A family member of mine has a Silvia and he is very happy with it.
Announcement
Collapse
No announcement yet.
Silvia - how reliable?
Collapse
X
-
3 years on my Silvia, with two cosmetic faults only: little plastic insert on the steam knob came loose (superglue fix!) and the plastic surround on the grouphead started to peel, which was replaced under warranty.
Honestly it's probably one of the most reliable appliances in my house, and it gets used at least twice a day. I think the only potential issue for most owners is running the boiler dry, and that shouldn't happen if you operate it properly.
- Flag
Comment
-
in less than six months, our Silvia has been in the shop twice (under warranty). First time the boiler failed and had to be replaced (wasn't run dry), second time it had a leak at the steam fitting in the boiler (probably not quite re-fitted properly during the previous service). Otherwise, pretty hard to beat for the price!
- Flag
Comment
-
Bad luck James, guess these things happen, thankfully it was a warranty job.Originally posted by JamesM View Postin less than six months, our Silvia has been in the shop twice (under warranty). First time the boiler failed and had to be replaced (wasn't run dry), second time it had a leak at the steam fitting in the boiler (probably not quite re-fitted properly during the previous service). Otherwise, pretty hard to beat for the price!
- Flag
Comment
-
2 and a half years old and not missed a beat yet.
Though the steam knob is getting a bit difficult to turn which means something needs lubricating in there somewhere.
After working with a La Marzocco Strada on a daily basis, I still enjoy relaxing with a cuppa made on the Miss Silvia at home.
- Flag
Comment
-
Junior Member- Nov 12
- 1
- Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, Australia
- Espresso ristretto or long black (if I'm being social)
- Send PM
The Sivlia is a reliable machine. I'm just finally upgrading, but as my first enthusiast machine, I owned my Silvia for 5 years with absolutely no idea how to care for a coffee machine (other than regular backflushing and not letting it run dry). After 5 years, the boiler has finally failed (the gasket in the '08 model between the heating element and the broke down and started leaking, which caused some corrosion in the heating element). Even if I wasn't upgrading, replacing the boiler is really only $150 and a quick bit of plumbing (or $250 and let a mechanic do it for you).
I hadn't even replaced the group seals until this year; getting the vitrified rubber off the group was a fun exercise, I can tell you. It's cheap to care for, reliable as hell with very little interaction, and very hackable. Pretty much the ideal starter machine for a budding coffee snob.
The main place where the Silvia falls down is variables and convenience. If you don't PID-mod yours, temperature surfing is always an exercise in frustration. It takes a comparatively long time to make a coffee if you care about keeping the variables under control. You need to run water until the heating kicks in, wait for the heating cycle to complete, wait for two minutes, then brew. And of course, if you're making a milk coffee there's then more waiting for the boiler to get steam going. You can shave time off these by forward-surfing instead of reverse-surfing, or flushing 'until the bubbles stop' instead of surfing, but I found the long route was the most reliable method for getting consistently good espresso out of the Silvia.
However you work around its foibles, the fact remains that the Silvia can produce outstanding espresso, and for as low as $600 new.
- Flag
Comment

Comment