Posted Mon Oct 24, 2005, 6:57am Subject: My new Silvia
Works! Beautifully! A bunch of Ideas I unabashedly stole from other CG'ers posts!!! :o))))) I insulated the boiler and grouphead with HomeDepot R2 foil backed foam, peel and stick, to try to help the system have more stability and faster warmup - also more ecological!
I PID'ed it putting the thermocouple on top of the boiler near the water inlet. My mod was intended to not permanently modify the factory Silvia. Function was first concern, appearance was second. I am running the PID at 235, but I know that either my thermocouple, or my PID is off by at least 10 degrees so I don't really know what the temp there is... But it gives me a place to work from and compare (to find out how high I need to set this to get 202-203 at the brewhead.)
I got a $15 Taylor digital cooking thermometer and ArcticSilver epoxied it into the hex socket of the bolt going into the group head. This seems to read pretty accurately because the taste is improving as this increases - 201 this morning and yummy ristretto. 199 and not bad, yesterday.
Warmup takes about 1/2 hour during which I draw an oz or 2 of water through the empty pf a number of times (maybe 5 or 6)(to warm up the group). I always run the hot water switch and steam valve open once to bleed the air that is always sitting in the boiler after it has sat for a bit (even a few hours) to prevent vaporlock.
Getting into the habit of "Stall the Waterfall" (don't know if that is an official name - someone else here used it and that's where I got the idea) - first few dribbles of a pull are thrown out - very bitter - the first powder of the coffee grounds (very adversly colors the rest of the shot).
Symbols: = New Posts since your last visit = No New Posts since last visit = Newest post
Forum Rules: No profanity, illegal acts or personal attacks will be tolerated in these discussion boards. No commercial posting of any nature will be tolerated; only private sales by private individuals, in the "Buy and Sell" forum. No cross posting allowed - do not post your topic to more than one forum, nor repost a topic to the same forum. Who Can Read The Forum? Anyone can read posts in these discussion boards. Who Can Post New Topics? Any registered CoffeeGeek member can post new topics. Who Can Post Replies? Any registered CoffeeGeek member can post replies. Can Photos be posted? Anyone can post photos in their new topics or replies. Who can change or delete posts? Any CoffeeGeek member can edit their own posts. Only moderators can delete posts. Probationary Period: If you are a new signup for CoffeeGeek, you cannot promote, endorse, criticise or otherwise post an unsolicited endorsement for any company, product or service in your first five postings.
![kristi: Picture 3.jpg](javascript:ImagePopup("/images/21521/Picture3.jpg", 320, 240, "kristi: Picture 3.jpg");)
![kristi: Picture 4.jpg](javascript:ImagePopup("/images/21522/Picture4.jpg", 320, 240, "kristi: Picture 4.jpg");)
![kristi: Picture 5.jpg](javascript:ImagePopup("/images/21523/Picture5.jpg", 320, 240, "kristi: Picture 5.jpg");)
= No New Posts since last visit 