Newbie seeking advice on Rancilio and Faema machines.

[David Graham]

Hi all,

I have recently purchased a second hand Rancilio three group machine with the intention of doing it up as a past time and a challenge with the hope of ultimately setting it up on the front entertaining deck. My first question is... are there any web sites that outline the operation of espresso machines in general (i.e. how does an espresso machine work?). Secondly, are there any web sites specific to the restoration/servicing of Rancilio machines?

I also purchased in a rash moment a Faema e87 which has both gas and electric operation (price was too good on e-bay). Unfortunately, the mere mention of an e87 seems to draw blank expressions. Can anyone point to some informative links?

Many thanx

David

 

[janie1963]

I'mnew to the espresso world , so I can only tell you what I found out while researching and deciding what brand to buy. Someone was very eager to sell me a Faema, but then I heard that his particular machine could NOT make a decent shot. I then asked someone at my coffee raoster about it and was told that Faemas can be high maintenance and are often finicky machines. I would definately talk to someone who has experience in servicing that brand.

Sorry not to be of more help!

 

[EspressoOutfitters]

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[cireland]

Refurbishing espresso machines can be a trick business, but lucky you have chosen one of the easiest machines to work with. I run an espresso machine engineering company in England and this year we have refurbished at least 20 Rancilio machines. They are very robust and we rarely have a problem getting them to look and work as good as new. Usually takes us about 2 days, but we have had the experience of doing this for 3 years.

I would suggest that if you intend to do this you self you should first source a "service kit" i.e. all of the washers, gaskets and seals you will need to put it back together. Also for some of our less experienced engineers we take digital pictures of the machine so that they have a reference when things don’t appear to fit. You will probably need about 1 kilo of commercial descaled, which you can use to clean all brass and copper parts of the machine (boiler pipes etc).

If you need any further advice regarding Rancilio machines just ask