adamwithabeard Senior Member Joined: 15 Sep 2012 Posts: 3 Location: Joplin MO Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Sat Sep 15, 2012, 9:00pm Subject: Having some problems with an older machine...
I received a hand-me-down espresso machine from a friend and I can't find any info about it anywhere. It appears that the brand is "GSL" and the model is "espresso 2000" but the manual that came with it is Italian and looks about 30-40 years old, and it appears as though if I could read Italian, it wouldn't be much help to me anyway. I spent a good deal of time cleaning it and getting the pump to start moving and now I can actually pull shots from it, but can't get it to pull anything that resembles good shots. It seems to be getting too hot, but I'm not confident enough to start taking out parts to replace the thermostat. Has anyone heard of this machine before? It resembles the Rancilio Silvia, but I don't think the parts are interchangeable at all.
calblacksmith Moderator Joined: 25 Nov 2007 Posts: 5,643 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 Wed Sep 19, 2012, 10:11am Subject: Re: Having some problems with an older machine...
It looks to be a generic SBDU machine. It likely has a built in water tank. There is a power on switch, one for the pump and one for brew/steam. It is possible you have the machine set to steam when you are intending to brew. This would result in a way too hot pull as the water will be in the neighborhood of about 275F rather than the 195 to 205 it should be for your shots.
Be careful to always keep the boiler full by opening the steam/hot water valve and then turn the pump on until you get water out of the wand. Then close the valve and turn the pump off.
If the brew/steam switch is set to brew, the machine should heat to brew temp and stay there, sort of, the temp regulation can be as much as + - 20f.
If the switch is set to steam, the machine should heat to steam temp. Open the valve to the steam wand but do not turn the pump on. You should get steam out of the wand. When finished steaming, flush some steam through the wand to clear out any milk, then turn the machine to brew and turn the pump on with the steam/hot water valve open and run the pump until you get water from the wand and turn everything off.
To brew, set the switch to brew (with the boiler full) and wait for the machine to warm up, about half an hour for the whole machine to get to temp. Grind your coffee, load the basket and lock the PF into the group head and turn the pump on, pull your shot then turn the pump off. Remove the PF and turn the pump on for a few seconds to clear spent grounds from the shower screen then turn the pump off.
That is about all there is to running a SBDU machine
In real life, my name is Wayne P.
Feed the newbs, starve the trolls and above all enjoy what you drink!
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