered a design flaw in my Canon EOS D60 camera. It acts like you're taking pictures even if you've removed the memory card. Doh!

I'm servicing this machine in parallel with my Conti Prestina so I can get both plated and powder coated simultaneously. See: Conti Prestina Restoration

In case it will add to the discussion, I did at least take detailed notes of the teardown using my iPhone with some questions too. Here they are:

Maximatic servicing notes

Removing the boiler cap allows the top plate to lift off. Then the wraparound outer case lifts off too.

As I'd already seen by peering under the water tank, the bracket that holds the tank is rusted but still appears serviceable. But now I can see duck tape wrapped underneath the intake valve, which suggests there's a leak.

I'm debating whether to powder coat the outer case but lean against it because it appears I can simply address the minor rust issues on the inside with Rustoleum. There's only one chip on the outside of the case. The color is pretty nice. The prior owner had it painted a metal flake emerald green at an auto body shop.

The serial number suggests this is a 1990 Coffex (it begins with a 90), not '83 as I'd been told. The frame looks like original flat black powder coat. I'll have to inspect further for rust.

Another area with issues to address is the steam wand assembly. I'll send the steam wand for new chrome plating. I've also got to service its washers and/or gaskets as it still steams but with much less power than when I first got it. That happened after I once filled the tank beyond the maximum height in the sight glass. Maybe someone reading this can tell me what might have happened.

Someone had the not so bright idea to scrub the front plate with abrasive. I want to polish that even though it will remove the already partly worn sight glass indicators. The maximum fill mark from the top measures 12mm. The bottom indicator is 6mm.

Removing the steam knob cap requires precision tools. Fortunately I had the correctly sized chopstick on hand. A little press on the side and it's off. A brass screw with washer secures the cap, which is also held in place by a squared bolt. The knob pulls right out. The next piece is a 17mm brass nut that locks down a 22mm steel nut. The front plate is also held in place by four 5mm hex bolts that must be addressed with the short end of a standalone hex key because the group is in the way.

The steam wand is held in place by a 16mm nut. It didn't want to come off. So I thought I would start by removing the front plate.

After a trip to the hardware store I had the right hex key for the group nuts. They came off easily. I had been using the machine for a year with no group gasket and no leaks. (!)

The screws on the bottom of the faceplate seemed unnecessarily long. I pushed them from the back to keep tension on the nut and turned them off by hand. Probably not original parts. The 16mm nut on the steam wand came off pretty easily but I didn't expect it would want to go clockwise for removal ("lefty loosey"). The o-ring looked fairly intact. But now I could see the nut is held onto the wand by a retaining ridge. Not too promising for getting it rechromed. Steam line easily came off top of boiler with 12mm wrench. Small washer fits boiler to pipe connection.

Notes on switch wires before removal orienting from back looking forward:
(Now that I see I've got no pictures, I'm glad you've taken some for us, and also glad for these notes)

- coffee switch: red top left, blue top right, bottom left has white lead to top left power switch and white lead from cord down left side of boiler connecting to boiler bottom as photographed. Bottom right has yellow lead from boiler and blue lead from cord going down front right of machine (still back to front -- dorsal -- view toward faceplate).

- Pilot light has green lead from cord to boiler on left and blue lead to power switch upper right and blue lead to coffee switch lower right.

- Power switch has on top left white lead to bottom left coffee switch and top right has blue lead to pilot light and bottom left has white lead to cord down on right and bottom right has blue lead from cord down the right.

Removing wires and silicone tube to pressure release port frees front panel for removal. The steam fixture comes off the faceplate by unscrewing the valve.

Pump connection looks sloppy. It's a replacement and is supposed to be held on by brass clips. It was duck taped in place and looks like fitting may have been leaky, addressed in part by duck tape. Upper lead in back is red, lower is green, both from wire to the right where leads are extended and one covered by duck tape, presumably to protect from a leak. Intake hose goes from water tank port on right (dorsal view) by silicone hose.

