Quick Mill Alexia - PID Kit installation

If you have been following this Bench thread, you know that one of the unique things about the Quick Mill Alexia is that Chris' Coffee Service has requested that Quick Mill provide the machine with a precut front panel to accept a 1/32 DIN PID controller. Working with Jim Gallt of MLG Properties, LLC, a PID kit is available for $250 extra as a user-installed option. For an additional $50 fee, Chris' Coffee Service technicians will install and test the PID kit prior to shipment.

This post gives a brief overview of the PID kit installation. I will not go over the installation in great detail; the PID kit is accompanied by a 40+ page manual with many pictures and detailed instructions. The instructions are very clear and I think most* people would have no problems. If you choose to install the PID yourself, read the entire manual first to assure you understand the entire process, and then proceed with the installation. Allow about 1 to 1-1/2 hours to do the installation. This should be plenty of time to complete the installation and double check your work.

• Note: If you are not "handy", if these sort of things make you nervous, or if you do not care to become familiar with the internals of your espresso machine, Chris' installation fee of $50 seems more than reasonable for those that want the machine ready out of the box.

Following are a few pictures and my installation notes. This is not meant to be a "How-to" guide; all of the installation particulars are covered in the highly detailed manual included with the kit.

Kit Contents

The kit consists of a Watlow PID controller (model no. SD3C), a Crydom solid-state relay (SSR) and cover, pre-cut wiring with connectors installed, a custom-made thermocouple, a boiler insulation kit, a splash guard, thermal paste, and the necessary mounting hardware and zip ties.


Quick Mill Alexia, PID kit - kit contents (left), boiler insulation kit (right)


Quick Mill Alexia, PID kit - Watlow SD3C PID controller

Remove the case cover and interior "Z" panel

No special notes for this step. Eight screws and I was ready to go.

Remove the brew thermostat and install the SSR

One of the first steps is to remove the adjustable brew thermostat. I had to wrangle with the thermostat and the wiring above it a bit in order to get it out.

The bottom of the machine is pre-drilled and tapped to accept the SSR and mounting screws. Thermal paste is used between the bottom of the SSR and the case for improved heat dissipation. The SSR is then wired on the AC output side following the instructions.


Quick Mill Alexia, PID kit - adjustable brew thermostat mounting point, thermostat removed (left), SSR installed (right)

Insulate the boiler

The boiler is insulated in situ with 1/4" ceramic felt insulation. The insulation is pre-cut to fit around the upper and lower thermosyphon fittings and the OPV fitting. Installing the insulation is not terribly tricky, but I had to pull the boiler towards the back a bit in order to fit the insulation between the boiler and the front panel. In addition, a piece of aluminum flashing is added over the ceramic felt near the PID cutout location. Everything is secured to the boiler with three long zip ties. Make sure you do not get ahead of yourself and only loosely install the top zip tie, and then add the aluminum flashing before installing the other zip ties. A gentle bend of the flashing beforehand was helpful.


Quick Mill Alexia, PID kit - insulated boiler, flashing to right side of boiler

Install the PID controller

I removed two screws from the front panel to remove the PID cutout cover and started installation of the PID controller unit.

This next point is covered in the Alexia PID kit manual, but I want to add emphasis to the following: The boiler and/or OPV may impede the PID controller installation and may need to be repositioned. On my review machine, the OPV at the bottom right of the boiler (see picture above and below) was in the way of the PID controller when sliding it in the front panel cutout. The PID controller was hanging out a full 1-1/2 inches in the front of the machine and touching the OPV at the back of the controller. The boiler is suspended in the case by the upper and lower copper thermosyphon lines and can be moved around. I had to twist the boiler clockwise and pull the boiler to the left (away from the PID cutout) to get the proper clearance. The picture below shows the final relative position of the OPV and PID controller unit. I was surprised how much I had to move the boiler.


Quick Mill Alexia, PID kit - OPV and rear of PID controller (note - no need to remove the brass nut shown)

Once I had the boiler repositioned, I checked that nothing was pinched, rubbing or potentially shorted against the case or otherwise. Specifically, you want to check the heater terminal at the bottom of the boiler (see the picture below). I also found the upper thermosyphon line (on the left side of the boiler) very close to the brew lever pump microswitch. I turned the microswitch from vertical to a 45 degree angle and gained a little more clearance.

