I’ve already restored three Silvias in the past and had some spares left over. I also had a V2/3 boiler that I acquired for a project, thinking that it could maybe be adapted to fit my restored Gaggia OWC to replace its (unobtainable) boiler should the element fail. That was a no go, so I had an idea to buy a spares or repairs Silvia and use the spare boiler to repair that. I bid on a V2 Silvia and that went for more than I wanted to pay, then almost immediately a V3 came up, £30 starting bid but the seller would take offers. I offered £130 for it which was immediately accepted so we were in business. I’m glad everything worked out like that as the V3 has the better steam arm and a nicer looking steam knob than the V1/2. It was advertised as needing repair as it was tripping the electrics, I assumed that that was due to a failed element shorting out and my spare boiler would fix that. When it arrived I could see that it had been leaking for some time due to a failed boiler seal and as it turns out that was the problem, water was leaking from the boiler onto the solenoid or pump causing the shorting. The leak had caused some corrosion to the chassis. So all it really needed was a clean up and seals replacing. I didn’t think that I would do a restoration thread so didn’t take many photos at the beginning. Five boiler screws were corroded but came out but one near the site of the leak had a rounded off internal hex and just wouldn’t shift. I tried my usual trick of cutting a slot in the head to take a screwdriver and using an impact wrench to shift it. That didn’t work. I got it out by removing the five screws which allowed the whole boiler to pivot about the remaining screw for about 20 degrees, gripping the head of the screw with small stilsons/pipe grips while moving the boiler finally got it turning. Once the boiler was off I found a large amount of what looked like a metallic powder in the boiler, but only a little scale.

Boilers. Although the boiler that came with this machine was working, I wanted to use my spare boiler, adapted to take a replaceable element so that it can be easily replaced in future. I could also sell the old boiler to recoup some of the costs, I’ve never seen a used working Silvia boiler for sale before. The early V1 has a replaceable element. The later V1, V2 and V3 have a fused in element, later versions have a replaceable element. The V1 looks like it can be easy to adapt to take the replaceable element but although the V2/3 boiler can be adapted, it is not so easy. The problem is that if the element is drilled out and the holes enlarged, there is some richness in the casting around where the thermostats screw in that prevent the O ring flange on the element from seating. Also, the inside face of the top of the boiler is not flat and that can prevent the O rings from sealing. I had to buy a face cutting tool to mill away the richness and to get a flat face for the O ring to seal. While I was at it I also milled a flat area around the holes on the top of the boiler to give the nuts a flat surface to bear on. I’ve also opened out one of the thermostat holes on the top of the boiler and tapped it to M4 (not pictured) as I’ll fit a PT100 thermocouple here as part of the PID build.

This series nearly stopped yesterday. When I posted my last post I got a message saying that ’it had been removed because it contained something that they didn’t want to see on the forums and was awaiting release by a moderator.' I can only suppose that as it was about ‘old boilers’, the phrase was picked up and misinterpreted by the nannybots 😄. Reminds me of the time a work colleague told me that she had googled the word ‘fairies’ with her young daughter, she never made that mistake again! I forgot to mention that the old boiler is for sale on the other forum but I do want an old boiler in p/x. I am thinking of offering an exchange service and need another boiler to get it started. Group head. I gave the group head a good clean up, soak in citric acid solution and a soak in Puly Cafe for good measure. Cleaned out the passageways with a drill (by hand) in case any of that strange metallic deposit in the boiler had got in there. Remove old group seal and clean out its housing. Clean shower screen and dispersion disc, usual encrusted coffee residue.. Stripped the solenoid, quick soak in the descaler solution, check the condition of the seats and check for free movement of the plunger in its housing. The shower screen holding screw can be a potential problem. It protrudes and can cause an indent in the puck which can lead to channelling. Easy enough for me to countersink the hole in the jet breaker so a stainless countersunk head screw (about 17p if you order it with your seals) can be used. This sits flush with the screen. Press the lot together in a vice to create the indent in the shower screen, there was already an indent in the plate behind the screen. I accidentally broke the head cover when removing it. One of the screw posts broke off. I glued it back with airfix type glue, held it in place with the cover. I also pushed some epoxy putty around the post to further hold it in place. If it breaks off again I’ll remove the flaked chrome off the spare cover, spray it matt black and fit that. The modern Silvia group covers are matt black.

