Re: The Undiscovered Country
Grendel, sorry I missed this thread. Maybe the cryptic title, work, etc.
Anyway Im glad to see it all back together and running. The side thermostat is for the brew temp. There should be two thermostats on the top, one for steam and the other is a resettable safety cutout.
This machine makes a very nice espresso when its running.
Enjoy,
Mark.
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The Undiscovered Country
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Re: The Undiscovered Country
Hhhhmmmm....That looks positively nummy there Grendel! Congrats on completing the ressurrection!
Java "Hurray for machines with oomph!" phile
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Re: The Undiscovered Country
Oh, it seems hotter too. Is that possible or is that just my imagination?
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Re: The Undiscovered Country
Thank you all for your sage advice and support. The Faema is resurrected and I have pulled a good shot off her tonignt. Im very happy I did the work myself as I now have a much greater respect for the machine and a better understanding of how it works and even how to clean it properly. Im also really please with the service from coffee parts. I wrote a blog entry on the final results for those who are interested: http://cafe-grendel.blogspot.com/200...urrection.html
The final shot of the night was the best and it actually the best I have pulled on the Faema because it broke down around the time I joined Coffee Snobs in August and since then I have had the opportunity to learn from so many here, so thanks again!

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Re: The Undiscovered Country
other option would be to get some food grade grease from plumbing supply place , tradelink etc. (usually cheaper than bunnings) and just lube the o-ring. gasket silicon/goo can be a PIA to remove later down the track. I must of spent 2-3 hours trying to remove the residue from various parts on my microcimbali when I pulled it apart.Originally posted by JavaB link=1163231746/0#10 date=1163256558Grendel,
You can use a "food grade" silicon adhesive (the same type which is used for aquariums) but with new gaskets you shouldnt need any - plus it takes a long time to go off.
:-[
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Re: The Undiscovered Country
Gendel....
Replacement element and gaskets etc all ordered?
When can we expect an "after" photo with that crema laden pour emerging from the PF? ;D
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Re: The Undiscovered Country
Yeah .... I knowOriginally posted by grendel link=1163231746/15#16 date=1163307548I think I owe everyone a coffee!
"Its in the mail" ;D ;D ;D
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Re: The Undiscovered Country
Ok... quick and simple explanation...Originally posted by grendel link=1163231746/0#11 date=1163286533The Family is pretty simple but Id love to get my hands on the full manual because I just love to know what everything is.
There are two thermostats one low down on the boiler (brew) and one at the top (steam)... both open and cut power to the element when at the correct temp.
When in brew position the boiler heats up until the brew thermostat opens and then it cycles on/off to maintain the brew temp.
When you switch to steam the other thermostat is placed in circuit and the temp increases until that one opens and it then cycles to maintain the steam temp.
When you hit the brew switch the vib pump starts, the three way valve (at the end of the pipe from the boiler ) opens and allows the water to flow out through the group head.... when you turn off the brew switch the pump stops, power to the three way valve is cut, the valve closes on the supply side but opens between the group assembly and the waste pipe to allow the pressure in the group to be relieved.
The steam side of it is very simple.....
Hope that helps
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Re: The Undiscovered Country
Grendel...
You have done well....
If you want something done well - do it yourself!!!
The "professional" service agents do a quick and dirty job and charge top dollar (not all - but a lot). The innards of mine (including "recently" replaced group gaskets) were a disgrace.
That element looks like it has lots of scale on it! was the boiler regularly descaled?
That ceramic is the insulation inside the element and the fact it is cracked probably means it has- or is failing.
Fibreglass is not a good material to insulate a boiler - sheds little glass bits over time...
See ...
http://coffeesnobs.com.au/YaBB.pl?num=1156047023
for a good discussion on boiler insulation (the same applies to yours as a HX ... the difference being anything which comes off the insulation has a vertical path - STRAIGHT INTO YOUR COFFEE
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Re: The Undiscovered Country
I now know a lot more about my coffee machine.
I suppose that is a good thing - but finding the gunk inside the boiler was not great! Im beginning to think that the last time it was sent of for service they did all the exterior work and not much else. Still, Ive made friends with the innards and we are getting along quite well. I thing though that Ill see if I can replace some of the screws holding it all together - a lot of rust action going on.
And here is the element.
You can see the cracked ceramic disks I mentioned - fortunately it appears as if they are part of the element and will be replaced when I install the new one.
THe brass chamber is very solid but I did notice that Sparky had installed some fibreglassinsulation around his - considering that for mine now also.

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Re: The Undiscovered Country
Thats a relief - I couldnt find one!
The Family is pretty simple but Id love to get my hands on the full manual because I just love to know what everything is.
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Re: The Undiscovered Country
Grendel,
You can use a "food grade" silicon adhesive (the same type which is used for aquariums) but with new gaskets you shouldnt need any - plus it takes a long time to go off.
You basically remove the whole group assembly from the boiler and the element is removed from that end.
Looks pretty simple.- removing the bolts might be the most difficult.
PS ignore my earlier reference to a pressurestat - the Family doesnt have one :-[
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Re: The Undiscovered Country
Gotcha - that looks right. I should have paid more attention to the diagram on coffeeparts!
I figured on replacing all the gaskets anyway during this job - I wonder if these need any kind of adhesive sealant? My first reaction would be no - not near coffee, but if anyone knows from prior experience if a gasket goo of some kind is needed Id love to know.
Still, a not-too-hard task it seems.
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