She has arrived, safe and sound.

hshortt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMtGre7lZjQ

Videos once I get the hang of it. I'm afraid to OD on Espresso like the last time I got a new machine!

Cheers

Gran Hermano

Congrats! You getting that proud-dad feeling?

RE*AC*TOR

Wo0t!

Get thy OPV valve adjusted straight off the bat.

hshortt

haha, let her have a few days rest before I start on her insides! The manual details the steps for adjustment too, but I'd be in the same boat as the others, I'd need the meter thingy, I'll to see how things go first before I start messing with her. She's all sitting lovely in the corner just waiting to be played with.

Cheers

RE*AC*TOR

It's a great piece of machinery alright. High grade parts all over the shop.

hshortt

Here's a good shot of her naked. Be gentle.

Mr Magnolia

Best of luck with the new kit!

GRINDER*MAN

Lookin good! I have a pressure gauge - just shout if you want to borrow it

hshortt

Hey! Thanks for the offer, very much appreciated. I'll tinker with her bits once I get to grips with it. I've had too much today, enjoying each! I'll contact you if that's ok.

Thanks again,
Howard

SoldOut

GRINDER*MAN wrote: »

Lookin good! I have a pressure gauge - just shout if you want to borrow it

Where did you buy the gauge? Having trouble finding one online. I was looking at the one on happy donkey but I dont see how the spouts will come off my portafilter.

Mr Magnolia

The spout generally just screws off the portafilter.

SoldOut

Mr Magnolia wrote: »

The spout generally just screws off the portafilter.

Is that the same on them all? I tried to unscrew it with a lot of force but it didn't seem to be budging, didn't want to go too far and end up damaging it.

Mr Magnolia

Without seeing it I can't say for sure. What model machine is it from?

RE*AC*TOR

I had to get a strap wrench to get the one off Oscar originally.

On the brewtus, I wanted to replace the single spout on the second portafilter with a different style single spout, whatever resin / sealant they had on the threads it would not budge. Eventually I got it moving with a hammer. Damaged the spout but I didn't want it anyway.

Moral of the story: they can be screwed on very tight from the factory.

GRINDER*MAN

@hshortt - No problem, send me a PM at any stage if you want to borrow it.

@SoldOut - I bought a gauge on its own on ebay for about a fiver and & hacked it onto some copper pipe & joins. Its a bit rickety but it works. Borrow it if you want. You can buy fairly pro looking one's from Happy Donkey but I think they're pricey enough.

I also had to whack the spouts with a hammer, after first trying to twist it off with a vicegrips - if you had a proper vice you could probably do it w/out damage.

SoldOut

Its a Silvia I have as well. Thanks for the offer, I'll try and get the spouts off again tonight

billyblanks

RE*AC*TOR wrote: »

Wo0t!

Get thy OPV valve adjusted straight off the bat.

Hey RE*AC*TOR

I just got one of these for the office, Whats wrong with the OPV valve? only playing around with it at the moment, I would maybe guess the pressure is a little low?

Any advice appreciated.

Cheers.

RE*AC*TOR

They are generally set too high actually. Set to open at 13bar or so usually.

billyblanks

Ok....I'll reduce it first and see how it goes.

I just realised having a good machine and grinder in works is not a great idea...drinking wayyyyyyy to much coffee now.

Cheers

Craig.

Mr Magnolia

billyblanks wrote: »

I just realised having a good machine and grinder in works is not a great idea...drinking wayyyyyyy to much coffee now.

Cheers

Craig.

/jealous

the beer revolu

Hey guys,
Is the heat up time on the silva much longer that with the Gaggia Classic?

Mr Magnolia

A little longer alright, about 20min I believe. I think there may be a shortcut though.

the beer revolu

Mr Magnolia wrote: »

A little longer alright, about 20min I believe. I think there may be a shortcut though.

Thanks.

I do love the 6min heat up time of the Classic.
I think I saw the shortcut. Bit of a dose really.
Will be sticking to my Classic for now, methinks.

IsThatSo?

I have a Gaggia Evolution and, like you, will stick with it for now, but when I grow up (!!) I want a Silvia so following this thread with interest The heat up time is the only thing that is putting me off the Silvia, at the mo. Its a lot of time if you are rushing in the mornings, but as I am not I think I could handle it

hshortt

I've no issues with the heat up time, crawl out of bed, flick the switch on Ms Silvia, then the three S's by which time it's toasty and ready for temperature surfing. I am impressed with the amount of youtube videos, written reviews, demonstrations and so on for the machine. I've not done any tinkering yet, but will reduce the pressure in the OPV. I'd love to change the lights to BLUE LEDs, everything looks lovely in blue LEDs.

Cheers
Howard

IsThatSo?

hshortt wrote: »

the three S's

hshortt

Shower, Shave, Sh..

Mr Magnolia

...shampoo

alastair

Getting the spout off the Silvia portafilter is not easy. It's glued with some sort of thread sealant and feels like it'll break before it loosens. Tried a vicegrips without success, then a long thin steel bar for leverage; still no joy. Ended up having to put it in a vice before the spout would come off - without much fuss at all.

I'll be returning Grinderman's pressure gauge in the next few days (cheers! - and got that tea infusion basket from Porto Rico for you - hope it's the right size - it's the only Hues and Brews one they had) - so he might have it available for Silvia OPV tinkering.

hshortt

We could get together and group mod mine at the next meet up

IsThatSo?

hshortt wrote: »

Shower, Shave, Sh..

:pac:

Thought I was missing out on some major coffee jargon there

GRINDER*MAN

Cool! Many thanks Alastair - thats quite a journey you've saved me!

