S1 Rebuild

[rhinoevans]

Thinking of totally rebuilding my S1. I have had it for 8-9 years (Thanks to Chris COffee, 2005). I have done minimum maintenance . Also wiggle and routinely chemical flush. Machine runs great pulling espresso, which is what we almost exclusively use for iced lattes. The steam boiler will not fill, which I think is due to a clogged line to the boiler. I am currently in Saudia Arabia working, and will be home for a week in August to try some fixes and upgrades.

So, was going to order the standard Group gaskets (3-4), and gaskets for both boilers. Anything else I should consider?

Almost afraid of what I mighgt see inside the boilers.

And for descaling, Citric acid? I have seen some post for vinegar .

My time in Aug will be limited, but will also be home in Oct for 1 week, so maybe finish up the repairs then.

And what about upgrades I believe i have the thin group spacer and did the motor mount fix. Any comments on:
VII Steam wand, although since we seldom steam, maybe a waste
VII control Board
Dual Guage
Pre-infusion

Depending what i find inside, maybe just order a new VII

[chas]

If you are ordering parts, you should probably order the complete set of gaskets for the steam wand while it's easy and cheap. Then, I'd just wait until the first gasket in the wand starts to leak and change them all at that time.

You might want to pull the top cover now (just takes a slotted screwdriver) and look at the condition of the crimp connectors and insulators for the power leads on the steam boiler. If they look less than pristine, I'd recommend you buy some new crimp connectors (the kind with the integrated insulator covers) and replace all of them. You may be lucky to be in a very dry part of the world. Around here the humidity would have corroded the copper wires where they insert into the crimps by now.

Replacing the board isn't cheap though it does give you a nice feature upgrade. One of the things the board gives you is finer temperature control and stability. When they came out with the V2 and used this new controller, they also changed the temperature probes to ones with a tighter tolerance. So if you want that capability you'd need to also order a new probe for the group boiler. You don't really need tighter temp control on the steam boiler but you can always replaces that probe as well if you really want to.

I don't know about recommending the dual gauge. in addition to buying the gauge, you either have to also buy new front cover with the rectangular hole or know a good sheet metal worker. Those gauges bolt to the chassis via a hole that was added to later models. If you're S1 is old enough you may not have that mounting hole.

Definitely descale with food grade citric acid. There may be other sources but a local or an on-line home brew store will carry it. A small, inexpensive bag will last several lifetimes! They use it in beer making to adjust the water pH of some higher pH water sources.

Lastly, as you noted, once you add all this up you may want to consider a new machine and see if you can still get $500-$600 for your current machine, if there isn't much of anything really wrong with it. If you decide on a new machine definitely call and don't just buy over the Internet. When you buy on-line you get the advertised price. If you call you almost always get a nice discount.

[rhinoevans]

Thanks for all the advice

Was considering a new VII until I saw this

https://www.chriscoffee.com/Cimbali_Jun ... junior.htm

Ay comments

[chas]

Thanks to Chris working with many of the Italian espresso machine vendors over the last few years, the last couple of generations of many of the machines are really improved. So there are a number of excellent choices out there. At this point I think I am hooked on dual boiler machines but that still leaves a number of excellent options. I think this Forum has actually swayed a number of people who were on the fence about LaSpaziale vs. something else. Perhaps some of the other machines also have something like this Forum to help, though I confess that I have never checked.