Day (week) one problems and solutions
Posted: Wed Sep 09, 2009 4:46 pm
Hello everyone.
Hello everyone.
This is my first post on the site. Been reading for a while though. I am not a newbee to espresso per say but I am still on the steep of the learning curve so bear with me, please.
Well anyway I am writing this to give everyone a bit of my experience with openning the box of a brand new Vivaldi II. This text may in term help someone out there.
I received it 4 weeks ago and started making coffees 3 weeks ago. I was waiting for a completed installation to post a comprehensive list of issues and solutions...
Day one I received the box. It was double boxed and shipped via Purolator. The box didn't have any sign of damage so I think that they were careful with it. I bought it from a Canadian web company (Espresso planet, a.k.a Supramatic), They get it from Chris Coffee (CC), obviously since it is a Vivaldi II. For the Canadians out there, with their reward point system, very good service and the occasional rebates, this is a good option for purchasing espresso stuff.
So, back to the day one, I opened the box. Everything looks good, I put it on the counter where my previous machine was... First shock, it is big! An upgrade in every sense of the word :). Plan for a good 8 inches on top of the Vivaldi's 16 inches in order to be able to use the steam arm on the left side. I had not! So I had to change the location of the grinder from the right of the machine to the left to give me some steaming room.
Second, the stainless steel braided line to hook-up with the water inlet was missing. My vendor didn't have it and they had to order it from CC. I find it bizarre that with so many people theoretically touching the unit, Espresso planet installed the no burn steam arm that I ordered. CC is supposed to quality check and adjust the unit for North American operation and the La Spaziale people put it together and boxed it, nobody noticed the missing tube. It is not small. Any way, It took about 2 weeks to get the tube in.
Because I couldn`t use it right away I started taking Vivaldi apart. Having read of issues with things coming loose in shipment... I removed all the panels and started checking all the connections, electrical as well as mechanical. Here is what I found:
The electrical connections were pretty much good. A few were not all the way in but none were off or loose. I moved a few wires that were too close to either a hot surface or a moving (vibration) surface.
I made sure that the power mode switch was in 15 amp. I also made sure that the timer switch was in the off position because I do not have the optional timer installed.
As well, I gently bent the pressure gauge capillary tube such that it wouldn’t contact the frame (or anything else for that matter). Also the inlet tube of the volumetric sensor bloc was contacting the top of the pump casing. I also bent it up a bit.
Also I made sure that there was no contact between any tubing and frame or components that could create damage in case of vibration.
The nastiest issue I found was the start-up capacitor mounted on the pump motor was contacting the frame. Already there were signs of wear on the capacitor aluminium casing . The capacitor on my model is not in a plastic casing like all the pictures (from Chas Rimpo on this site) I had seen before. Also the rear end wires are coming straight out the back not to the side. This is not an improvement! Anyway, I removed the capacitor and installed 2 washer between the capacitor and the mounting bracket to move it back away from the frame a bit. Beware, when moving the capacitor back you also move it closer to the back cover. To ensure ample rear wiring clearance, I also rotated the capacitor bracket to about the 2 o’clock position when looking at it from the front of the machine, so that the capacitor is lower and thus increase the clearance in the back.
Finally, the steam arm valve and knob were loose. Probably happened when they installed the no-burn steam arm. I had to remove the rotary knob (just pull on the knob) and tighten the whole assembly.
I then, put the unit back together
I was not willing to wait for the proper water inlet tube so I used clear flexible tubing and a makeshift adapter to connect the water.
The pump inlet thread is female ¼ inch GAS a.k.a. ¼ inch BSPT. This is a European thread that will mate partially with a North American ¼ inch NPT thread and seal if given a lot of Teflon tape. This is the temporary connection that I used while waiting for the proper plumbing line. Do not overtorque the connection to seal it, put more Teflon tape instead! The threads are not the same shape, pitch and dimensions. Over tightening will deform and damage the threads.
With this temporary connection I was able to start making espressos. I will leave my espresso making “debacle” for another post.
