heart and lung transplant on a Butterfly.

[dgood]

Parts arrived last night so I jumped right in and have given my la Scala Butterfly a new heart (pump) and lungs (OPV).

All of a sudden it can sustain 10 bar without the pump quitting (amazing what a working OPV does for the health of a pump!) which means I can finally grind/tamp as required to get my 30 second pour.

I also gave it a detox (chemical back flush) and I suspect it was the first time it has had one of those in a very long time.

Result today is some very nice coffee.

I still have a way to go ... I've got to overhaul the group and get much better at my techniques (and I'm starting to pine for a good grinder now)... But so far it's just been up and up and up.

New pump


New OPV


Pressure set

[Gemptron]

I bought a Butterfly about a year ago now. It was in really bad shape and I ended up stripping the machine back all the way. I put the boiler and all the tube work inside a bucket of citric acid solution. There was a tonne of scale in the boiler. I sandblasted and powder coated the frame, and overhauled the group head as well. If you get stuck anywhere whilst working on it, give us a yell and I'll help out if I can.

If it doesn't have ball and socket joints on the steam and hot water it's about 10 years old. If you still have the old pump there's a manufacture date on it that will help figure out it's age.

Have fun working on it. I also read the descale post. Good laugh.

[pyrmontboy200]

Hi Gemptron,

Where did you get it sandblasted/powder coated ? Looking for somewhere that will do my Rancilio frame in Sydney....

[Gemptron]

Hey pyrmontboy,

I have a sand blaster at work, so I used that. The powder coating place is literally around the corner from my work. I work in Kings Park. I'm guessing you live in Pyrmont?

[pyrmontboy200]

I did when I signed up, but now I'm over the bridge in St Leonards.

[Gemptron]

Ah ok cool,

I reckon you could find somewhere in your region, but if you get stuck I'd be able to help out.

[dlqkdnf89]

heya all. was thinking of doing the same thing for my silvia. how much would it all cost? sandblasting + powder coating? and this prevents rust formation indefinitely?

Paul

[dgood]

Paul. The powdercoating should hold off the rust for a good long time .. Indefinitely might be pushing it though. It's a tough finish as well and should be harder to damage than paint. To get better than that you'd have to hot dip galvanize the frame.

[dgood]

Gemptron, did you have to get any spare parts from the importer for yours? I want to get a ball joint steam wand onto mine but the salesman I spoke to just couldn't grasp the "upgrade" concept. He kept saying "it won't fit" but couldn't explain exactly which part wouldn't fit ... I even offered to buy a complete valve/wand assembly so that "it would fit" but that was too hard for him as well and he just said they'd never sold that part before and wasn't sure he could get one ... I'm guessing there's probably a dozen options that would bolt straight on from a number of other machines ... They are mostly using industry standard connectors.

[Gemptron]

@ Paul. I'm not sure of sand blasting cost as I did mine at work. With the powder coating, it varies depending on how urgent it is. The butterfly cost $50 to get done, I had to pay a set up fee. It was also a cash job as my work gets stuff done at the same place, so it might cost more still. If you're happy to wait until their doing black for someone else, and add yours in, it should cost less.

@dgood. I had to speak with a guy at coffee parts on Sydney who put together some pieces to retro fit a ball joint. I think the entire ball joint assembly including the valve and handle off of a giotto would fit in place. If you speak to someone at Espresso Company Australia they should be able to help out. Just be sure to measure the hole for the la scala steam valve and see if they can tell you the size of the giotto valve thread to make sure it will fit.I'm pretty sure it should fit.

[Dimal]

For my BZ-35 (Bezzera), it cost me only $50 to have the frame and all panels both sandblasted and then powder-coated, here in Warwick. The guy even invited me to learn how to do it for myself when I mentioned a 500g bag of freshly roasted coffee was coming his way...

Mal.

[pyrmontboy200]

My rust damage is only localised, was tossing up either strip and powder coat the whole thing, or apply Black epoxy paste putty to the affected area (PC products is one I've seen), sand back then maybe paint with some black food safe polyurethane paint, if such a thing exists. Don't really want to paint with enamel paint given it is going to be in contact with water and hence spread all over the kitchen. I know a lot of ppl don't give a rats, but with a young family I'm pretty concerned about how food-safe some of the solutions I see on these forums are, e.g POR 15.
Fifty bucks sounds really good for your powdercoat Mal, and thanks for your reply, but I'm very conscious that you and Gemptron probably got mate's rates. I'm a pencil pusher by trade and will be coming in to one of these powder shops off the street. Wondering what the full freight charge is to get something blasted and powder coated, if anyone knows feel free to chime in.

[Dimal]

Wasn't really mate's rates as such....

Just got talking to the chap (never met him before) about my passion for great coffee and how the Bezz was going to help me get there. I think he caught some of the passion vibes and offered me a rate that he thought would help me out. He now appreciates great coffee too and after several years, we are definitely mates and I'd like to think I help him out as much as he helped me out back then...

Gotta pass on the passion, you never know where it might lead but it's usually a good place...

Mal.