Rancilio Silvia - how long to pre-heat machine before first use in the morning?

[acid_rider]

Greetings all

what is the minimum optimum time the Rancilio Silvia machine (I have a V3 right now, but with a V4 element/boiler) needs to be pre-heated before making first double espresso in the mornings?

Over last 5 years of ownership I tried pre-heating it for: 15 min, 20 min, 25 min and 30 min (and a few times as much as 40-45 min) and I can not tell any difference in quality of my double espresso - i.e. 15 min pre-heating makes as good a double shot as 30 min.

I noticed that anything less that 15 min is not enough but I dont have any "scientific" proof of that !
Hence I now pre-heat for 15-20 min.

Note that I always do the temperature surf but I do not have any machine modifications (no PID, etc) on my machine.

Thoughts on pre-heating of Silvia?

Thanks!

[Yelta]

I found 15 to 20 mins to be about the mark AR.

[acid_rider]

I found 15 to 20 mins to be about the mark AR.

many thanks! Good to have a confirmation !

[sprezzatura]

I have a V.4 and let it warm up for 15, flush, purge the wand and then surf.

[acid_rider]

I have a V.4 and let it warm up for 15, flush, purge the wand and then surf.

thanks, assuming you purge the wand - do you steam milk?

I only ever make espresso, I never steam, so I never open the steam wand and I never use the steam button on my Silvia either.
Is that OK? Or do I need to periodically open the steam and use the steam button for well-being of my machine or for better espresso??

[sprezzatura]

Definitely YES! Any valve; pipe; jet; bushing, steam tip needs to be cycled and flushed.

I'm a technician and I see a lot of precipitate obstructing unused groups and steam and hot water pipes, etc.

It's good to flush the boiler anyway and introduce fresh water. I almost never make milk drinks but I still cycle the valves and switches.

Just good practice. Espresso machines need to be used to stay happy.

[acid_rider]

Definitely YES! Any valve; pipe; jet; bushing, steam tip needs to be cycled and flushed.

I'm a technician and I see a lot of precipitate obstructing unused groups and steam and hot water pipes, etc.

It's good to flush the boiler anyway and introduce fresh water. I almost never make milk drinks but I still cycle the valves and switches.

Just good practice. Espresso machines need to be used to stay happy.

thanks, so assuming I never steam - how often do I need to open the steam wand?

[sprezzatura]

How about once a week - switch steam; purge a bit; close steam valve lightly (just enough to stop steam); switch off.

[sprezzatura]

... or switch off and purge whatever's left and close valve lightly.

[acid_rider]

... or switch off and purge whatever's left and close valve lightly.

thanks, will do

[sprezzatura]

Cheers! If you ever have any Silvia functioning/maintenance questions let me know.

[sprezzatura]

P.s. Do the hot water, too.

[Christiano]

Buy a cheap timer and set it for 30 min before you wake up, leave the handle in the machine , so by the time you get to the machine it is also hot. These machines have such a small boiler on them ( just like Gaggia Classic) when you pour a shot the temperature fluctuation is huge.
PID kits on these types of machines, from my testing are also a complete waste of money.

[Dimal]

PID kits on these types of machines, from my testing are also a complete waste of money.

Rubbish!

Mal.

[koshari]

The silvia has a 300ml boiler, a shot is 30ml so you are displacing only about 10% off the boilers volume with liquid at an ambient temperature off say 20 deg C. this would (without temperature control on a standing temperature) pull the temp down at best about 10 deg , on the other hand the hysteresis and the overshoot of the standard temp switches is over 15 degrees! My PID catches a 30 sec expression and turns it around from 105 deg at about 102, and then you only get about 1 to 2 deg of overshoot.

i would be interested in what your "testing" actually consisted of?