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This is the inside of the steam boiler after the descaling process.
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I buffed the outside of the steam boiler with a wire wheel to shine it up a bit.
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The partially shined steam boiler.
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Here is the steam boiler completely cleaned and ready to reinstall.
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The steam boiler from the heating element side.
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This is the banjo bolt I broke while trying to disassemble the third group head.
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I met a great guy online by the name of Barry Jarrett. He owns a shop named Riley's Coffee & Fudge (www.rileys-coffee.com). He had a used banjo bolt from an old machine that he sent me.
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Here is a picture of the used banjo bolt from above after I cleaned it up.
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This brew boiler is the old style with the captive nuts instead of the bold posts.
You have to use a special gasket with a sealant in order to get it to work.
You can see the green sealant and the brush I was using for it in the background.
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Here is a shot of the gasket with the sealant applied.
Getting the bolts to all align without stripping them was a bit of a trick.
I ended up using a wooden dowel rod inserted through the heating element hole to bump the captive nuts while reassembling it.
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This is a shot of the front control panel before it was polished.
There were a lot of scratches all over this machine. Now it is like a mirror!
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Before I mounted the steam boiler back in the chassis I wanted to test it for leaks.
I hooked up all the pieces necessary to make it a closed system and pumped it full of air with a bicycle tire pump.
There was a leak at the boiler and the T-fitting that feeds the pressure switch and steam pressure gauge.
I ended up using a special food grade thread sealer from Loc-Tite to keep it from leaking.
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The steam pressure valve shows the pressure holding steady at just under 1.5 bars.
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I had all of the back parts on the machine sand blasted and power coated.
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This is a close up view of the power coated pieces. I was very happy with the result.
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The frame starts to go back together.
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I decided to do a PID modification to this machine.
I replaced the mechanical temperature controller with a thermocouple, Fuji temperature controller, and a solid state relay.
I mounted the relay in the bottom of the machine on a piece of aluminum angle stock that doubles as a heat sync
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This is a close up of the solid state relay, mounted and wired.
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Both boilers installed.
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The control panel is mounted and some of the plumbing is installed
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Front view with both boilers installed and the control panel mounted.
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The group heads are fully assembled.
Plumbing is completely reinstalled.
The wiring harness is almost reinstalled.
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Angle view with wiring harness completely reinstalled.
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I rotated the machine onto its back in order to mount the bottom panel and the Fuji temperature controller.
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Here is a close up of the mounted Fuji controller.
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A close up view of the machine reassembled, wired, and plumbed.
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A view of my Everpure water filter temporarily mounted.
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My La Pavoni grinder sitting next to my newly refurbished La Marzocco espresso machine.
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A Proud papa and his espresso machine.
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