The PID controller is then wired for power and to the SSR DC input side following the instructions.


Quick Mill Alexia, PID kit - Check the heater terminals at the bottom of the boiler

Install the thermocouple

A custom made thermocouple is installed in the boiler thermowell. The thermal paste is used again for improved heat transfer. The thermocouple is then wired to the PID controller following the instructions.

Finish up and reinstall the case cover

A splash guard is installed above the PID controller unit. This is installed in case the steam/hot water valve fitting should ever leak since it is directly above the PID controller.

If you are doing this installation, I recommend taking a few moments to double check your work; look for pinch points, rub points (around the vibe pump in particular), and potential shorts as previously noted. All of the wiring is secured with zip ties as you follow the instructions, but I suggest rechecking and rerouting as needed.

Re-installing the case cover is not a lot of fun; if someone is available to assist you, get their help. Since I have had the case cover off a few times now, I have found that it is easiest to install the rear two screws first (these are the longer ones that go into the "Z" panel) but do not tighten completely; follow these with the lower side screws; install the top side screws last; completely tighten the screws as the last step.

That's the end of the installation.

All that is left is to plug it in, power it up and test your newly installed PID controller. Oh, and hopefully have some great coffee as well!

I think you just sold a whole bunch of $50 pre-installations, Jeff.

If I had not already done so, I would certainly be convinced.

As the screws kept slipping out of the hole, Jeff was overheard saying:

Re-installing the case cover is not a lot of fun; if someone is available to assist you, get their help. Since I have had the case cover off a few times now, I have found that it is easiest to install the rear two screws first (these are the longer ones that go into the "Z" panel) but do not tighten completely; follow these with the lower side screws; install the top side screws last; completely tighten the screws as the last step.

If Alexia or Anita or any other machine that has short M4 screws to be removed/replaced on a "regular" basis, these are nice replacements:



These are M4 knobs available from McMaster-Carr (P/N 62935K11, $1.33 each) and rubber washers from your local hardware store.

Marshall wrote:I think you just sold a whole bunch of $50 pre-installations, Jeff.

That was not my intent, but in retrospect, it is probably advisable. If there are any issues or problems with the installation, all responsibility is with the vendor and, of course, they have all the means to fix it in short order. $50 is a small price to pay for that peace of mind.

The kit was really not hard to install, and my 1 to 1-1/2 hour estimate is likely a bit long, but I wanted to err on the cautious side. Also, like many things in life, the first time you try to do something is usually the most difficult. To do it again would be a much shorter and easier job.

If someone was on the fence about getting the kit (and $250-300 for the upgrade is a good bit of change) and went with the stock machine, the user-install kit makes a lot more sense compared to sending the unit back to the vendor for the PID kit installation.

erics wrote:<snip>...
These are M4 knobs available from McMaster-Carr (P/N 62935K11, $1.33 each) and rubber washers from your local hardware store.

Thanks for the suggestion Eric. Yes, I see the utility of those screws now. Those are a god send for a tinkerer. The side screws are indeed very short, and, to boot, they are slotted; a Phillips or, better still, an Allen head would make it a bit easier to do it one-handed.

That said, the Alexia is a lot easier to mess around in than Silvia. However, I do wish that more prosumer machines had easily removable side panels (like most commercial machines). Going though a case removal just to tweak the brew pressure, is no fun... it makes you lazy and want to just forget about it.

I agree! I have very few gripes with the Vetrano, but one is the slotted case screws. Far too easy to have the screwdriver slip and scratch the case. Thumbscrews are common enough on computer cases; why not espresso machine shells? They're inexpensive and very convenient...

jesawdy wrote:...a Phillips or, better still, an Allen head would make it a bit easier to do it one-handed.

True, but not everyone in the US has a 3mm Allen wrench in their toolbox.

Could be supplied with the machine.

Marshall wrote:I never thought of using it that way, but Michael Teahan built the same capability into my Zaffiro, when he added an independent pump switch. As long as the levetta is up (to divert the water flow to the brewhead), I can flick off the main switch and flick on the pump switch to get the same effect. Must give it a try ....

No dice. Lifting the levetta also powers the heating element.