I also fabricated a pressure measuring gizmo that mounts on a spare portafilter gives the pressure with a simulated 25 seconds flow rate. This allowed me to readjust both the expansion valve and the group pressure which were both too high (13.5 and 10 bar respectively). Again thanks to Chas and all the other posters for the suggestion and instructions.
Finally, received the stainless steel braided line that is (supposed to be ) supplied with the Vivaldi. It has female ¼ inch BSPP (P for parallel) threaded connections at both ends that rely in a flared contact face to seal, not the thread. This will not make a good seal with a metal NPT thread regardless of teflon. Well maybe it would if you really tighten it until it bottoms but this would damage both threads. CC supplies the braided line with a Plastic John Guest fitting that is, I believe, a ¼ in NPT to JG polymer tube quick connect. As far as I can tell the seal between the JG fitting and the braided line is achieved by deforming the plastic NPT thread. Although it seems to work, I personally don’t feel comfortable with that type of connection.
Nonetheless I worked with it for a while. To “properly” connect the Vivaldi in North America, you need to get an adapter ¼ inch BSPP to whatever you connect to.
My setup to the water softener uses a Parker fluid P/N 4-4FMK4SS stainless steel ¼ in BSPP to ¼ in NPT adapter. Fits like a charm. In all my research into the forums concerning the Vivaldi I couldn`t find anywhere the identification of the threads. Anyway here it is for those that need it.
After a few days of waiting for the boilers to exchange power, because I was on the 15 amp mode, I decided to switch to the 20 amp mode. For this I plug the unit directly on the stove outlet. It can easily take the 20 amp draw. I opened the Vivaldi top cover and flicked the switch. Guess what happened when I put the power back on? All electronic hell broke loose!!! Yes you guess it right, Instead of the power mode switch I flicked the timer switch! A huge thank you to all my predecessors in this because I recognized the symptoms right away based on posts I read on this site. Re-opened Vivaldi and flicked the switches in the right configuration and everything is now smooth sailing. That is not speaking about the coffee making. Man this machine is very different from my previous espresso workhorse.
That’s it for today.
Hello everyone.
This is my first post on the site. Been reading for a while though. I am not a newbee to espresso per say but I am still on the steep of the learning curve so bear with me, please.
Well anyway I am writing this to give everyone a bit of my experience with openning the box of a brand new Vivaldi II. This text may in term help someone out there.
I received it 4 weeks ago and started making coffees 3 weeks ago. I was waiting for a completed installation to post a comprehensive list of issues and solutions...
Day one I received the box. It was double boxed and shipped via Purolator. The box didn't have any sign of damage so I think that they were careful with it. I bought it from a Canadian web company (Espresso planet, a.k.a Supramatic), They get it from Chris Coffee (CC), obviously since it is a Vivaldi II. For the Canadians out there, with their reward point system, very good service and the occasional rebates, this is a good option for purchasing espresso stuff.
So, back to the day one, I opened the box. Everything looks good, I put it on the counter where my previous machine was... First shock, it is big! An upgrade in every sense of the word :). Plan for a good 8 inches on top of the Vivaldi's 16 inches in order to be able to use the steam arm on the left side. I had not! So I had to change the location of the grinder from the right of the machine to the left to give me some steaming room.
Second, the stainless steel braided line to hook-up with the water inlet was missing. My vendor didn't have it and they had to order it from CC. I find it bizarre that with so many people theoretically touching the unit, Espresso planet installed the no burn steam arm that I ordered. CC is supposed to quality check and adjust the unit for North American operation and the La Spaziale people put it together and boxed it, nobody noticed the missing tube. It is not small. Any way, It took about 2 weeks to get the tube in.
Because I couldn`t use it right away I started taking Vivaldi apart. Having read of issues with things coming loose in shipment... I removed all the panels and started checking all the connections, electrical as well as mechanical. Here is what I found:
The electrical connections were pretty much good. A few were not all the way in but none were off or loose. I moved a few wires that were too close to either a hot surface or a moving (vibration) surface.
