Long time lurker, first time poster. I have a Rancillio Silvia and Rancillio Rocky that I bought back in the early 2000's. I want to give them both a in depth/overhaul maintenance and wanted to see if anyone could recommend a good maintenance to perform. Since I have owned them both the majority of the maintenance has been quarterly. I usually perform:
*Only use Brita filtered water *Use a nylon brush to scrub out the group/portafilter gasket area after each use *Empty and rinse out the portafilter after each use *Descaler run the through the system (Urnex Dezcal) *Backflush (Urnex Cafiza)
Based on what I have read thus far I plan on replacing the following.
*Replace the group/portafilter gasket *Replace the steam wand seals (I get a very minor leak sometimes) *Fix the steam knob so it closes fully and doesn't allow a few drops here and there to come out
I could easily enough take it into a shop here in Seattle but I am one of those hands on type of people and wouldn't mind learning more about my machines while I am at it. Once I have all this done I will probably go down the route of putting a PID on this unit. Can anyone recommend any additional things that most likely need to be inspected and replaced as well as any really nice mods?
I hope this is not the first group gasket replacement in that amount of time!
If you have not done so, a replacement brew thermostat is in order. They often do not last this long.
Also get the four O-rings for the steam valve and wand, and get the sealing gasket for the steam valve (parts list calls it the cock gasket). Disassemble, clean and reassemble the valve completely.
A packet of Dow 111 for the steam valve O-rings would sloe be called for.
You will find it a bit of a challenge to get he old one out. It will be rock hard. if you deive a drywall screw into it in one are a few times it should break up one area enough to get a small chisel in to pry.
Once every 18 months to two years should be OK for the group gasket. When you put the new one in you will be amazed at how spongy it feels when you lock the PF in.
The adjustable OPV is only useful if you have a pressure gauge, but once set you don't need to readjust it. There is a method to adjust the old-style though, buy adding washers. I believe i read that VW beetle (old style) copper washes are the correct size.
New, two more things - first, that heating element has a lot of time on it. It may be worth an inspection. But where do we draw lines?
I started with Rocky and Silvia (if you didn't already learn that from my website), and now have, at street value, about $3500 worth in my machine+grinder combo. Maybe it's time for you to move up?
tasseloff Senior Member Joined: 18 Jan 2009 Posts: 229 Location: Sherbrooke, Canada Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Sat Sep 15, 2012, 9:16am Subject: Re: Rancillio Silvia and Rocky Maintenance
Concerning the steam valve, I'm also just about to rebuilt mine. I received the part last week, and will borrow some tools this week from a friend to take it appart and rebuilt it. I ordered a kit with the seals,gasket from stefano's espresso care. It came with the DOW111 lubricant, which seems essential from what I gather.
I'll let you know how the rebuilt goes. I'll probably post it in my other thread where I also started documenting my PID upgrade (that's what happens when you start spending too much time here ;)
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