Posted Sun Jul 29, 2012, 4:41pm Subject: slight issue with older Olympia Cremina
hi all, found an old Cremina (1979) on Craigslist for $115. pluged it in & warmed it up & it was leaking alot out of the top & bottom of the group. Ordered all the parts i needed from Orphan Espresso. Changed &/or cleaned everything in the group. Seems to be working good eccept, when i raise the lever up to let water flow through the despersion screen, without the portafilter there, the steaming water is coming out with alot of sizzle sounds & shooting off the walls of the bottom inside of the bell, as opposed to a nice uniformed shower just out of the screen. I know i did the repairs right, so im thinking the problem might be either i didnt sit the screen right & some water is shooting out of the side of the screen shooting onto the inside walls of the bell or can it be that the thermastat is too hot & the overheated steamy water is shooting everywhere after in comes through the screen?
johnmc Senior Member Joined: 10 Jan 2008 Posts: 11 Location: Australia Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Mon Jul 30, 2012, 3:56am Subject: Re: slight issue with older Olympia Cremina
Scott, Mine does the same without a loaded portafilter ( as did the previous one) and makes great coffee. The only thing that matters is the taste of the coffee - if it tastes good there is nothing wrong.
Posted Mon Jul 30, 2012, 4:17pm Subject: Re: slight issue with older Olympia Cremina
thanks for the response. Is it possible that the temp. is too high causing what seems a combination of spraying water & steam through the dispersion screen.
IMAWriter Senior Member Joined: 4 Jul 2002 Posts: 5,483 Location: Brentwood, TN Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Nothing at the moment Grinder: Vario-W,Preciso-Esatto/KyM... Vac Pot: Adcraft SS, Yama 8 cup Drip: Brazen.Chemex, Hario, Clever... Roaster: Behmor 1600, CO/UFO combo
Posted Mon Jul 30, 2012, 10:10pm Subject: Re: slight issue with older Olympia Cremina
Scotty, warm up the machine, bleed the steam wand when the light goes out the first time, and maybe flushed water through the group twice (2 up and down strokes). Grind, distribute, lock 'er in, open the steam valve again to cycle the boiler. When the light goes out, wait 6 counts, slowly lift the lever...and pray. No, kidding! Pull the shot with even pressure downward, lightening up starting about halfway down. When done, does the shot have a dark circle around it? If not, chances are, you're stat is not set too high.
Posted Wed Aug 1, 2012, 2:08pm Subject: Re: slight issue with older Olympia Cremina
Thanks rob , I'll try that.
It's just the water (all the time after warm up) is so hot, it's spitting all over the place when coming through the group, with major sizzling sounds with no PF in placw.It really seems like its half water, half steam coming out. There's all new group seals, so there's no leaks It just seems to me that the water is super heated. Will adjusting the thermostat help possibly? I never did this before, being that I just got the machine. I know there's a wheel on the themo to turn. Do I turn it clockwise or counter clockwise looking down at it to lower the temp.? Thanks Scott
Posted Wed Aug 1, 2012, 7:10pm Subject: Re: slight issue with older Olympia Cremina
The only way to know for sure if its running too hot is to make a shot with it.Water from any lever machine will be too hot without a portafilter in place.When you pull a shot, the water sits in the grouphead alot longer and cools down to the appropriate temp.Also doing alot of flushes without the portafilter in place is not reccommended once the machine is up to temp, as you will overheat the grouphead. By the way - $115 for a Cremina, thats a crazy bargain.I bet you've made alot of people jealous ;-)
Posted Thu Aug 2, 2012, 5:22am Subject: Re: slight issue with older Olympia Cremina
Thanks kitt. That makes sense . The only thing is I have a La Pavoni pro as well & the water doesn't come out nearly as bubbling as it does with the Cremina with no portafilters in place. I wonder if it has something to do with that pressure relief valve on the top of the la pavoni?
farmroast Senior Member Joined: 13 Jul 2006 Posts: 1,417 Location: Amherst MA. Expertise: I like coffee
Espresso: Oly:Cremina,Maxi. MCAL... Grinder: Majors, Dienes Vac Pot: Hellem10 Drip: CCD, and more Roaster: 1kg. DreamRoast
Posted Thu Aug 2, 2012, 8:28am Subject: Re: slight issue with older Olympia Cremina
Might be worth getting a [ Click Here (www.orphanespresso.com) wand pressure gauge or the boiler cap gauge. The group temp strips OE sells can also be useful while getting used to working with a cremina.
Posted Thu Aug 2, 2012, 9:32am Subject: Re: slight issue with older Olympia Cremina
Scott:
I have a very old Cremina. In fact 671042, ie., 42nd one made. Also had lots of probs. I had ordered the temp strips from OE and they helped but didn't solve my temp probs. The $100 infrared Thermapen helped but didn't solve. What really helped after much spinning of wheels was ordering a calibrated thermometer from Eric. The best $20+ I spent on straightening out the cluster???? that haunted this Cremina.
Mounting the probe at the back of the portafiter in the vee area gives one precise knowledge of temp flowing into group. PM me and I will give you Eric's E-mail. I would post here if was sure he wouldn't mind. genecounts at verizon dot net
g
ps: I ended up sending the Cremina to Doug at OE and he added a screw to Pstat(which had been mounted backwards) and did a lot of tuning and rewiring for me. The Pstat had been pivoting under pressure with only 1 of 2 screws and scewing up the temp. Overheating actually melted my wiring. Got his wand so I can tweak temps in future. Good luck!
IMAWriter Senior Member Joined: 4 Jul 2002 Posts: 5,483 Location: Brentwood, TN Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Nothing at the moment Grinder: Vario-W,Preciso-Esatto/KyM... Vac Pot: Adcraft SS, Yama 8 cup Drip: Brazen.Chemex, Hario, Clever... Roaster: Behmor 1600, CO/UFO combo
Posted Thu Aug 2, 2012, 7:49pm Subject: Re: slight issue with older Olympia Cremina
scottyg514 Said:
Thanks kitt. That makes sense . The only thing is I have a La Pavoni pro as well & the water doesn't come out nearly as bubbling as it does with the Cremina with no portafilters in place. I wonder if it has something to do with that pressure relief valve on the top of the la pavoni?
They are different animals with different groups and how they are incorporated on the machine. That said, you may have a stuck or inoperative stat, due to rust or calcium deposits. Open your cremina when cold, remove the side panels and take a GOOD look at your stat. Is there rust? Crud? Does the knurled "nut" turn freely.
A good solution would be to purchase the very inexpensive pressure gauge from Orphan Espresso. It's like $25. I have one. Ezey peezy. Just fits over the steam wand, and thou can see what the machine is putting out. Watch it cycle. It should cycle somewhere around .8 low, to .95 when the boiler light is on. That is a good "median" setting, assuring both proper temperature for shots, and enough pressure for steaming. If you're reading to high after 2-3 cycles, then adjust the nut CLOCKWISE (the nut will be lowered, reducing pressure/temperature.
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