buzzmccowan Senior Member Joined: 13 Jan 2005 Posts: 183 Location: Dundas, Ontario Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Vibiemme DS home / LM GS3... Grinder: Mazzer Mini home / Anfim... Drip: Chemex Roaster: Diedrich IR12
Posted Tue Apr 5, 2005, 7:47pm Subject: Internal PID install musings, Silvia: pressure gauge, LED water level indicator
Haven't finished everything yet. I am going to insulate it with some styroboard wrapped in the firedoor/heatshield material. I sounds like nothing else like holes is particularly necessary. The mounting bracket pictured (T bracket) is what I used as a guide for the dremel. The other back support bracket I mentioned is the one that is normally included with the unit...It slides on the back, locks into the fuji sandwiching it up against the stainless. I bought my unit used and the previous owner misplaced the bracket. The unit is really light and I don't think any other support is necessary. I've wired the PID up tonight and it is working well. I am going to complete the insulation tomorrow. When my other parts arrive (for the reserviour light and the pressure gauge) I'll post some pics of the completed mods. Cheers, Kaelin
Posted Wed Apr 6, 2005, 7:53am Subject: Internal PID install musings, Silvia: pressure gauge, LED water level indicator
Kaelin, you are a shining example of a pure Coffee Geek!
All I can say is excellent work, and that was a great idea with the "tee" bracket. Also I like your placement of the PID as it consumes one of the logo holes. When I cut the hole in my silvia I "freehanded" with the rotary tool and was lucky it didn't slip or grab. MyPID is not a Fuji, but the mounting bracket is probably the same as yours... it holds the unit very firmly in place, so it is worth getting the right part (like you have ordered).
buzzmccowan Senior Member Joined: 13 Jan 2005 Posts: 183 Location: Dundas, Ontario Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Vibiemme DS home / LM GS3... Grinder: Mazzer Mini home / Anfim... Drip: Chemex Roaster: Diedrich IR12
Posted Fri Apr 8, 2005, 3:17pm Subject: Internal PID install musings, Silvia: pressure gauge, LED water level indicator
mmm_crema Said:
Kaelin, you are a shining example of a pure Coffee Geek!
All I can say is excellent work, and that was a great idea with the "tee" bracket. Also I like your placement of the PID as it consumes one of the logo holes. When I cut the hole in my silvia I "freehanded" with the rotary tool and was lucky it didn't slip or grab. MyPID is not a Fuji, but the mounting bracket is probably the same as yours... it holds the unit very firmly in place, so it is worth getting the right part (like you have ordered).
Thanks Emil. Wouldn't have considered dremeling it unless you had posted. As for your praise of the quality of my work, I got a bit too over confident and got sloppy. I didn't place my "tee" properly to guard one end of another hole I was cutting for the reservoir warning light. the dremel slipped up and made a mark. The only way to hide it was to reinstall the Rancilio logo plate, which although makes the design a bit crowded, still I think is pretty cool. The reservoir switch install was really simple. I wasn't happy with the indicator lights that I got from McMaster-Carr so I went to a local electronics store and got one for $1.00 that is very similar to the Silvia boiler light. All up it cost me something like $12.00 for the reservoir indicator setup. In the picture below you can see the light on with the reservoir down to about 1.25" of water. And another pic below that of the switch installed at the bottom of the reservoir. Cheers, Kaelin ps. I never got any advice on where I might tie a pressure gauge line into. If anyone has any ideas please let me know. I might try and email Eastcape from the above link and see (and I think Silvia's getting crowded now!) I assumed once I understood how the liquid level switch works and with my basic understanding of electricity that I didn't need any type of relay for the indicator light...It worked!
Rancilio logo plate, which although makes the design a bit crowded, still I think is pretty cool. The reservoir switch install was really simple. I wasn't happy with the indicator lights that I got from McMaster-Carr so I went to a local electronics store and got one for $1.00 that is very similar to the Silvia boiler light.
Thanks Tom, Bought the cheapest switch from McMaster: part no. 50195K93. Drilled hole with 3/8 drill bit. Wasn't quite big enough...did the angled drill cheat to get it just a bit bigger. Rubber washer I found in my misc. parts drawer that seemed a bit tight but still managable, goes between bottom of the switch and inside bottom of reservoir. Home Depot was useless in helping me finding the right bolt to secure the switch. I gave up and thought one of those lighting fixture bolts might work in conjunction with a really thin lock washer from lighting fixture kits. The threads matched and the thin washer is great because of the limited amount of switch at the bottom of the reservoir.
Before you install the switch you need to remove the little thing that holds the float in and flip the float upside down. It comes configured for top mount. By flipping it for bottom mount you ensure that the switch is off when it is held up by the higher water levels. Two wires run out of the switch (see pic). I ran them following the water hoses and put a hefty chunk of heat shrink to protect them from the sharp edge of the back plate. I attached standard insulated terminal (female) to both ends. I then piggybacked power from the main power switch using special double terminals from McMaster (part 8019K86). Attached one of the switch ends to the now piggybacked hot lead (red wire) and the other switch end to the indicator lights "+" hot pin. I then ran a piece of wire with two female terminals from the "-" pin on the indicator light and piggybacked it to the black wires on the main power next to the red wires. Sorry if this isn't clear but it is similar to the info on stealing power for the Pepe style PID that is linked in my original post
As for the indicator light, it came from a surplus store...no part #. As long as it is rated for 120 volts, anything should do. Thinking about it, it might have been nice to order a Rancilio light, the same one used for the boiler, because the one I got is a little smaller. However, I do like that it is red instead of orange.
By the way, about the only useful thing I got at Home Depot was some pipe insulating material for insulating the PID from the boiler. It is basically bubble wrap sandwiched by foil material. I needed to use it instead of styro because the indicator light installation ate up space between existing switches etc. and the PID. It seems to do a good job and is nice and flexible for working around my mods.
Whats really amazing is that I managed to do all this work with my wife away all this week in New York and me taking care of our two kids (3 & 1). I'm really excited for her return, not only for some childcare relief, but also 'cause she is bringing back some coffee I ordered: Code Brown (Coffee Emergency), Black Cat (Intellegentsia), Dolce & Vita (Vivace), Redline (Metropolis). Kaelin
Thanks. I looked at that part # but it lists 1/8" as the pipe size, there's another 'b' type one with 3/8" size - 50195K76. Is it the other or does the 1/8" one require a 3/8" hole?
Thanks. I looked at that part # but it lists 1/8" as the pipe size, there's another 'b' type one with 3/8" size - 50195K76. Is it the other or does the 1/8" one require a 3/8" hole?
I think 1/8" may be the inside diameter of the "pipe" or some other wacky classification. Just looked at my invoice and indeed that is the correct part number. Unit price $10.90. One more piece of advice. If you use a dremel for this stuff, try and cover your machine up with cloth/tape/whatever, and inside as well. Dust gets everywhere and if it is still on your machine and you wipe it off, you can scratch her up. Cheers, Kaelin
If I may, 1/8 pipe thread is correct. . . 3/8 is about 5/8 of an inch outside diameter.
Kaelin, I am definitley intrigued by your low water light. I think I may try something similar, however I will use a simple water sensor that I can get from where I work. A hole will have to be made in the reservoir similar to your setup. For the LED indicator I will try to find a small LED that will fit the size of the logo plate hole.
I will post pics when I make some progress.
So is winter over yet in T-O ? I lived there for 15 years and I do miss good ole Ontario!
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