lawrencetar Senior Member Joined: 4 Jul 2005 Posts: 23 Location: seattle Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: 2 La san Marco 2 group 85... Grinder: La San Marco and a Dosimeter
Posted Sat Jul 9, 2005, 4:59pm Subject: Re: La San Marco 85 FCS 2 Rebuild
back to the element. Michealo was kind enough to test my element for me, after I tested it at 43 ohms they told me in the field they recommend replacement when that number is higher than 37 ohms. Fearing spending $110 on an element for a machine I want to get rid of I had them test it. When they tested it they told me it was in the range of the brand new elements. I should have my ohm meter tested. For lack of a tall container as suggested by TampedUp, and since I've managed to get most of the heavy scale off I'm just going to clean the gasket surfaces on the boiler, put on the heat exchangers, everything except for the main cap and suspend the element in the boiler and cap all the water line taps. I hope that will take care of the residual scale.
TampedUp Senior Member Joined: 12 Feb 2005 Posts: 39 Location: New York Expertise: I like coffee
Espresso: Cimbali M30, Elektra Sixties... Grinder: La Cimbali Junior, Rocky... Drip: Cuisinart Grind and Brew Roaster: I-Roast; Hottop
Posted Sat Jul 9, 2005, 6:49pm Subject: Re: La San Marco 85 FCS 2 Rebuild
Depending upon the length of the element, you can just take an empty 2 liter bottle and cut the top off or use an empty plastic bucket filled with descaler for the heating elelment.
cannonfodder Senior Member Joined: 14 Dec 2004 Posts: 873 Location: Dayton, Oh Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: ElektraA3,Faema2G, Isomac,... Grinder: Cimbali, Mazzer Vac Pot: Dont smoke pot or vac it. Drip: Press pot Roaster: Hottop, drum roaster
Posted Sun Jul 10, 2005, 12:03pm Subject: Re: La San Marco 85 FCS 2 Rebuild
A three-liter bottle is just fatter, not taller, I think...
Try a baking/cake pan. The sides should be tall enough to hold enough liquid to submerge the element and a couple of inches longer than a two-liter is tall.
lawrencetar Senior Member Joined: 4 Jul 2005 Posts: 23 Location: seattle Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: 2 La san Marco 2 group 85... Grinder: La San Marco and a Dosimeter
Posted Fri Jul 15, 2005, 3:26am Subject: Re: La San Marco 85 FCS 2 Rebuild
Almost ready to hook up a pump!! I tried two 2 liter bottles taped together with duct tape but the water was too hot for the tape to hold, I must have gone around it 10x. I ended up putting the heat exchangers and seals on then I took 4 inch squares folded in 2, of plastic bag and rubber banded them to all the threaded fittings on the boiler. I then filled that to the top with boiling water and scale clean, there is still a tiny bit o scale by the gasket area/plate where the elements are but I think once I get it together and functional I'll scale clean it again and it should take care of the last of the nasty Chicago hard water legacy. I also had a problem with the manometer not reading correctly so I took a plastic syringe and injected some scale clean into that, will see how that turns out. I also noticed the steam wands had a few frankenstein variations between them. On one I replaced the rubber o-ring with a teflon bit and kept the 2 piece brass washer, the other already had a teflon cup but had a smaller diameter hole then the one I got from Michealo and what I used in the first wand. The teflon washer looked good so I will just leave it, this wand also had a washer that fitted into the spring unlike the other. Getting there,.. soooooo many grounds to ground (and not the coffee kind!!) Oh, that teflon tape on the table was only used for the shut off valves for the cold water intake, I took them off and took out a plastic restrictor on the solinoid line that was clogged (Michealo said they remove them when they come across them in the field they tend to clog and the boiler won't fill) since there is no flange on the tube or gasket on these valves I thought it might be a good idea to carefully rap it once as to not create a clog of my own.
lawrencetar Senior Member Joined: 4 Jul 2005 Posts: 23 Location: seattle Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: 2 La san Marco 2 group 85... Grinder: La San Marco and a Dosimeter
Posted Sat Jul 16, 2005, 12:14pm Subject: Re: La San Marco 85 FCS 2 Rebuild
I hope you used something along the lines of POR-15 for paint...
I wire brushed then navel jellied then applied PPG DX 520 which is a phosphoric acid based cleaner and metal conditioner which produces a zinc phosphate coating. I then hit it with 6 coats of semi flat black Rustoleum painted over a period of 2 days. Having used POR-15 in automotive applications I would say that would have been the better choice than the Rustoleum (I wish I would have thought of that sooner).
lawrencetar Senior Member Joined: 4 Jul 2005 Posts: 23 Location: seattle Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: 2 La san Marco 2 group 85... Grinder: La San Marco and a Dosimeter
Posted Sun Jul 24, 2005, 2:59pm Subject: Re: La San Marco 85 FCS 2 Rebuild
Just got it all together and plugged in, nothing. So I checked my connections, and then popped the pump off the motor and gave it a little turn, and then it fired right up. The tank filled and I only had 1 leaky shut of valve, the drain one. After the machine got warmed up I adjusted the group head lower seals and water pipe I tightened them a 1/4 turn after the point where they stopped leaking. I have a question about the pump, is there supposed to be positive pressure to the pump from a faucet? Or can I use a bucket of clean water for testing purposes, because I noticed after I pulled a few test shots, after the machine is warmed up, hot water gets forced back through the pump into my bucket of fresh clean cold water.
naznar Senior Member Joined: 6 May 2005 Posts: 139 Location: portland Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Mon Aug 1, 2005, 11:13am Subject: Re: La San Marco 85 FCS 2 Rebuild
I wire brushed then navel jellied then applied PPG DX 520 which is a phosphoric acid based cleaner and metal conditioner which produces a zinc phosphate coating. I then hit it with 6 coats of semi flat black Rustoleum painted over a period of 2 days. Having used POR-15 in automotive applications I would say that would have been the better
-Lawrencetar
Lawrencetar- Could you please explain the process if you would have used POR-15. Would you have still applied PPG DX 520 beforehand? Also what does the navel jelly do??
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