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  • Aaron
    replied
    Pulled the one way valve apart and discovered, yes, I had it around the wrong way.
    Getting very close now... still ironing out the small issues but its making coffee and mostly together.
    Heres the back with the new spray job and badge
    Attached Files
    Last edited by Aaron; 13 June 2016, 01:06 PM.

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  • Aaron
    replied
    Ok so i unsoldered the diodes, turned them around and put everything back together. It took the better part of a whole day but the reward was supposed to be the first cup of coffee from the machine.
    When i tried the switches I could hear the group solenoids fire and the pump tuned on but no water was coming from the groups..... AAAARRRGGHH!!!!
    Both groups weren't functioning but there seemed to be plenty of water leaks in other places. I finally deduced that the problem was most likely with the no return / expansion. I needed to take it apart to see if i had it orientated correctly. Problem was it was frozen and my gas torch was at home not at the shed...
    I knew bringing a bag of coffee along would jinx me.
    Attached Files

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  • Aaron
    replied
    Success!!!
    Last weekend I went down the coast to Berry for a mate's 40th Birthday and managed to talk him into spraying the panels in his spay oven.
    Unfortunately the phone died right at the critical time but I managed one photo of the event. The blue paint is from the previous job, the machine was repainted in a similar orange, maybe a little more intense and with a light flake finish. Very 70's
    Attached Files

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  • Aaron
    replied
    Its no secret that I find electrical work daunting. Its just a little bit like voodoo, i try to understand it but it just does my head in.
    So after discovering the pump circuit wasn't working i managed to put off investigating the cause for the rest of the year. I would always find something else to do. Tidy the shed, build a fish tank stand, go to the beach. over christmas with a week of rain and no more excuses I finally pulled the circuit board out and tested everything to find the cause. Turns out i had some diodes in the low voltage circuit positioned the wrong way. Unfortunately it was late at night when i finally came to this conclusion so i wasn't in a position to fire up the soldering iron and fix it. But i did drive home feeling pretty good that this project was back on the track aster the complete derailment. I also managed to book the body panels in to be sprayed at my friends hot rod shop down the south coast so that is another major hurdle out of the way. This project may actually have an end.

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  • Aaron
    replied
    Thanks for the kind words Rich.
    Today i filled the boiler and brought it up to pressure for the first time since the disassembly, There were a few leaks but nothing too serious I hope, I will nip them up once it has cooled down. I also fixed the short with the right hand group, now both groups seem to be working properly, Still not sure whats up with the pump circuit but it seems to be on the Low voltage side, so a little more investigation will hopefully uncover the problem.
    Its getting close now.... I can almost taste the first shot

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  • RichReesAU
    replied
    Aaron,
    What can I say.. you da man! This is inspirational tenacity and artistry. The coffee will taste so much better when you're looking at something like this!!
    The LSM grinder will be a complete doddle in comparison.

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  • Aaron
    replied
    heres the box I made and the new series of relays etc. still got some bugs but I'm hoping to sort them out this weekend
    Attached Files

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  • Aaron
    replied
    Problem solved. when I originally reinstalled the manual fill valve i screwed it up tight. Today, after I pulled it out and gave it a clean, I discovered that it needs to be kept sort of loose - i.e. there needs to be some play in the autofill Lever- in order for the seal to close properly. Next up is to trouble shoot the electrical. I have changed the electrical system using low voltage switches and SSR rather than switching 240V, I have a mate help me out with the design and it was working fine when it was laid on the bench but some how once it was all installed, something has gone amiss. I have a feeling it is in the low voltage circuit.

