corey Senior Member Joined: 26 Sep 2003 Posts: 1,147 Location: Perth, Australia Expertise: Professional
Espresso: Synesso, Marzocco Grinder: Mazzer Robur
Posted Wed Feb 11, 2004, 2:04pm Subject: Re: rancillio 3 hole steam tip
I once also tried to get hold of one of these but couldn't. Yes they are available from Wholelattelove but that doesn't really help us (although they might possibly send one to us ?!?). I asked the WA rep for Rancilio parts and service if he could get me one somehow and he said no :( Anyway after reading some more it seems that a lot of Silvia users actually find that the standard tip works best in the long run. There is also the problem of having too much steam coming out of the boiler (because of the increased steam holes) which is probably not the best thing for your machine and gives you less time to froth correctly. I can generally achieve pretty good microfoam with the standard tip and can even achieve latte art on most days. Stick with the standard and practice, practice, practice. Hope this helps.
Luca Moderator Joined: 27 Jan 2004 Posts: 2,646 Location: Melbourne, Australia
Espresso: H: Maver W: FB-80 Grinder: H: Super Jolly W: Brasilia... Vac Pot: Hario TCA-2 Roaster: Sample Roaster at Work
Posted Thu Feb 12, 2004, 3:44am Subject: Re: rancillio 3 hole steam tip
I'm 100% behind Corey. I've only had Silvia for a week or so, but I've been getting something that's pretty much microfoam of latte' art quality. Actually, I think that the problem is that my jugs have a rather large spout, preventing me from getting as much detail as I do at work (an office where we have a domestic machine with a "froth aider" that I take off, leaving me with a single-holed tip)
If you look at Corey's milk post, Corey, Simon and I have been extolling Pura Cafe' and Paul's Froth Top. Maybe give using those a shot. I presume that you've already stepped though the latte' art guide on this page and are purging and priming your wand appropriately.
My problem was actually not opening the steam valve up enough. It's kind of funny; you hear a loud screaming noise if the pressure is too low, which makes you think that you've got too much steam coming out and that you should close it off a little and only makes things worse!
I researched the 3 hole steam tip myself, and I've heard that the WLL one is just a Rancilio S-24 steam tip with an adapter to fit the Silvia steam wand. This would mean that, as Corey said, the machine would exit more steam than it can produce. The 1st-line one looks good, but is not available to us.
If you really must acquire a 3 hole steam tip, try emailing dom at coffeeparts (www.coffeeparts.com) and asking him. Coffeeparts is based in Sydney.
vo Senior Member Joined: 7 Jan 2004 Posts: 80 Location: Melbourne, Australia Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Rancilio Silvia Grinder: Lux
Posted Thu Feb 12, 2004, 8:09pm Subject: Re: rancillio 3 hole steam tip
Thanks guys, I'm getting pretty good foam - most of the time. I'm a skinny milk user (so I can eat more chocolate....) I just did the 3 hour Lavazza course, foamed up a storm there - even with skinny! Of course this was on a commercial machine - but then again the Silvia is almost........ anyway the discussion came up about the 3 hole tip and that raised my curiosity. I've ordered one from wholelattelove. I'll experiment and let you know what I think.
One question tho' I have trouble getting the whirlpool effect at home with the silvia. Sometimes I get it and then loose it again - once that happens I cant get it back. Any tips?
corey Senior Member Joined: 26 Sep 2003 Posts: 1,147 Location: Perth, Australia Expertise: Professional
Espresso: Synesso, Marzocco Grinder: Mazzer Robur
Posted Fri Feb 13, 2004, 12:10am Subject: Re: rancillio 3 hole steam tip
Vo, I find that the whirlpool system doesn't work so well on my Silv. Instead I tend to aerate the milk to about 70-80 Deg then place the wand to the bottom of the jug until 150 deg, then shut off. Sometimes the milk rolls, other times it occasionally whirlpools. other times it does nothing that I can see with my eye. It really depends on how much milk you have in your jug and the jug's shape. I think with commercial machines, the whirlpool or rolling action is easier to reproduce. I still seem to be able to do latte art except when sometimes the aerating produces too much froth. Hope this helps.
vo Senior Member Joined: 7 Jan 2004 Posts: 80 Location: Melbourne, Australia Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Rancilio Silvia Grinder: Lux
Posted Thu Feb 26, 2004, 9:01pm Subject: Re: rancillio 3 hole steam tip
Well I just had to get one anyway. Fitted the new 3-hole steam tip last night. Whoa... it does produce a lots of steam fast and so heated the milk much faster - more like the commercial machine does. Got the great whirlpool effect! So this will take some getting used to. Still have the old steam tip just in case........ I'll post after the weekend when I've had a bit more time to evaluate.
vo Senior Member Joined: 7 Jan 2004 Posts: 80 Location: Melbourne, Australia Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Rancilio Silvia Grinder: Lux
Posted Sun Mar 14, 2004, 6:31pm Subject: Re: rancillio 3 hole steam tip
Okay - so more than a weekend has passed. The little red o-ring broke the very next day after I attached it, finally got a new o-ring this weekend. Surprisingly Bunnings didnt have one that would fit - Mitre10 did!
In the mean time I had done a little more hunting around for info about this steam tip. Cant say they were all that positive - but still had to evaluate this for myself.
Fitted the steam tip with the new o-ring and tested it out. Functioning ok, but for some reason I'm not getting the great whirlpool effect I did when I first got it. So maybe the o-ring is not quite the right fit - not sure, it seems tight enough. It heats the milk in record time - perhaps a little too fast for me - I dont get enough time to stretch the milk. More milk the more time you have of course, but for me doing singles or doubles only its way too fast - perhaps more suitable to frothing for 4 or more! the bubble result is only average and without much spinning the foam is more on top of the milk than 'in' the milk, I've managed better microfoam with the original tip.
To sum up, I think its a good tip for a beginner as it foams the milk easily but not the best quality. Not suitable for making singles unless you're prepared to throw away a lot of milk.
I havent made up my mide whether to stick it out a little longer and see if my technique improves or go back to the original tip. I was really getting the hang of the original and now I'm missing the microfoam in my cappa.
Luca Moderator Joined: 27 Jan 2004 Posts: 2,646 Location: Melbourne, Australia
Espresso: H: Maver W: FB-80 Grinder: H: Super Jolly W: Brasilia... Vac Pot: Hario TCA-2 Roaster: Sample Roaster at Work
Posted Mon Mar 15, 2004, 2:45am Subject: Re: rancillio 3 hole steam tip
Yay! I'm missing out on nothing!
If you find that it heats the milk too quickly, try pouring the milk into a jug and putting it in the freezer before you do anything else. Grind, extract, heat to steam, purge the wand then go and grab it out of the freezer. You'll have an extra few seconds to stretch before it's too hot. I do this particularly with the 350ml jug for singles ... Silvia steams like a train.
RE: tips for getting the whirlpool effect (several posts up), I find that tipping the jug so that the wand is on a diagonal with respect to the jug sides helps ... but I haven't exactly been getting the best quality latte' art foam recently :(
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.
= No New Posts since last visit 