Norvin I released it, I couldn’t see any problem with it, and nothing from the very short banned words list I set up. Unfortunately, it doesn’t highlight the bit it believes is a problem….perhaps there is an underlying global list that freeflarum have, but I would be guessing…or a list in the antispam module I installed? The post was queued for approval automatically

Thanks for sending me a copy of the banned words list Dave. I now have a very interesting list of naughty words that I am tempted to try and slip in. OPV. My first problem with the OPV came when I swapped it over to the other boiler. It needs to be orientated a certain way to fit and get the run from the hose from the pump right. You are supposed to control where the OPV ‘parks’ by using copper washers/shims. I thought that I had ordered five with my seals order but they turned out to be much larger ¼ bsp size. I think Ferrari Espresso do them but I wasn’t going to pay for one lot of postage for a few washers. You may be able to revitalise the old washers by annealing them – heating to cherry red then quenching in water, this makes them softer. I solved the problem by shaving a little off the threaded connector that goes between the OPV and boiler on a lathe, each pass moved the ‘park’ position by about 20 degrees it took me about five goes to get it right. Once that was done I hit another problem, no amount of adjustment would get the pressure over 8 bar. At first I thought that it was due to a corroded seal face in the OPV body so I cleaned it up with a (domestic water) tap seat cutter. Still can’t get it over 8 bar. Then I looked carefully at the seal on the plunger. I found that I could blow through the seal, it had a little hole in the centre! For some reason the seal holder has a hole in the centre which was allowing water leaking through the hole in the seal past, restricting pressure. What is the hole in the seal carrier for? I couldn’t find any hard rubber sheet to make a new seal so I cut a disc from copper shim stock to go between the seal and the holder. That worked and pressure is now 9.5 bar. It really needs a new seal and I’ll replace it sometime in the future. Makes you wonder how many machines out there have the same problem.

Someone changed it for a ‘tap’ washer earlier in it’s life ?

Elcarajillo I think it’s the original. The hole was smaller when I first found it, not visible. Tap washers are thicker with a regular hole. This is only about 1.5 - 2mm thick. I’ve toyed with the idea of making one from leather if I can’t find a suitable bit of rubber. I’m sure that I’ve seen leather washers on some mains water fittings. Anyone tried that?

Norvin It’s possible that the seal has a bleed hole in it, Is the hole really tiny?

Pressure Gauge. Let’s face it, a brew pressure gauge on the front panel is not really used much (excepting the ACS Leva), but it looks good. The hardest part in fitting a gauge is to cut the hole in the panel in the right place without scratching the brushed stainless finish. Nowadays people use punches or hole drills to make the necessary hole but I haven’t got one and I’m not going to buy one just to use it once. So my method is a bit old school but still effective. First cover the front with masking tape, this is not just for marking out but also to protect the finish. Mark out the position of the gauge and centre punch a point in the centre, best to support the steel here to prevent making dents, I used a block of wood. Keep the support for the rest of the operation. Using the centre mark to hold the compass in place, mark out three circles, the outer one is the diameter of the bezel, nothing should go past this. Middle one is the diameter of the gauge body plus a millimetre or so. Inner circle is for drilling, it should be spaced about the radius of the drill from the middle circle. Lightly centre punch marks all round the middle circle, you will file up to these marks, don’t just rely on marking the masking tape, it is likely to come off. Center punch the inner circle, spaced about the diameter of the drill apart. Drill through the inner marks, I used a centre drill as it is stronger and less likely to break. Cut through from one hole to the next, I used a junior hacksaw blade with one end snapped off and electrical tape wound around the other end to form a crude handle. Once the inner material has been removed, use a half round file to file up to the middle centre punch marks, Alternatively, I used a conical grinding wheel in my polishing rig, (be careful not to overheat the metal as it may discolour.). Remove the angled connector fro the pump and replace it with a ⅛” BSP tee piece. About £3.50 from ebay. This gives an extra connection for the gauge (assuming that you bought a gauge with a ⅛” BSP fitting that is). This will be seen on future photos. Et Voila! I hope that all makes sense and is not too much detail but this is the sort of stuff that you just don’t see on restoration threads.

Rancilio Silvia V3 Restoration.

Norvin

DavecUK

It was tiny, not so much now that I’ve taken the seal out a few times and poked and prodded it. The rubber is perished and cracked on the non seal side so my best guess is that it is a hole that developed. Some of the rubber had been squeezed into the hole in the seal carrier so perhaps when it broke off it left a small hole. Still doesn’t explain why the seal carrier has a hole in it though so perhaps it should be there. It limited the pressure to about 8 bar, with the blanking shim in place it holds 9.5 bar.