I made sure that the power mode switch was in 15 amp. I also made sure that the timer switch was in the off position because I do not have the optional timer installed.
As well, I gently bent the pressure gauge capillary tube such that it wouldn’t contact the frame (or anything else for that matter). Also the inlet tube of the volumetric sensor bloc was contacting the top of the pump casing. I also bent it up a bit.
Also I made sure that there was no contact between any tubing and frame or components that could create damage in case of vibration.
The nastiest issue I found was the start-up capacitor mounted on the pump motor was contacting the frame. Already there were signs of wear on the capacitor aluminium casing . The capacitor on my model is not in a plastic casing like all the pictures (from Chas Rimpo on this site) I had seen before. Also the rear end wires are coming straight out the back not to the side. This is not an improvement! Anyway, I removed the capacitor and installed 2 washer between the capacitor and the mounting bracket to move it back away from the frame a bit. Beware, when moving the capacitor back you also move it closer to the back cover. To ensure ample rear wiring clearance, I also rotated the capacitor bracket to about the 2 o’clock position when looking at it from the front of the machine, so that the capacitor is lower and thus increase the clearance in the back.
Finally, the steam arm valve and knob were loose. Probably happened when they installed the no-burn steam arm. I had to remove the rotary knob (just pull on the knob) and tighten the whole assembly.
I then, put the unit back together
I was not willing to wait for the proper water inlet tube so I used clear flexible tubing and a makeshift adapter to connect the water.
The pump inlet thread is female ¼ inch GAS a.k.a. ¼ inch BSPT. This is a European thread that will mate partially with a North American ¼ inch NPT thread and seal if given a lot of Teflon tape. This is the temporary connection that I used while waiting for the proper plumbing line. Do not overtorque the connection to seal it, put more Teflon tape instead! The threads are not the same shape, pitch and dimensions. Over tightening will deform and damage the threads.
With this temporary connection I was able to start making espressos. I will leave my espresso making “debacle” for another post.
I also fabricated a pressure measuring gizmo that mounts on a spare portafilter gives the pressure with a simulated 25 seconds flow rate. This allowed me to readjust both the expansion valve and the group pressure which were both too high (13.5 and 10 bar respectively). Again thanks to Chas and all the other posters for the suggestion and instructions.
Finally, received the stainless steel braided line that is (supposed to be ) supplied with the Vivaldi. It has female ¼ inch BSPP (P for parallel) threaded connections at both ends that rely in a flared contact face to seal, not the thread. This will not make a good seal with a metal NPT thread regardless of teflon. Well maybe it would if you really tighten it until it bottoms but this would damage both threads. CC supplies the braided line with a Plastic John Guest fitting that is, I believe, a ¼ in NPT to JG polymer tube quick connect. As far as I can tell the seal between the JG fitting and the braided line is achieved by deforming the plastic NPT thread. Although it seems to work, I personally don’t feel comfortable with that type of connection.
Nonetheless I worked with it for a while. To “properly” connect the Vivaldi in North America, you need to get an adapter ¼ inch BSPP to whatever you connect to.
My setup to the water softener uses a Parker fluid P/N 4-4FMK4SS stainless steel ¼ in BSPP to ¼ in NPT adapter. Fits like a charm. In all my research into the forums concerning the Vivaldi I couldn`t find anywhere the identification of the threads. Anyway here it is for those that need it.
After a few days of waiting for the boilers to exchange power, because I was on the 15 amp mode, I decided to switch to the 20 amp mode. For this I plug the unit directly on the stove outlet. It can easily take the 20 amp draw. I opened the Vivaldi top cover and flicked the switch. Guess what happened when I put the power back on? All electronic hell broke loose!!! Yes you guess it right, Instead of the power mode switch I flicked the timer switch! A huge thank you to all my predecessors in this because I recognized the symptoms right away based on posts I read on this site. Re-opened Vivaldi and flicked the switches in the right configuration and everything is now smooth sailing. That is not speaking about the coffee making. Man this machine is very different from my previous espresso workhorse.
That’s it for today.