Hi, everyone. I recently did an unplanned restoration/overhaul of my Rancilio Silvia espresso machine and I thought maybe it would be interesting to some of you. Most of you are far more knowledgeable about this than I, but maybe my project can help someone out at some point.

I LOVE tinkering and building things. I also love coffee. So something like this was bound to happen sooner rather than later!

Background
I've had several low-end espresso machines over the years (Krups, DeLonghi, etc.). I've always had my eyes on the Silvia but it was always too expensive for my meager income - I work for a non-profit and while I love the work, I won't ever get rich from it! So, I've kept my eye out for one and about 2 years ago I spotted this one on Craigslist for a reasonable price! It had been pretty well maintained (descaled, cleaned, etc.), so I took it home and started learning how to use her.

I learned how to temperature surf quite well. I even got to where I could vary my time after preflush to vary the temp of the shot depending on my beans. I developed a pretty good rhythm and system with it all. But when some family members gave me some money for my birthday in November, I seized the opportunity to use it to give Miss Silvia an upgraded brain. The temperature surfing just felt too cumbersome.

There many PID's on the market, as most of you well know. I actually have a bit of experience in these from my days automating Hazmat handling in a factory setting. I was all set to build my own from an Arduino when I found out about the meCoffee kit.

The meCoffee isn't something I've seen a lot of in the US; it's made in Europe and has been released less than a year. Some of the key features of it are:

1. All internal installation; no altering/cutting the body of the machine
2. Bluetooth connectivity for programming and monitoring
3. Active PID - anticipates a temperature drop when you start brewing a shot and starts heating before the drop is even measured
4. Heater dimming - instead of switching the relay on and off rapidly as it approaches the target temperature, it actually "dims" the heater, applying less and less voltage to the element. This should be more stable and better reliability for the heating element.
5. Fly by wire - the power, brew, and steam buttons are connected to the controller and it in turn connects to the components. This allows things like a shot timer and more automatic operation.

When my meCoffee arrived I was so excited to get it installed. However, upon opening Miss Silvia I noticed an alarming amount of rust on her frame. I knew that there was a little bit from when I opened her up last year, but apparently it grew. At this point it was a critical issue that needed to be addressed.



Another issue was the chrome was peeling off of the group head cover. This is a purely cosmetic issue, as it is just a chromed plastic piece that covers the brass group head. However, it was a bit of an eyesore and I figured I should fix it while I fix the rust. Maybe there are a couple of other modifications I can do as well.

Now a new frame is around $90 and a new head cover is about $25. I felt it was a waste to pay that money when both parts are fine, just needing a bit of TLC.

First step is disassembly. I used my phone to take pictures of everything. I mean EVERY THING. How wires are routed. How they are connected. Which screws went where (and then I put them in baggies and labelled them). Which way the pump was sitting. Literally, everything. There's really no reason not to these days, and you know what they say about an ounce of prevention...

Here's the boiler and group head after removal from the frame:




Group Head Cover Restoration
I started work on the group head cover. It's plastic with a chrome covering, most of which was peeling off. I was able to get a substantial amount of the chrome off by just peeling it with a fingernail and tweezers. I wasn't able to get it all off, though, so I had to figure out a different way.

After a bit of research, I found out that bleach will remove chrome from plastic. I figured it would take a day or two, but less work than me trying to scrape it off. WRONG! It took a total of about 2 weeks! I changed the bleach every few days, and moved the part around in it to keep the metal mounts out of the bleach but keeping the chrome I wanted removed in the bleach.

After the first night, it looked promising:


But then it started taking a while. This is after 4 nights:


Progress was slow, but finally getting finished at almost 2 weeks:


Eventually, the bleach removed most of it and I finished it off with some steel wool - this also roughed up the surface a bit to prepare for the primer and paint.







I used Rust Oleum Plastic Primer on the group head cover. Using a "high-tech recycle bin paint booth", I made a few light coats, and went over it lightly with some 0000 steel wool 24 hours later to remove any imperfections.


Looked pretty good! In my next post I'll focus on prepping the frame.

great write up and photos - looking forward to seeing the full project

Thanks dino. I'm writing up the next part now. I previously posted my log on a tech forum but I can't just copy and paste...for one thing none of my images transfer due to HB only wanting locally hosted images. Also I explained a lot more about espresso and machine basics to that crowd, which I would never do here.

The frame was a bit more complicated than the group head. The rust was pretty bad. After some examination, I discovered the problem: the factory spot-welded the two parts (horizontal base and vertical mount) together and THEN powdercoated the whole assembly. Of course the powder did not get in between the two parts but the moisture did!

I used an angle grinder and a dremel to grind down and cut the welds so I could separate the two parts. After that I used a wire brush wheel to get off most of the rust, and the dremel with a sanding drum to finish it off.