DavecUK

Norvin It was tiny, not so much now that I’ve taken the seal out a few times and poked and prodded it. The rubber is perished and cracked on the non seal side so my best guess is that it is a hole that developed. Some of the rubber had been squeezed into the hole in the seal carrier so perhaps when it broke off it left a small hole. Still doesn’t explain why the seal carrier has a hole in it though so perhaps it should be there. It limited the pressure to about 8 bar, with the blanking shim in place it holds 9.5 bar.

I did wonder if it was a form of bleed hole…when under pressure from the spring it’s squeezed mostly shut. When the machine is switched into steam mode, I wondered if it allowed the steam/air to bleed out of the boiler when refilling?

The central pin hole is shut enough by the spring pressure to prevent the boiler water evaporating gradually through it, and small enough to have no effect on the control of shot pressure…at least until it wore out

Or at least that might have been their thinking?

Norvin

Pressure Gauge.

Let’s face it, a brew pressure gauge on the front panel is not really used much (excepting the ACS Leva), but it looks good.

The hardest part in fitting a gauge is to cut the hole in the panel in the right place without scratching the brushed stainless finish.

Nowadays people use punches or hole drills to make the necessary hole but I haven’t got one and I’m not going to buy one just to use it once. So my method is a bit old school but still effective.

First cover the front with masking tape, this is not just for marking out but also to protect the finish.
Mark out the position of the gauge and centre punch a point in the centre, best to support the steel here to prevent making dents, I used a block of wood. Keep the support for the rest of the operation.
Using the centre mark to hold the compass in place, mark out three circles, the outer one is the diameter of the bezel, nothing should go past this. Middle one is the diameter of the gauge body plus a millimetre or so. Inner circle is for drilling, it should be spaced about the radius of the drill from the middle circle.
Lightly centre punch marks all round the middle circle, you will file up to these marks, don’t just rely on marking the masking tape, it is likely to come off.
Center punch the inner circle, spaced about the diameter of the drill apart.
Drill through the inner marks, I used a centre drill as it is stronger and less likely to break. Cut through from one hole to the next, I used a junior hacksaw blade with one end snapped off and electrical tape wound around the other end to form a crude handle.
Once the inner material has been removed, use a half round file to file up to the middle centre punch marks, Alternatively, I used a conical grinding wheel in my polishing rig, (be careful not to overheat the metal as it may discolour.).
Remove the angled connector fro the pump and replace it with a ⅛” BSP tee piece. About £3.50 from ebay. This gives an extra connection for the gauge (assuming that you bought a gauge with a ⅛” BSP fitting that is). This will be seen on future photos.

Et Voila!

I hope that all makes sense and is not too much detail but this is the sort of stuff that you just don’t see on restoration threads.

Norvin

DavecUK

Sounds feasible, that would explain why there is a hole in the seal carrier Whatever the design, it seems to work just fine without the hole.

Frame.

The frame is made of mild steel and prone to corrosion, I think later frames are made of stainless which is much better but probably more expensive to produce.

As this machine had been leaking it was no surprise to see that there was corrosion, mainly in the drip tray and pump areas. Paint was bubbling. I removed the loose paint with a blunt screwdriver, there was moisture under the paint. Cleaned up with a drill attachment, don’t know what it’s called, (I have lots of stuff left over from the days when I used to restore old motorbikes) but they are marketed as being for rust removal, see picture. The paint on the outside of the frame that can be seen once reassembled was still good so I never touched that.

I drilled and tapped four holes in the bulkhead to mount the two SSRs for the PID.

I stood the frame on top of the boiler overnight to dry it out, I also cput the tin of paint on the boiler so it would be warm when it came for painting, the paint flows more freely when warm.

Next morning I masked up the feet and label on the base, painted the frame with a black hammerite type paint, I already had this in the garage. It can be painted on rust but has a hammered finish, not very good looking for the outside of the frame but fine inside where it won’t be seen. Once dry gave another coat. After that coat had dried I cleaned up all of the threads with a tap. One of the feet came off when removing the masking tape so I stuck it back on with double sided tape, with hindsight I should have removed the feet for the painting and reattached them after.

hornbyben

Looks like good progress @Norvin. I always enjoy these sort of threads.

Norvin

Stuff.

Now that the frame is ready, I can begin the build.

