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Rancilio Z9 LE two Group Lever rebuild

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  • Rancilio Z9 LE two Group Lever rebuild

    Well I picked up the Z9 off evil bay, arrived this week from the courier and I got a chance to put it up on the work bench and pull off the panels off.
    At first glance most of the stainless panel on top are bent from having heavy items on them. It was in some ones shed for a few years.

    At some time it has had a rebuild of sorts.

    The external panels have been painted in hammer finish paint and the frame is original. Most of the wiring has been redone, and its a pretty tidy job.

    The tank end may have been replaced with a new end at some time, and the heater element looks new. The tank bolts and nuts have some corrosion, I presume that they should be stainless and not the mild steel that they are now. will change them to stainless to avoid further trouble.

    The Mercury swithes are really cool and look like they still will work fine. Unsure if the diaphram is still funtional yet.

    It has auto fill to the boiler. it is intresting that the probe for the water level is in the tank sight glass.

    The lever springs are in good condition and the tension feels about right. The bearings are well greased and turn freely.

    There is some corrosion on the lever handle shanks and these will have to be replated.

    Does any one know if the steam nob in the last photo is available?








  • #2
    Re: Rancilio Z9 LE two Group Lever rebuild

    some more photos
    photo 28 and 29 the waterlevel probe for autowater level

    Does any one have the internal wiring diagram for the water level control box?
    I presume that is pretty simple with a few relays. possible a logic circuit but doubt it.







    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Rancilio Z9 LE two Group Lever rebuild

      Well I started the machine after a good look over to ensure no electical circuits were going to short and bodged up water supply from the garden hose.

      The Autofill is not working and the group heads are leaking water like a broken dam wall.
      Due to the leaking group heads the presuure would not build up su not sur eif the diaphram on the pressure stat is any good, I did however manual tilt the mercury swithes and that work spot on.

      After it cooled down i pulled apart the water sensing circut (Gicar I  think was the name on it)and there is some damage to the tracks on the printed cct board. I will get the track repair items and repair it tonight and see how it goes. In general the whole auto sence will require the soldering to be redone and the relay contacts.
      I ordered the part to rebuild the groups last night on coffeeparts so they should get here some time through the week.

      Will post some more photos of the water sence circuit later on.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Rancilio Z9 LE two Group Lever rebuild

        Well the lever groups are out and dont look to bad.
        I have repaired the cuircut boards of the outlevel and resoldered all dry joints and I had to replace the relay.

        The frame has some minor rust and I have decided to repaint insitu.

        The part from coffee fix stillhave not arrived, blood aussie post down this way.

        Has any one soaked the group head piston bore, the cromed one in sitric acid, as I am a bit worried about doing it?

        I had a quick look in the main tank and the scale does not look to bad.

        Has anyone soked the main tank insitu. I was thinking I could add the citric acid and turn it on with a high water level to bring the temp of the brew up there by not ruining the external plating.

        Can some one eplain the function of photo 21. it appears to be some kind of flow valve?

        Ideas any one?







        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Rancilio Z9 LE two Group Lever rebuild

          Originally posted by 6F687A736C771F0 link=1276429634/3#3 date=1276935010
          Has any one soaked the group head piston bore, the cromed one in sitric acid, as I am a bit worried about doing it?
          Dont soak anything chrome plated in citric acid, it can damage the coating.Prob better to use coffee detergent , like youd use to backflush or soak portafilters

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Rancilio Z9 LE two Group Lever rebuild

            Originally posted by 494D4447494B5656220 link=1276429634/4#4 date=1276937884
            Originally posted by 6F687A736C771F0 link=1276429634/3#3 date=1276935010
            Has any one soaked the group head piston bore, the cromed one in sitric acid, as I am a bit worried about doing it?
            Dont soak anything chrome plated in citric acid, it can damage the coating.Prob better to use coffee detergent , like youd use to backflush or soak portafilters
            Hmmm, cant say I agree with that, given that a lot of back flushing products contain a high percentage of Citric acid, they work fine cleaning chrome plated portafilters as well and citric is recommended as a chrome cleaner here http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4730992_chrome-rust.html

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Rancilio Z9 LE two Group Lever rebuild

              Originally posted by 6A565F4752330 link=1276429634/5#5 date=1276939639
              Originally posted by 494D4447494B5656220 link=1276429634/4#4 date=1276937884
              Originally posted by 6F687A736C771F0 link=1276429634/3#3 date=1276935010
              Has any one soaked the group head piston bore, the cromed one in sitric acid, as I am a bit worried about doing it?
              Dont soak anything chrome plated in citric acid, it can damage the coating.Prob better to use coffee detergent , like youd use to backflush or soak portafilters
              Hmmm, cant say I agree with that, given that a lot of back flushing products contain a high percentage of Citric acid, they work fine cleaning chrome plated portafilters as well and citric is recommended as a chrome cleaner here http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4730992_chrome-rust.html  
              Thanks for that link. looks like i will soak the cooper passages of the group head and plug the two inlets to the bore with wax just aviod contactwith the chrome bore, but i feel a lot more confident now that i can clean out the inlet passages. i was real concerned with a radical oxidization of the crome coating.