Gran Hermano

Rather than start a new thread on the Silvia, I'll bump this one to say I
just bought one. My Gaggia was getting on in age and I didn't have the
time or inclination to get it serviced so I just pulled the trigger and
bought a replacement. (I'll probably donate the old machine to my brother).

With the Behmor on the list of purchases next month it'll be
a coffee fueled summer!

Howard, how are you getting on with yours?

hshortt

I love her to bits. She's a great partner, doesn't argue, always puts out, entices me with her charms and aromas, and she sings!

Really.... if I do the temperature surfing and start the boiler, then I can hear her humming as she works on the water, listen out for that.

I do need to adjust the OPV, but hoping that next meet up we can mod it if the parts are available! (hinty hint) I guess that now there'll be two machines to mod haha. I find the power is incredible, so much that it can vibrate the cups away from each other and from the spouts on the portafilter, so I have to watch it so that I don't dispense a shot straight into the drip tray.

How do you like her?

Gran Hermano

Ms Silvia sounds delightful! Hopefully she'll arrive in time for me to have
a proper play with before I head off on a long weekend next weekend.

Doodee

Where did you buy these might I ask?

Gran Hermano

Doodee wrote: »

Where did you buy these might I ask?

I ordered mine here as I needed quick delivery and was getting other odds and ends.


H, have you picked up a naked portafilter for yours yet? I see Happydonkey have them.

hshortt

I got mine from espressocoffeeshop - http://www.espressocoffeeshop.com/ but on reflection I'd go with hasbean if I was doing it again. Nothing against espressocoffeeshop, they were timely and responsive, just more expensive!

I've no naked portafilter (yet), Gran Hermano, but one thing I noticed is that the portafilter on the good lady is wider than on my ascaso. It could be perfectly normal, or it could mean that the new model has a slighly wider portafilter than the old model, or it could mean that the ascaso was slightly narrower. But I've no calipers to measure exactly, so I've not taken the risk. You might make a comparison when you get yours

waraf

Mr Magnolia wrote: »

A little longer alright, about 20min I believe. I think there may be a shortcut though.

20 mins for a domestic coffee machine to heat up :eek::eek:

Mine takes about 2 mins

Gran Hermano

waraf wrote: »

20 mins for a domestic coffee machine to heat up :eek::eek:

Mine takes about 2 mins

Temperature stability is where it's at

I'll stick a timer on mine or do the 'run down stairs before getting dressed
and plug it in' routine.

There are also several shortcuts you can use to decrease the 20 mins to
at least half that from what I've read.

Mr Magnolia

Enjoy the new machine Gran Hermano. Let us know how you're getting on.

waraf wrote: »

20 mins for a domestic coffee machine to heat up :eek::eek:

Mine takes about 2 mins

Trust me, it's worth the wait. Like GH I flick it on before I do anything else in the morning.

waraf

Mr Magnolia wrote: »

Trust me, it's worth the wait. Like GH I flick it on before I do anything else in the morning.

I have no doubt that it produces excellent espresso and I hope it brings you many years of pleasure GH but looking at it from a purely engineering standpoint for a moment, it seems that for such an expensive machine they could have invested a bit in decreasing this time.

hshortt

Ms. Silvia is ready in about two minutes. It's not the quality/engineering. The water is hot and as far as she's concerned she's ready. The results though, would not be ideal. As she's got lots of brass bits, it's widely accepted that these need to warm up too. These bits take a little longer.

It's not a problem for me in the mornings as I've said before, on the weekends the machine is on almost all day.

Cheers

waraf

hshortt wrote: »

Ms. Silvia is ready in about two minutes. It's not the quality/engineering. The water is hot and as far as she's concerned she's ready. The results though, would not be ideal. As she's got lots of brass bits, it's widely accepted that these need to warm up too. These bits take a little longer.

It's not a problem for me in the mornings as I've said before, on the weekends the machine is on almost all day.

Cheers

Ahh that makes more sense alright. Here I was thinking that any eejit could make water heat up faster than that.

donnacha

I'd be interested in learning more about the meet ups. Invested in a silvia and the rocky in Feb. Am delighted with both but haven't dared tinkering as of yet with the insides. The first hurdle I've had to overcome is the amount of beans out there - James Gourmet Coffee and Hasbeans both have fantastic ranges and I find myself constantly ordering new types - however the results vary and I think some sitting around with a few that have been there done that would really help. If there is a Dublin meet up then would much appreciate if one of ye could pm me the details.

donnacha

I should add it response to doodee's post that I bought my rancilio from Ristretto - they are based in Co Down

hshortt

Hey Donnacha,

The meets are really a new thing we group together and buy coffee then meet up to dish it out and have a chat with some great coffee. Keep an eye on the forum -> subscribe to it so you get an email with updates. Then you can join the fun.

Cheerio
Howard

PS. It amazes me that I can buy coffee from Hasbean, have it roasted fresh, shipped and delivered to my door for less than I can get it in the city centre! It's great, I'm on the premium espresso at the moment, lovely.....

RE*AC*TOR

hshortt wrote: »

PS. It amazes me that I can buy coffee from Hasbean, have it roasted fresh, shipped and delivered to my door for less than I can get it in the city centre! It's great, I'm on the premium espresso at the moment, lovely.....

The price of whole beans in Ireland is ridiculous, especially given the relatively low overall quality.

Doodee

Sorry to dig up an old thread but just wanted to show off my new toy



It's the 2008 model that I got off a very nice chap from Galway.
It's in need of a cleaning which I'll be doing tonight but otherwise is in superb condition. Looking forward to that first shot from it.

In time (when the finances return to normal ) I'll do the PID/Preinfusion modifications to it.

babypink

very, VERY nice!

Mr Magnolia

Enjoy!