west77 Senior Member Joined: 18 Aug 2010 Posts: 35 Location: Calgary AB Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: WEGA 2 group Airy Grinder: Carimali M1, Nuova Simonelli... Vac Pot: Cory gasketless Drip: What's drip? Roaster: Fratello ;)
Posted Fri Apr 27, 2012, 2:51am Subject: Test driving the boiler repair
I just thought that I would put out an option if anybody has a boiler that needs repair and is having a tough time finding somebody to do the repair... A radiator shop. I used to repair heavy equipment and our shop used city wide radiator in town. I brought the boiler in after having no luck with various epoxies and not really wanting to attempt a repair myself. Apparently, it was hard to find something to stick to whatever Wega used to join the main seam (there were 4 or 5 pinholes in the seam that had sealed themselves over the years, but after descaling the boiler I was worried that they would leak again.) Anyhow, the fitting is done (it sounded like it was fairly simple), the seam is done (I would love to know what material Wega used) and the machine is once again happy.
If you are in Calgary and bring your boiler in to city wide, mention my name and hear the tech curse! Just the same, considering that I could not find anybody in town who would touch it I thought that it is an option for people in need of a repair...
Is it this difficult everywhere to find somebody to repair a boiler, or is it just because of the city I am in?
Off to pull the first shot from my refurbished machine...
calblacksmith Moderator Joined: 25 Nov 2007 Posts: 5,685 Location: Riverside, Ca, U.S.A. Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: ECM Veneziano A1 Grinder: Many different commercial Vac Pot: 40s era Silex Drip: Milita, Bunn&Curtis... Roaster: Cast iron pan, gas burner
Posted Fri Apr 27, 2012, 5:41am Subject: Re: Test driving the boiler repair
A boiler is a pressure vessel and as such, if you repair it and it fails, look out for law suits. I think this is likely the reason that most places will not work on them.
I would be careful with using vendors who are not "dialed into food equipment" repair as often the materials used are not food safe, such as lead in the solder used in a radiator is not the same as the solder that is used in water/food safe use which is free of lead.
Just a thought.
In real life, my name is Wayne P.
Feed the newbs, starve the trolls and above all enjoy what you drink!
west77 Senior Member Joined: 18 Aug 2010 Posts: 35 Location: Calgary AB Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: WEGA 2 group Airy Grinder: Carimali M1, Nuova Simonelli... Vac Pot: Cory gasketless Drip: What's drip? Roaster: Fratello ;)
Posted Fri Apr 27, 2012, 10:43pm Subject: Re: Test driving the boiler repair
I appreciate the caution. I had asked them to avoid compounds with lead- in the end, I think they used silvoss (sp?) and silver solder. They are a great shop with excellent service. When I explained that I would prefer if they used silver solder or something that they would drink from they just laughed and agreed. To tell the truth, even if it would have been lead solder it would not really bother me. On the Airy, the boiler only really serves to heat the water for the group heads and the water does not come directly for the boiler aside from the very odd occasion when I might froth milk.
Also, being as less than 1/8 square millimeter of surface area would be exposed to the water in the boiler I would not really have worried too much. I used to live in an area with old lead pipes and lead soldered copper. I would have lived with the little bit that might have leached into the water from my machine if they had not been able to fix it with silver based compounds.
I agree with the reason that most places do not want to touch a pressure vessel. However, I trust an industrial radiator shop to fix a couple small pinholes. If there were major stress cracks and other problems I would scrap the machine or buy a new boiler. I suppose that liability is an issue for shops- but a radiator shop is used to repairing equipment that runs at high temperatures at the same pressures as the boiler on espresso machines.
Like you said though, everybody needs to look at their specific situation and tolerance to risk. The thought of spending well over $1000 on a new boiler did not really make me smile. A small bill from a shop that has done radiators since the 1950s for a quality repair with silver based compounds to keep my machine happy for the next decade or two was a great option. I called all over town and could not find anybody to do it. Welders did not feel comfortable because of the intricate work needed around the fitting. Espresso dealers do not repair them and I was fast running out of options.
After picking up the boiler from the radiator shop, I bought a few crush washers from fleet brake (heavy truck repair shop) to get the machine up and going. They are open until 10 or midnight... my local espresso dealer closed at 5:00 and I really felt the need to reassemble the machine last night. There are options for everything if you look.
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