Posted Mon May 5, 2008, 5:59am Subject: is this a normal noise on my restored Rancilio S20?
Hi, I am new to coffeegeek today! It has been a very useful source of information while having a go at a restoration of a Rancilio S20 midi de. I have a la scala butterfly also, but find the vibe pump too noisy - wakes up the daughter and wife! So I bought this as a fun project to fix up. For those unfamiliar with the machine, it is a 2 group auto hx, rotary pump, about 6l boiler, and will just fit on the kitchen bench!
It was in a restaurant for about 1yr, before being put into storage for about 9 more. So it is in great condition, but needed a clean up. I completely stripped it, cleaned it all off, descaled, replaced all seals and gaskets and put it back together. It had some good scale in it, but worst was the awful stench of oily crud all over it - especially when heated! Also cut back some brass on the steam valve and boiler opv where it had channelling damage. Other than that, the only worry I had was I could not reprogram the dosers. A bit off topic, but this may help someone else - So I will add a comment here on a lock out switch I managed to locate - I could not find any information on this on the net anywhere (or even in the s20 manual!). The lockout switch is a little blue wire clip near the bottom right of the circuit board - disconnected means dosing locked.
Anyway, I will get onto my problem. Basically the machine seems to run perfect - Great coffee. There is just a noise that I am not sure should be there, and want to ask if it is normal for this type of machine or not. When I activate a group with no coffee in, there is a noise which I am not sure where it is coming from, but I think the gicar flowmeters. It sounds like maybe high pressure water being squirted in the lines? Or possibly some air/water being squeezed through a leak? I have attached a pump gauge, and set the pump to 9.5bar (in line). There are no leaks in any fittings (that I could tell), and the noise is not coming from any pressure release valves. Each group produces a separate sound (so if i run one group I wil hear this noise, and if I run another I will hear a second similar noise). When I have coffee in the filter, there is no noise. If I put in a blind filter, I get the noise momentarily, but then it stops. So it seems to me that the noise happens when the flow rate of water is very high. The fact that it stops when the blind filter is in says to me it is not a leak due to pressure. It happens when the machine is cold also. I figure the only components it could be are those within each hx/thermosyphen/group. So the flowmeters or 3 way valves. What I am thinking is this: when I had the flowmeters apart for cleaning I noticed that there is a very small water entry hole to the meter. I assume this is to assist in the meter accurately counting. I am thinking that the noise is the high pressure water reaching this little hole. Then, as there is no resistance after this point, the pressure will be lower resulting in high pressure water rapidly entering the flowmeter. I think that the noise is not there when there is coffee in the filter as the coffee slows down the flow of water through the gicar, and therefore does not produce the noise??? Am I right? Is this normal, or do I have some other problem? Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks, Damian.
Posted Mon May 5, 2008, 10:44pm Subject: Re: is this a normal noise on my restored Rancilio S20?
Update - pulled out the flow wheel out of one of the flowmeters to see what noise I get without it when running. Thought it might be a mechanical noise of the flow wheel, but it made absolutely no differrence. I will keep trying!!!
Posted Tue May 6, 2008, 12:03am Subject: I think I am getting closer after some research!
Ok, here is what I think. If anyone could confirm this I would really appreciate it.
I am thinking that the small hole I referred to in the gicar flowmeter is called a gicleur? Is that right?
I saw a comment about a machine where someone installed a small gicleur (but this sat in their grouphead) and said it then made a sound like a laser beam was going off in their machine, which could be a good description of the noise I hear. So I am beginning to think that this is a standard noise that my machine is making?
jacbri Senior Member Joined: 18 Aug 2007 Posts: 155 Location: Seattle Expertise: I like coffee
Espresso: Rancilio S26 Grinder: Astoria Super Jolly Roaster: Poppery I
Posted Tue Jul 1, 2008, 12:25pm Subject: Re: I think I am getting closer after some research!
damian1 Said:
Ok, here is what I think. If anyone could confirm this I would really appreciate it.
I am thinking that the small hole I referred to in the gicar flowmeter is called a gicleur? Is that right?
I saw a comment about a machine where someone installed a small gicleur (but this sat in their grouphead) and said it then made a sound like a laser beam was going off in their machine, which could be a good description of the noise I hear. So I am beginning to think that this is a standard noise that my machine is making?
jacbri Senior Member Joined: 18 Aug 2007 Posts: 155 Location: Seattle Expertise: I like coffee
Espresso: Rancilio S26 Grinder: Astoria Super Jolly Roaster: Poppery I
Posted Tue Jul 1, 2008, 12:29pm Subject: Re: I think I am getting closer after some research!
funny pic, looked like my machine for months ha ha.
the only thing I can think of .... purely a guess... it that there is air in the lines, is your unit plumbed into the sink or is water pressure adequate? Copy this and reply on the other thread so others will see.
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