After cutting the welds; yikes the rust is bad!


The upper and lower mating surfaces. The lower part in the front is where the drip tray sits.


Wire brush finished, working with the grinding stone on the dremel.


I also (wet) sanded the powder coating on the frame with 400 grit sandpaper to prep the surface. I used Rust Oleum Primer for Clean Metals after careful consideration. I was concerned because the surface was still pitted and there was a small amount of rust in the pits. I called the Rust Oleum help line and they told me that the Clean Metals Primer had the proper ingredients for stopping a small amount of rust (like what I had), while the Rusted Metals Primer had rust converter and should not be used on a surface with any amount of clean metal. So mostly clean metal with light to moderate rust -> Clean Metal Primer.

Here's a shot of the sanded powdercoated surface. Note that I plugged any threaded holes with twisted paper towel to avoid getting paint on the threads.


With the primer, I did a ton of light coats. Not exactly sure how many, but a lot. Eventually it was covered nice and even, though there did appear some "flocking" in a few areas. Not sure what that was, but it was taken care of when I went over the surface with the 0000 steel wool, which also was able to knock off any bubbles, dust, etc.

So now all the parts were primed and prepped, time for the paint. The stock frame was semi-gloss black powder coat, which is fine, but I wanted something a tiny bit more attractive. So I used Rust Oleum metallic black. Basically black with a little bit of tiny glitter in it. I gave each part (group head cover, frame bottom, frame upper) a light first coat, followed by a thicker but even second coat, followed by a third coat. It went on well, and I was quite happy with the finish. Not professional by any means, but very few imperfections and the metallic was a nice change from the factory coating. Plus, between the two parts of the frame was now protected, which is important for the longevity of the machine.






I also wanted to improve the noise of the machine. Occasionally there was some rattling from some of the parts, particularly the drip tray and the drip tray cover. I've used Plasti-Dip in the past to coat tool handles and pegboard parts in rubber and I've heard it's paintable. So I decided to add an extra layer of protection between the two frame parts and under all the areas where the parts connect.

First I masked off the areas I wanted to coat, just using normal masking tape. Again, I did need to make sure I didn't get it down in any screw holes, so I twisted some paper towel and stuck it in the holes.



Then I just painted on the Plasti-dip with a disposable brush; I did two coats about 30 minutes apart and let it dry overnight.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with how the coating came out. It feels just like any rubberized coating you might have on a computer mouse, etc.






And here's a close-up shot of the paint again. By no means a professional job, but I think it looks pretty good and I like the little sparkles!




Next up will be boiler insulation!

I'll post the next installment today. Hope everyone is having a fantastic Friday!

Onward! Like I mentioned before, I went ahead and insulated the boiler. I like leaving my machine heated for a while each morning and I wanted to conserve a bit power; I also wanted to lengthen the life of the internal components and the PID. I shopped around and had a few options, including buying the precut insulation from PIDSilvia. Their pre-cut kits look really nice, but I decided to just buy a sheet of my own insulation, for around $13 shipped, from Amazon. It's important that you use silicone insulation (aka silicone foam sheet), as it withstands high temperatures but isn't hazardous like some other types of insulation. I selected 1/8" sheet so I could layer as I wanted but not have too heavy of an insulation that it might interfere with the PID functionality.

My insulation from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00OL ... UTF8&psc=1


1/8" thickness, I think it was juuuust right


Not having the insulation precut was no big deal. I just measured, then cut, then test fitted, then cut out any needed holes. I used standard zip ties to secure the insulation. I insulated around the group head, top of the group head, around the boiler, top of the boiler, the steam tube, and the steam valve. All in all it took me around 2 hours. If the pieces were pre-cut, it might have taken half that, but I'm happy with my decision. I will say that I performed most of the installation with the boiler and group head assembly removed from the frame. It would have made it a little harder to measure and cut the holes if it was in the frame, and especially if the front cover was still on.

One step at a time, cutting holes for each protruding part


My work area...the wife was "encouraging" me to get this done so she could have her countertop back!


I think the insulation fit pretty well


Once everything was cut, I found it was easier to then mount the boiler/group head back on the frame so that the frame held everything upright and steady while I was busy laying/holding/securing the insulation.

Mounted and ready for the insulation


Here's the end result




After I finished the installation, I put all the stock wiring back into place. I wanted to test and make sure everything worked before I added in the complexity of the PID. I hooked up the switches without the front panel so that I could test and troubleshoot if needed. Thankfully, everything worked perfectly the first try! Also thankfully, I didn't forget to refill the boiler before turning the machine back on; the boiler needs water in it or the heater will burn out. Caution!! If you ever do this with exposed live wires please be extra careful. Bonus danger for having water in the mix.





One more shot of my pretty painted frame...


Next, we finally get to the PID installation!