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  • Aaron
    replied
    I have given the whole leaking boiler / expansion valve some more thought and realised that the expansion Valve is not the problem. The water was leaking directly from the boiler. Not being able to get up to my shed for the past two weeks i have been thinking the problem over and over and this morning i remembered that when I came to put the pipework back together there was a bit of confusion about which pipe connected to which port in the inlet manifold. I am guessing that I have the fill pipes mixed up so the manual fill port is connected to the autofill solenoid and the autofill pipe is running straight to the boiler with no valve to hold the pressure into the boiler. Thats my hope anyway. it makes me look a bit stupid but it is at least an easy fix

    I also got the pattern for the new steam taps back from the CNC guys. it was just done in white plastic. The next job is to make a silicon mould and cast a couple up in black resin. I have also ordered some metal disks for the centres and these will need to be screen printed.
    Its probably an unnecessary expense but I've always liked the look of those original tap handles and they will add something to the look of the machine.

    I have put aside a day this weekend to hopefully get some work done on this machine. I will take some more progress pics
    Attached Files

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  • Aaron
    replied
    I was looking on the coffee parts website and came across the picture of the expansion valve and recognised it as the same one as on my machine. I will pull it out over the weekend and see if I can work out if it has a one way valve and if it does, whats wrong with it.

    One other thing I have done this week is to design some steam taps more in the style of the other La Dorios I have seen on line. I drew it up in CAD and had a pattern cnc'd and I intend to make a mould so that I can produce a few of them. then with a bit of luck i can rope someone into helping me screen print the metal inserts.
    Attached Files

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  • MorganGT
    replied
    Originally posted by Aaron View Post
    So would the circuit go tank/ mains --> Pump --> One way Valve --> expansion valve ?
    Yep. The one way valve has to go before the expansion valve, since its function is to stop expanding hot water from the HX forcing its way back down the supply line, and the expansion valve has to go on the 'hot' side of the one way valve to perform its function of venting excess pressure in the HX.

    I had a look back through the thread and saw the pic you put up of various bits of pipework ready for cleaning, and saw what looks like an T-shaped expansion valve - if it's anything like the T-shaped expansion valve used in San Marinos and Wegas, it may have a one-way valve in the inlet side of the expansion valve body (Coffee Parts | WEGA coffee machine | Doser Valve)

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  • Aaron
    replied
    So would the circuit go tank/ mains --> Pump --> One way Valve --> expansion valve ?

    On the couple of commercial machines i have disassembled there is often a cast brass manifold that incorporates the line from the pump, the line to the HX, the manual fill lever, and the feed to the autofill solenoid. If the above schematic is correct then the one way valve would most likely be part of this manifold right?
    If I cannot find one on the existing hydraulic circuit would it be recommended to place a check valve between the pump and the manifold i described above? or would it be better further up the line somewhere?
    Also if anyone can point me to a check valve on the coffee parts website that would be very helpful

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  • MorganGT
    replied
    I've had a similar issue of a Gaggia that worked perfectly under test in the workshop, but when installed on site and drawing water from a tank, I noticed the hoses into the machine heating up and the water in the tank getting noticeably warm. The solution ended up being to reverse the boiler inlet solenoid valve body - the design of the valve meant that in a plumbed situation, the mains water pressure helped hold the valve closed against the lower boiler pressure, and reversing it meant the boiler pressure helped hold it shut instead.

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  • Aaron
    replied
    Hi Rick,
    Im just thinking.. this machine was originally setup with an auto fill that has since died and been removed. All I did was remove the dead brain box and the wires, I didn't remove the solenoid valve or anything is that contributing to this problem? I think there is an expansion valve in there, I thought it was an OPV. it sits between the pump / water in manifold and the heat exchange pipe. I will take some more photos and see if i can identify it.

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  • coffee_machinist
    replied
    Hi Aaron,

    There should be a one way valve somewhere in the hydraulic circuit, normally the pump would see a one way valve first and then an expansion valve in the heat exchanger circuit. My guess would be there is one somewhere but it is leaking, if there isn't I would fit one to the pump outlet or machine inlet.

    The back flow you saw is likely from pressure created when the internal lines to the groups (heat exchangers?) started heating up, normally this would build up to 10-12 bar and then drip out of an expansion valve.

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