Well I have done it… jumped onto evilbay and bought myself a “real” coffee maker. A single group semi-auto Boema. The café that owned this recently changed hands and the new owners had a bigger better coffee machine so no longer needed this little beauty.

http://mediapix-australia.com/coffee/boema15b.jpg
First thing to do is pull it to bits for the mandatory inspection and clean.

http://mediapix-australia.com/coffee/boema20b.jpg
To clean you need cleaning product...
CLR is a great acid for cleaning umm... errr.. CLR (Calcium, Lime and Rust) and this was used as the first level of gunge-stripper for most of the parts. Mostly I like to use what I call "edible acid" which is two litres of cleaning vinegar (acetic acid) mixed with a container of citric acid. The beauty of using edible acid is that although tasting like sour fish and chips it shouldn’t harm you if ingested and has the additional bonus of being nice to the planet too.

http://mediapix-australia.com/coffee/boema25b.jpg
Get three containers, the first with the CLR mixed to a fairly strong solution. The second with the edible acid and the third filled with water with a cup of bi-carb soda added to it. (The bi-carb will neutralise the previous acid baths). A toothbrush, paint brush, scotch-brite and a sponge are great to clean with.

http://mediapix-australia.com/coffee/boema30b.jpg
See if you can get a volunteer from the audience to help you with the water/bi-carb wash. A 3 year old or a monkey that wants to splash when bored is a fine choice

http://mediapix-australia.com/coffee/boema35b.jpg
More bits missing, some clean ones are back

http://mediapix-australia.com/coffee/boema39b.jpg
Getting prettier...

http://mediapix-australia.com/coffee/boema40b.jpg
Ohhhh... even have reflections now!

http://mediapix-australia.com/coffee/boema41b.jpg
In our kitchen we had a microwave oven built into a hutch... this was clearly a waste of space and needed to be replaced with a real coffee machine.

http://mediapix-australia.com/coffee/boema44b.jpg
I needed to make a new side for the machine because I didn’t need or want the "cup warmer". Because the whole machine was effectively being built into an enclosure I took the opportunity of improving the design. The boiler has now been wrapped in a 1/2 a fibreglass "pink bat", well it was a yellow one donated to the cause by Dave who enjoys the spoils of a good coffee at my house)
(For readers outside of Oz "Pink Bats" are insulation material used in ceilings.)

http://mediapix-australia.com/coffee/boema45b.jpg

http://mediapix-australia.com/coffee/boema15b.jpg
First thing to do is pull it to bits for the mandatory inspection and clean.

http://mediapix-australia.com/coffee/boema20b.jpg
To clean you need cleaning product...
CLR is a great acid for cleaning umm... errr.. CLR (Calcium, Lime and Rust) and this was used as the first level of gunge-stripper for most of the parts. Mostly I like to use what I call "edible acid" which is two litres of cleaning vinegar (acetic acid) mixed with a container of citric acid. The beauty of using edible acid is that although tasting like sour fish and chips it shouldn’t harm you if ingested and has the additional bonus of being nice to the planet too.
http://mediapix-australia.com/coffee/boema25b.jpg
Get three containers, the first with the CLR mixed to a fairly strong solution. The second with the edible acid and the third filled with water with a cup of bi-carb soda added to it. (The bi-carb will neutralise the previous acid baths). A toothbrush, paint brush, scotch-brite and a sponge are great to clean with.

http://mediapix-australia.com/coffee/boema30b.jpg
See if you can get a volunteer from the audience to help you with the water/bi-carb wash. A 3 year old or a monkey that wants to splash when bored is a fine choice


http://mediapix-australia.com/coffee/boema35b.jpg
More bits missing, some clean ones are back

http://mediapix-australia.com/coffee/boema39b.jpg
Getting prettier...

http://mediapix-australia.com/coffee/boema40b.jpg
Ohhhh... even have reflections now!

http://mediapix-australia.com/coffee/boema41b.jpg
In our kitchen we had a microwave oven built into a hutch... this was clearly a waste of space and needed to be replaced with a real coffee machine.


http://mediapix-australia.com/coffee/boema44b.jpg
I needed to make a new side for the machine because I didn’t need or want the "cup warmer". Because the whole machine was effectively being built into an enclosure I took the opportunity of improving the design. The boiler has now been wrapped in a 1/2 a fibreglass "pink bat", well it was a yellow one donated to the cause by Dave who enjoys the spoils of a good coffee at my house)
(For readers outside of Oz "Pink Bats" are insulation material used in ceilings.)

http://mediapix-australia.com/coffee/boema45b.jpg




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