MeCoffee Overview and Installation

I mentioned the meCoffee PID earlier. I'm really impressed with its functionality, integration, and value. meCoffee seem to be a pretty small outfit in the Netherlands, but Jan was super responsive to my emails with bazillions of questions. Once I finally did order, they shipped it quickly. It arrived in a padded tyvek bag via first-class mail from Europe. Included were the meCoffee unit, a temperature sensor with attached ribbon cable, some small installation parts, and all the different wires needed for installation into Miss Silvia.

(the watermark is my username on another forum)



Here's the bare board. Not terribly complicated, and it runs on the ATMega32 proc.




Bluetooth module.


It's currently not BT4 compatible so you can't use it with iOS devices. meCoffee tells me that the next hardware revision will have iOS compatibility. I was disappointed at first, but it actually works fine for me. I have a very cheap Android tablet that we pretty much only use when we go on long trips, for movies for the kids. I literally never used it at home. So now I just use it for my machine, which is fine since there's no overlap between my espresso machine usage at home and our movie usage on long trips. Also, it's not at all required once you have everything set up. The light on the front still tells you when the machine is ready and so really you only need the tablet (or a BT-capable computer) to change settings or watch the pretty graphs.

Here are the power output components (look like SSR's, but may be something else)


Other components, ribbon cable connector for the temp probe, and the bluetooth antenna






Installation

You'll notice that the meCoffee doesn't come with any printed instructions. That's because their instructions are located here, along with a youtube video. Both are useful. When you read through the installation instructions, you start to understand how well thought out they are.

Each step of the instructions tells you exactly what color wire to connect where, and (usually) what to do with the wires that you had to remove*. After each step, there is a "test" or "definition of success". Confirming each step is crucial, as each one builds on each other. Knowing where you went wrong is very helpful for getting their support.

And they are very supportive. I had several questions during the installation process, and many times they answered within minutes as long as it was during business hours in Europe. Most of my questions were not their fault, but the fault of my absolutely pathetic reading comprehension. Thankfully, they are very patient even when the issue was the dreaded "user error".

Since I already had the front cover off, I went ahead and did the installation without reinstalling the switches and front cover. This did make everything a little easier, as each switch was much more accessible (the steam switch, in particular, is hard to reach when everything is installed). After I was finished and confident everything was working properly, I simply unplugged the wires from each switch, installed the switch in the cover, and then reconnected the wires for that switch, starting at the bottom and working up. As a backup, I also took pictures of how each switch was connected so I had a failsafe in case I got confused or forgot.

It is important to always, always disconnect the power when dealing with any of the wires. Due to the fact that the front cover was not on and the switches and wires were hanging freely, I had to be extremely careful when testing each step with the power connected. After testing each step, I immediately disconnected power. And checked before I touched the wires. This is very, very important.


Front cover off, ready for starting the installation. Don't forget to disconnect power.


Installation mostly complete. Here are the connections to the meCoffee.


And the wiring without the cover.


All of the connections were secure and well-protected with plastic boots over the spade connectors. The only one I felt remotely concerned about was this one, but in hindsight I don't think it's much of a problem.


Testing the main functions before I reinstall the front cover


Here's a shot of everything in place with the front cover on. Note how difficult it might be to do the installation with the cover like this.


*there were two instances where I was a little confused what I should do with the wires I disconnected, but thankfully have an electrical engineering background helped. I emailed them and asked for clarification, and thankfully I guessed correctly.

I'll talk about my lighting installation in the next post.

looking at all those wires you would need the electrical engineering background - keep the prjoect pics and report coming

I knew I had seen this before on the local craigslist. LOL

Why are you selling it after all the work? The thrill of the challenge is over?

dino wrote:looking at all those wires you would need the electrical engineering background - keep the prjoect pics and report coming

Thanks. I was honestly beginning to wonder if anyone cared. Seems like this kind of thing is pretty elementary for this crowd...I wish I had some gorgeous vintage machine that I was restoring like some of these folks do.

I'll write up the last post and get it on here sometime this week.

kellzey wrote:I knew I had seen this before on the local craigslist. LOL

Why are you selling it after all the work? The thrill of the challenge is over?

LOL that's absolutely hilarious. I see I'm not the only one plying C.FL espresso machine classifieds!

Did you see the "Espobar semi auto coffee machine" on there last week? A really nice lady was not enjoying the experience of her Expobar Office Lever, so I took it off her hands. Giving up Silvia, even with the mods I've done, seemed like a worthy sacrifice for a HX machine. However, as I've been trying to learn how to finesse the water dance, honestly it seems like it's a bit of a step backward from my modded Silvia. I know that the cooling flush is not nearly as huge a temperature swing as surfing a Silvia, but it just feels like deja vu and why I installed a PID in the first place.

So now I'm thinking about selling the Expobar and sticking with Silvia. First world problems I guess.