After mounting the boiler and pump etc. I tested for leaks, I am going to insulate the boiler and I didn’t want to find any leaks after the machine was fully assembled. I temporarily mounted the front gauge and rigged up the heating element and solenoid so that I could adjust the OPV again at brewing temperature. The OPV had already been adjusted but I lost that adjustment when I took it apart for the photo.

An unexpected problem was that there pool of water under the pump. It was coming from the inlet of all places, strange as that is under suction but there is a column of water in the tube at rest. I couldn’t see any holes and everything looked ok, I cut off about 10mm of the tube and reattached it - leak gone. Maybe it was due to the tube being stretched where it fits over the barb on the inlet, leaking under vibrations when the pump is operating, who knows what the problem was but it shows the value of checking everything.

Once up to temperature I started the pump with solenoid energised, adjusted OPV to 9.0 bar. No more leaks. Compared pressure readings between the on board gauge and portafilter gauge, about 1 bar difference. The portafilter gauge reads 0.5 bar at rest so that probably explains some of the difference.

Mounted SSR’s with some wiring and attached group head with some insulation under the cover.

Mounted front cover with switches and gauge, connected gauge.

I hadn’t done anything to the steam valve up to now, I found out that it squeaked when opened and had a rough action. Stripped the valve, put in a new pad seal and lubricated with Molycote 111. There are a few O rings in there and I should have ordered them with the rest of the seals. Meh, if there’s a leak I’ll just have to strip it again to replace them. Had to bend the bracket that holds the steam valve slightly to get the valve to line up with the steam knob hole. You can adjust the position of the steam valve up and down in the bracket but have to bend the bracket to get side to side adjustment.

So it’s beginning to look like a coffee machine now.

Norvin

PID.

Today’s session is mainly about the PID. I have a Gaggia Classic that had an Auber type PID in a very nice aluminium enclosure. I removed and replaced it with a Rex C100 PID, freeing up the Auber for this project. I had thought of fitting the Auber in a cutout in the front panel but have read that the PID doesn’t like heat and can go wonky when boiler is at steaming temperature, as I plan to only partially insulate the boiler I decided to mount the PID on the outside. The enclosure was too long to fit under the front panel so it had to be shortened to fit. It now fits but restricts movement of the steam arm, the arm will still ‘park’ over the drip tray and will swivel to the right for steaming so it’s all good.

I spent a long time with the wiring, working out and making the new connections. The Auber pinout connections to the SSRs are different to the Rex and that caused some confusion. Fired it up and found that the steam switch didn’t do anything, I discovered that I had connected both outlets from the steam SSR to neutral points, one quick reconnection to a switched live point and all working, no harm done. I still retained the overheat cutout as a safety measure, I made sure that the power from steam SSR goes through the overheat cutout too. Spent some time getting the temperature offset right, I used a digital thermometer with the probe clamped to the top of the boiler next to the PT100 probe as the datum. So the PID display now (hopefully ) reads the actual temperature at the top of the boiler. The PID settings were still as for the Classic so there was a large temperature overrun, the alarm was set for 137c and I saw the temp overshoot to 155c. Once I get the insulation installed and the top cover on I’ll do an autotune. All good fun but if you don’t have wiring instructions and have to work things out, it takes a lot of time, you don’t want to blow anything up. Some of the plastic shrouds on the connections over the boiler crumbled due to years of heat, replaced with spares

Pleased to see that the front gauge works without flutter. I realised that if I keep the steam knob closed, operating the hot water dispense switch pressurises the system and you can read the brew pressure on the gauge, can’t do that on a Classic. Gauge reads a steady 10 bar, so allowing about 1 bar difference between pump connection and group head the pressure is about right. No leaks from steam valve, so old O rings still holding.

On the home straight now, should finish in the next session.

Norvin

Last leg.

Insulated the boiler, used the heat insulating stuff that is used to line oven gloves and ironing boards. Cut a piece using spare boiler as a template and doubled it over. Very quick and easy job. I didn’t insulate the top of the boiler, steam pipe or OPV as I want to used the top plate as a cup warmer.

Put the covers on and ran the autotune. Steam alarm set at 127c and overshoots to 135c. I am not convinced of the need for a steam SSR. I drink flat whites and I only steam a small amount of milk once I have made the espresso. Once espresso is made I flick the steam switch and watch the temperature rise on the PID display, when it gets to 125c or so, I steam milk then turn steam switch off, let it rise too much and it practically blasts the milk out of the jug. I suppose that you need higher temperature if steaming large volumes of milk, which I never do. There’s no need to wait for the temperature to stabilise before steaming and if you did, the espresso will be cold before it does.