Water tank bracket is held on by hex nuts, 3mm. They don't turn because nuts on the other side are rusted to the tray. (Later found there were no nuts, just rust.)

Water inlet valve is attached by snap ring. Ulka pump is easily removed from brackets. Now I can apply penetrating oil to the rusted nuts, which go "ahhhh"! Further inspection shows no retaining nuts, just rust. Scrape some rust away with a picking tool and apply more penetrating oil to them and to the pump bracket nuts and let it rest. When I return I'll heat the rusted bolts from the bottom with the propane torch to try and remove the water tank bracket.

Next steps with questions

From what I can now see, I'll want to replace the boiler gasket because I can see scale near the seam. I may want to replace the wiring to eliminate the tabbed attachments to the pump. I'll replace all silicone tubing. I'll replace all gaskets and o-rings and rusted fasteners.

Not sure what to do about the worn off chrome in the steam wand. Will powder coat the frame and treat rust and refinish the water tank bracket, maybe with high temperature Rustoleum or powder coat and ask forum members to recommend what to do there. I'll polish all visible stainless steel parts.

To powder coat the frame I need to remove the serial number tag. How do I remove that without damaging it? Also if I decide to powder coat the wrap around case to resolve its starting rust issues, how do I safely remove the Olympia name plate? To polish the front plate, how do I remove the switches and pilot light? Also is there a way to remove the Coffex name plate for polishing? Finally I believe the machine us missing a bottom plate. Are these available?

It's the sighted leading the blind here. Glad I recorded this in words and properly bagged everything.

re: the D60
I think you will find a menu item that will allow or disallow capturing images if a memory card is not present.

drgary wrote:Hi Folks,

I finally started to tear down my Olympia Coffex today. And in doing so, I discovered a design flaw in my Canon EOS D60 camera. It acts like you're taking pictures even if you've removed the memory card. Doh!

That is so cliché

Randy G. wrote:re: the D60
I think you will find a menu item that will allow or disallow capturing images if a memory card is not present.

I will look for that menu item right now!

drgary wrote:Not sure what to do about the worn off chrome in the steam wand.

Do you have some photos of these areas? On the steam wand, can you polish it (if it's brass?). Either that or maybe now would be a good time to add a double wall insulation sort of setup (if it doesn't already have it I mean).

drgary wrote: Will powder coat the frame and treat rust and refinish the water tank bracket, maybe with high temperature Rustoleum or powder coat and ask forum members to recommend what to do there. I'll polish all visible stainless steel parts.

Powder coat is always good. There is also a nice mil spec paint called Duracoat that I have used. I would also consider parkerizing any metal which may come into contact with water (or any sort of Mil spec black oxide type finish). You can buy home parkerizing kits and do the parts yourself, btw.

drgary wrote: To powder coat the frame I need to remove the serial number tag. How do I remove that without damaging it? Also if I decide to powder coat the wrap around case to resolve its starting rust issues, how do I safely remove the Olympia name plate? To polish the front plate, how do I remove the switches and pilot light? Also is there a way to remove the Coffex name plate for polishing? Finally I believe the machine us missing a bottom plate. Are these available?

Do you have photos of these areas? If the name plate is riveted on, you can probably drill it and then secure it again with screws or something.

Ray

Hey Gary,

My steam wand had some chrome imperfections as well, and I had it restored to perfection by the same place I took all my other parts and pieces... OC Plating in Orange, CA. Great guys who took care of EVERYTHING on the Cremina I'm restoring now, as well as some parts on my Livietta and Caffarex... Powder coating, chrome plating and electropolishing (of the stainless parts that couldn't be plated). Everything looks great, and I'm hoping to finally get the Cremina back together this weekend (pics to come).

