KPons Senior Member Joined: 2 Mar 2004 Posts: 22 Location: Clinton Township, MI Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Rancilio Silvia Grinder: Rancilio Rocky Vac Pot: French Press Drip: Gevalia Roaster: I wish
Posted Mon Mar 8, 2004, 10:48am Subject: Cleaning Silvia
I tried to clean the grouphead of Silvia for the first time. I've had her for almost 3 months & pull a double shot every day.
I removed the screw in the middle (it came out very easily). Then I removed the screen. However, I could not seem to remove the next piece (I think it's the inner brass dispersion plate). Can you remove the dispersion plate to clean? If so, how do you remove it. Also, does Silvia have a heat-retaining brass disc?
Posted Mon Mar 8, 2004, 1:14pm Subject: Re: Cleaning Silvia
I believe you have gone as far as you can go without major disassembly. I soak the screen and screw along with other small parts in Cafiza and let backflushing take care of the guts.
Also, I don't know anything about a heat retaining disc.
Posted Mon Mar 8, 2004, 6:17pm Subject: Re: Cleaning Silvia
KPons,
Jim's right--you have hit brass at this point, and it's as far as you can go (without removing the group & disassembling). Get a backflush disc and some solution to do the innards. Good luck!
Posted Mon Mar 8, 2004, 6:30pm Subject: Re: Cleaning Silvia
KPons Said:
However, I could not seem to remove the next piece (I think it's the inner brass dispersion plate). Can you remove the dispersion plate to clean? If so, how do you remove it. Also, does Silvia have a heat-retaining brass disc?
There are three pieces that come off for cleaning: screw, dispersion screen, water jet breaker. The last part is about the size of a quarter and is above the screen. I cleaned Silvia regularly and it dropped out without problem. I can't explain why it might be "stuck."
Bman Senior Member Joined: 28 Jan 2004 Posts: 239 Location: Johnstown, PA Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Quickmill Anita Grinder: Mazzer Super Jolly Vac Pot: Nope, Bodum Press Drip: Not any more Roaster: I-Roast
Posted Mon Mar 8, 2004, 8:02pm Subject: Re: Cleaning Silvia
Hi, this thread is interesting for me, as I am expecting Silvia on Wednesday. Folks at WLL stated that I should not backflush her at all. I have no clue as to how to care for her yet. I plan to use distilled water. I have a product called Brew Rite made with sodium carbonate to remove calcium and other coffee oils etc. Perhaps this may work. and folks at WLL said it should work same as Urnex. Anyone have any experience with this?
cafewest_tech Senior Member Joined: 22 Aug 2003 Posts: 270 Location: Medford Expertise: Professional
Posted Mon Mar 8, 2004, 9:35pm Subject: Re: Cleaning Silvia
Hi Cleaning of Silvia should be limited to cleaning of the dispersion screen and brew head gasket. Rancilio does not recommend that Silvia get backflushed at all. I find that a small backflush a couple times per year with a limited pump time does wonders for the internal piping. Limited means that the pump should never strain. This puts too much pressure on the 3 way solenoid valve. This can damage it and then you have to call the repair man. Use a good espresso machine cleaner when you do a backflush, otherwise the backflush is for nothing. You need to remove the oils and gunk that accumulate in the piping and solenoid valve. Let the machine set between pump cycles and let the detergent do its job. Once the discharge is clean, remove the portafilter and rinse. Then reinsert and backflush a couple more times to rinse the internal piping. I don't recommend the distilled water. It is on the acidic side of the PH scale and can eat away at the softer metals in the boiler, over a period of time. Also the taste of your espresso will be affected. If you need to, good old bottled water is fine
KPons Senior Member Joined: 2 Mar 2004 Posts: 22 Location: Clinton Township, MI Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Rancilio Silvia Grinder: Rancilio Rocky Vac Pot: French Press Drip: Gevalia Roaster: I wish
Posted Tue Mar 9, 2004, 6:21am Subject: Re: Cleaning Silvia
Thanks for the reply. I purchased Silvia from Aabree. I've also read of this website that Rancilio does not recommend backflushing at all. Also, I'm deathly afraid to do it. What is your opinion on using tap water with Rancilio's water softener in Silvia? Where can I purchase a backflush disc?
Thanks to everybody who sent a message.....I really appreciate it.
Posted Tue Mar 9, 2004, 6:33am Subject: Re: Cleaning Silvia
KPons Said:
I've also read of this website that Rancilio does not recommend backflushing at all.
It is worth reading Randy Glass' Espresso! My Espresso! how-to pages, which includes instructions and caveats on backflushing Silvia. I backflushed mine but never let the pump labor. I've never heard any reasonable explanation of how this differs from pulling a ristretto, where the pump might labor hard for 20+ seconds, versus the 1-2 seconds of a backflush. You can get a backflush disk from any espresso vendor (sometimes called a "blind basket" because there are no holes).
You need to know how hard your water is before deciding if a softener is necessary (and how often it needs to be recharged). Jim Schulman's Insanely Long Water FAQ is... well, insanely long. You may want to skip to Section 4, WATER TREATMENT AND PREVENTIVE DESCALING FOR ESPRESSO MACHINES and then decide where to go from there.
There are three pieces that come off for cleaning: screw, dispersion screen, water jet breaker. The last part is about the size of a quarter and is above the screen. I cleaned Silvia regularly and it dropped out without problem. I can't explain why it might be "stuck."
I've brought this thread back to life because I need help with an embarrassing problem. Believe me when I say that I feel incredibly stupid asking this question: Which side of the water jet breaker should face the dispersion screen? I've tried both ways. I guess I need to be more observant when disassembling parts on Silvia.
The jet breaker sits on top of the screen, flat side to screen,then the screw...Took me awhile to get this straight myself.....And Im not afraid to back flush either...
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