The aluminium PID enclosure wouldn’t stay in place. I used pads that are used for sticking numberplates to cars but they wouldn’t stay stuck for long. I had to drill the bottom of the front cover to use a screw to hold the enclosure in place, handy for attaching an earthing point too, I never liked the fact that the metal enclosure wasn’t earthed.

Gave the panels a good clean, smarten up the cable runs with cable ties and will adjust the SV temperature based on taste when I use it. I have an ACS Evo Leva as my ‘daily driver’ so only use the SBDU machines whenever we go away. So I’m thinking of making a plywood case for this to protect it when travelling.

I think this machine’s a keeper, but then again I’ve said that about quite a few other machines in the past.😄

Doram

Norvin I think this machine’s a keeper, but then again I’ve said that about quite a few other machines in the past.😄

Wow!

Amazing project, amazing skills, Great thread - thank you very much for sharing!

While reading I thought to myself - how would someone with your knowledge, ability and skill would be satisfied to end up with a Silvia, then got to the end to see this is your portable set up, lol. Hats off to you! 🏆

DavecUK

You’re like that restoration guy on YouTube…working miracles.

Lake_M

Really enjoyed that write-up @Norvin. Thanks for taking the time to do it, and a great result at the end. 👍

Norvin

Lake_M

Thanks. I did a similar thread on the restoration of the OWC on the other forum. I was disappointed at the apparent lack of interest that I never did another one, even though I have done quite a few machines since.

LMSC

Norvin Awesome work Norvin! A thread like this will give a lot of confidence to technically inclined members. 👏👍

Sticky thread !

hornbyben

I always love a good restoration thread too @Norvin. Although I think people often don’t have much to add, so don’t post, which makes it feel like no one cares. Your view count is 257 (when I’m posting this), so that’s a fair few people who have been interested.

Thanks for posting it, I’ve enjoyed it.

JahLaza

@Norvin well done for documenting this, I’ve been following the thread. It’s one thing to do this kind of thing but to share your journey and barriers overcome is very generous! I would certainly like a mobile set up such as this myself, I may need to start expanding my tool collection…

DavecUK

I’ve allowed 2 primary tags on the system for discussions now…normally you would only choose one…but as this is in:

Espresso Machines

Single Boilers

Adding the ability to make it in both primary groups, means it can be referenced in both areas.

Espresso Machines

Equipment restorations

Single Boilers

Norvin

Thanks for the kind words everybody.

I noticed on the photos that the PID enclosure wasn’t straight. Caused by the sticky pads being uneven. 15 mins sorted that out. Now testing it for a few days before packing away. If I had my way the machines would be on display in the house as Objets d’art but Mrs Norvin doesn’t agree.

Now, has anyone got an Olympia Cremina in need of restoration that they want to part with? 😊

Norvin

Well this is a bit embarrassing but I’ll tell the story anyway. On testing the machine, water poured out down the outside of the portafilter into the cup. Damn, it’s developed a leak. Off with the top and look to see where it’s coming from. Can’t see anything wrong. Made another coffee with a larger IMS basket; same problem. Off with the top again, still can’t see any leaks. Turned machine on with blind basket in portafilter to pressurise; no leak. Longstoryshort, I had been overfilling the basket, being more concerned with testing the function of the machine than taste. I had been filling basket up with coffee, levelling off, then tamping; not weighing. Locking the portafilter in the group head had compressed the coffee and the compressed coffee was stopping the basket lip from sealing. Never heard of that before. Why does this sort of thing only happen to me? I imagine that the shower screen protrudes into the basket more than on Gaggias and this sort of thing happens on the Rancilio. Lesson is to stop being lazy and weigh out the grounds. D’oh.

CafeNoir

Norvin LOL!!!, it is nice to know even geniuses have their moments!! I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading this thread to the extent I’m considering keeping an eye out for an unloved Sylvia if the price is right - had a Gaggia Classic, never really liked it sadly..

Meant to say thank you for sharing

CafeCalando

@Norvin Thank you for the restoration thread. It has been a fascinating read. I continue to be in awe of those who have the knowledge and ability to overcome the problems they encounter in a project like this. It is a real delight to see something being brought back to life, an antidote to the “throwaway” culture surrounding so many electrical appliances today. Thanks again.