              Has anyone used CLR Clear as a calcification removal agent, and if so what solution dilution did you use?
              Thanks to all for the help



              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Rancilio Z9 LE two Group Lever rebuild

                Originally posted by 5B676E7663020 link=1276429634/5#5 date=1276939639
                Hmmm, cant say I agree with that, given that a lot of back flushing products contain a high percentage of Citric acid, they work fine cleaning chrome plated portafilters as well and citric is recommended as a chrome cleaner here http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4730992_chrome-rust.htmlSmiley
                Ok, i stand corrected, was going on info from HB and orphan espresso who do alot of re-furbs ,quoted from doug at OE;

                NO CITRIC ACID ON CHROME!!!! IM yelling here!!! Caps intended!! Big regret to soak chrome in citric. Joe Glo all the way for the dark coffee or milk build. I have soaked chrome parts, whole groups generally and steam wands in Joe Glo for days with no negative results on the finish and when hot it works fast but even when cold it will remove anything and everything organic. The black gunk may be boiled out rubber bits and most of the rubber and old lube etc will clean off with lacquer thinner or the equivalent. If you need to clean scale or coffee or whatever from chrome use super fine steel wool and elbow grease, dry, no solvents, and you will not harm the finish. But no citric on chrome and no oven cleaner or caustics or industrial degreaser or Lysol toilet bowl cleaner. I have experimented with everything from concentrated lye to concentrated sulfuric acid on various cleaning jobs and there is no substitute for fine steel wool, elbow grease, mild solvents, and patience. Emphasis on patience!

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Rancilio Z9 LE two Group Lever rebuild

                  ....cant say I agree with that, given that a lot of back flushing products contain a high percentage of Citric acid
                  This one again? :

                  Backflushing powders are not acid based....

                  Backflush = sodium percarbonate and usually detergent of some type. They are used to dissolve oils hence detergent + bubbles...

                  Descalers = acid based. Usually citric, sulphonic and one or two others. They are acid so as to lift and then dissolve scale....

                  They are totally different products and are not interchangable, nor to be confused

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Rancilio Z9 LE two Group Lever rebuild

                    Originally posted by 065941575C575B5252515159555A340 link=1276429634/8#8 date=1276983682
                    ....cant say I agree with that, given that a lot of back flushing products contain a high percentage of Citric acid
                    This one again? :

                    Backflushing powders are not acid based....

                    Backflush = sodium percarbonate and usually detergent of some type. They are used to dissolve oils hence detergent + bubbles...

                    Descalers = acid based. Usually citric, sulphonic and one or two others. They are acid so as do lift and then dissolve scale....

                    They are totally different products and are not interchangable, nor to be confused
                    Morning 2mcm, your right, I had it the wrong way round, descaler is indeed acid based not backflush powder.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Rancilio Z9 LE two Group Lever rebuild

                      For my 2 cents here repeat after me "Chrome is Porous" (doesnt apply to good hard chrome which is a different process) that is whatever you are cleaning on the outside that solution will actually get into the base metal, thats why chrome plated steel appears to rust when in fact it is the base metal rusting and causing the iron oxide to come out of the chrome pores. So what that means is will the cleaning solution attacking the base metal becomes a consideration, chrome itself is fairly resistant to chemical attack.

                      This also means that if you have steel panels that are chrome plated then remember what happens to raw steel when it get wet so dry them well and quickly and even bake them in a warm oven. Even if you buff the rust off chrome plated steel it will generally show rust again unless you treat the underlying problem or have it stripped back treated and rechromed.

                      Boilers if that is what we are talking about are not chrome plated but will be a nickel or maybe tin based plating process.

                      CLR well I wouldnt consider what it will taste like :P Vinegar also cleans scale but in my coffees no thanks

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Rancilio Z9 LE two Group Lever rebuild

                        Hi pwelsh

                        Your machine will restore fine Im sure!

                        We use our Z9 LE every day - its a very reliable machine including he mercury Pstat.
                        Photo 21 looks like the valve from the boiler to the group (Part no 700366 on Coffeeparts).

                        Clean it in Citric, replace the spring and check that the washer and valve stem thing is OK to re-use and youll be fine.

                        I posted some tips and photos on HB Lever forum on how to disassemble the group. - let me know if you cant find them and Ill post here.

                        Have fun !

                        Cheers
                        Simon

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Rancilio Z9 LE two Group Lever rebuild

                          So what was the verdict re citric acid and chrome is it safe to soak the whole group in a citric solution to descale or try and plug the outlets and and fill the passages with the solution

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Rancilio Z9 LE two Group Lever rebuild

                            I used Caffeto Vanish (a similar product to citric acid) on a chrome steam wand for my San Marino rebuild and the chrome was damaged in places as a result. (Chrome was already worn from use)

                            If your not stripping down the machine I would advise against using citic acid for a boiler descale, use a proper descaler like bombora triple action, vanish, etc. It will brake down any scale where as citric acid will pull it off in sheets causing problem further down the track.

                            Good luck with the machine, looks like fun.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Rancilio Z9 LE two Group Lever rebuild

                              Hi,
                              I couldn’t source Citric acid at the local IGA and I hade to go away from Sat morning to I thought I would try real lemons. So I raid the next doors lemon tree

                              Surprisingly it worked really well on photo 21.
                              Will post a photo when I get a chance.

                              Luck I got caught up with something else.
                              No citric acid on chrome!!!!!

                              I will manual do the group head and thanks Kofefkit for the steel wool trick.

                              I think I will go get two dozen lemons form next door and the juicer and do the boiler

                              Comment

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