As far as removing the serial number plate, I gently pried up one corner, heated the plate slightly with a hair dryer, then used some dental floss to "cut" between the plate and frame. Worked perfect. Next I'll be heading to an auto parts store to get some trim adhesive tape (as recommended by Cannonfodder) to reattach the plate... actually plates - I have one for both the Cremina and Livietta.

Hi Bob,

Many thanks for this. I wonder how they deal with the nut that stays hovering on the steam wand? Did you find a way to remove the nut, or is it there to stay? I would replace it because it's starting to get rounded (by an earlier owner -- I didn't fumble finger this one).

OK, now I took some photos and stored them. I'll insert next to relevant comments. For a closer look, these photos are posted in full resolution here: https://picasaweb.google.com/drgarysee/ ... icTeardown

The machine from several views with panels removed. You'll see moderate rust issues that can be repaired as nowhere has the rust eaten all the way through the metal.

Front:

"I had been using the machine for a year with no group gasket and no leaks. (!)" (Later: On second thought, I think the gasket melted and the remains are still there in a black ring.)



Left Side:



Right Side:



Back:



"I'm debating whether to powder coat the outer case but lean against it because it appears I can simply address the minor rust issues on the inside with Rustoleum. There's only one chip on the outside of the case. The color is pretty nice. The prior owner had it painted a metal flake emerald green at an auto body shop." (Later: Ray Johns asked if the name plate is riveted on. No, it appears to be glued, yet another reason to let it be since the outer case is nicely painted, still.)







"The serial number suggests this is a 1990 Coffex (it begins with a 90), not '83 as I'd been told. The frame looks like original flat black powder coat (later: Doug says it's paint). I'll have to inspect further for rust." Bob (RAS) says with gentle heating and TLC I can remove the serial number plate for powder coating if I choose to go that route.



Another area with issues to address is the steam wand assembly. I'll send the steam wand for new chrome plating. I've also got to service its washers and/or gaskets as it still steams but with much less power than when I first got it. That happened after I once filled the tank beyond the maximum height in the sight glass. Maybe someone reading this can tell me what might have happened.



But I'm not sure it can be chromed, since the nut is held on by a flange, but Bob (RAS) says it can be done.



Someone had the not so bright idea to scrub the front plate with abrasive. I want to polish that even though it will remove the already partly worn sight glass indicators. The maximum fill mark from the top measures 12mm. The bottom indicator is 6mm.



Pump is a replacement, worked fine before dis-assembly, and I don't see evidence of leaks, even though I removed a bunch of duck tape. It will be interesting to inspect this after re-assembly.



The machine was working reasonably well before taking it apart, so I hope to rejuvenate it and look forward to seeing if shot quality will improve with lower pressure. Orphan Espresso sells a fitting with manometer for such settings, and I see an earlier picture in this thread that showed a similar device used to measure steam pressure.

An interesting note from the Olympia Express site is that they recommend releasing extra steam when done. This must be to preserve gaskets. I never knew it should be done before reading it today! (Later add: I routinely purge the steam wand after each use to clear any milk, but that's it.)

So at this point I still have some dis-assembly to do to free up the frame and water tank bracket and have these powder coated to resolve rust and create a tougher, more rust-resilient finish. I've already picked up very mild metal polish and will use that and a rag to polish the stainless steel.

There have been a few other threads about the Ulka pump as a replacement for the Fluid-O-Tech pump, specifically regarding the need for an OPV. If you experience issues with pressure, this content may be useful.

Basically, the discussion revolves around the pressure profile of Ulka vs. FoT, and how the Coffex sans OPV is designed with the FoT pump as original equipment. Good luck with the rebuild.

Gary,

I was also concerned about the captive nut on the steam wand... Not an issue. In fact, there are also parts that you don't want completely plated, such as the brew-group. For these items, a good plater will plug holes to prevent plating spots that shouldn't be.

And as far as the rusted areas, powder coating starts with either a sand or bead-blasting that should take care of all of that - it certainly did on my machine.