Silvia's, used and abused.

Dry_bean.

Spent a few day in Vic with my daughter and son in law last week, said SIL had to go away and I was left in charge of his 4 year old Silvia.
Before he left I enquired about the health of said Silvia, i.e.

When did you last descale it ...... never have.

How often do you back flush ......what's that.

Seems to be leaking a little
around the seal, have you
ever replaced it?                  .... No.

So after this decided to
remove the basket and
check inside the PF, the
horror, oil and sh*t
build up must have been
2mm thick.

The point of this post, the machine has been neglected for 4 years and other than leaking a few drops from around the seal operates perfectly and still produces very acceptable coffee.
Thought to self, next trip will bring the gear and give it a spring make over :lamp: after some contemplation decided this would be a bad idea, perhaps the crud is all that's holding the machine together, a big clean out might just be the straw that breaks the camels back, so will leave well enough alone, perhaps just clean the PF in Cafetto.
Regardless of what others say in my experience the Silvia certainly is a tough little machine.

RichardM

What kind of water goes through it? Do you have pics of the abuse?

mycuppa

Yes they are tough little Sherman Tanks - have had a few brought into my roastery by customers asking for help replacing the cup seals - one of the machines was 8 years old, making 2+ cups per day, 7 days a week and still had the origin seal (I could not believe it until I saw it with my own eyes), albeit the seal was a heavily flatened and grooved 4-5mm (instead of 8mm), carbonised rubber (is that how coal is produced.......massive pressure + time) and the portafilter needed to be HELD in place at about 4 o'clock on the dial (yes right around) whilst pulling a shot with water leaking in about 4 places. never been descaled, backflushed and to the credit of the customer it was quite clean (on the exterior). After what seemed like an hour of prodding and chiselling with a sharp screwdriver, we managed to remove the cup seal in about 100 very small and stubborn black charcoal pieces. As like you DB, I was hesitant to descale thinking all the gunk was going to jam the fine hydraulic lines and gum up the group jet.......So we spent time explaining the issue of scale build up to the customer (it was using Melbourne tap water) and provided instructions and some dezcal, telling the customer this is high risk and likely to potentially impact the operation of the machine - only do it in small, diluted weak doses over a longer period of time with the theory of hoping it performs small actions per procedure. Inevitably though, this plan did not work at all.......customer was a self-confessed clean freak who became spooked after hearing the boiler would likely have scale buildup and inevitably she became teary after two weeks because she went like a bull at a gate with the descaling one Saturday morning and the machine was barely spitting water and steam via it's outlets - it was like one of those water pistols....... Her husband took everything apart and cleaned it over a weekend and she called me again on the Monday morning saying the machine was beautiful, just like new........except the coffee was tasting very funny - had an awful chemical taste no matter how much rinsing they did.........He used some heavy duty descaling solution found in the Bunnings cleaning products section........

Dry_bean.

on 1322266518:

What kind of water goes through it? Do you have pics of the abuse?

Tap water, no filter. Don't think I said the machine had been abused Richard, perhaps neglected would be closer to the mark. Nope, don't have pics, cant imagine taking photo's of a family members property, posting it on the internet and suggesting it had been neglected would do much for family relations, guess your just going to have to take my word for it. My point was not to make said S I L look bad, more to illustrate the fact that the Silvia is a tough little machine that holds it's value will stand up to heaps of use and seldom complain. I had one for 9 years, used unfiltered SA tap water (supposedly the worst in the nation) never spent a cent on it other than cleaning chemicals and a few group head seals and sold it for $50 less than I paid for it new.

Dry_bean.

on 1322269383:

Yes they are tough little Sherman Tanks - have had a few brought into my roastery by customers asking for help replacing the cup seals - one of the machines was 8 years old, making 2+ cups per day, 7 days a week and still had the origin seal (I could not believe it until I saw it with my own eyes), albeit the seal was a heavily flatened and grooved 4-5mm (instead of 8mm), carbonised rubber (is that how coal is produced.......massive pressure + time) and the portafilter needed to be HELD in place at about 4 o'clock on the dial (yes right around) whilst pulling a shot with water leaking in about 4 places. never been descaled, backflushed and to the credit of the customer it was quite clean (on the exterior). After what seemed like an hour of prodding and chiselling with a sharp screwdriver, we managed to remove the cup seal in about 100 very small and stubborn black charcoal pieces. As like you DB, I was hesitant to descale thinking all the gunk was going to jam the fine hydraulic lines and gum up the group jet.......So we spent time explaining the issue of scale build up to the customer (it was using Melbourne tap water) and provided instructions and some dezcal, telling the customer this is high risk and likely to potentially impact the operation of the machine - only do it in small, diluted weak doses over a longer period of time with the theory of hoping it performs small actions per procedure. Inevitably though, this plan did not work at all.......customer was a self-confessed clean freak who became spooked after hearing the boiler would likely have scale buildup and inevitably she became teary after two weeks because she went like a bull at a gate with the descaling one Saturday morning and the machine was barely spitting water and steam via it's outlets - it was like one of those water pistols....... Her husband took everything apart and cleaned it over a weekend and she called me again on the Monday morning saying the machine was beautiful, just like new........except the coffee was tasting very funny - had an awful chemical taste no matter how much rinsing they did.........He used some heavy duty descaling solution found in the Bunnings cleaning products section........

Interesting story and I suspect far from isolated, good old hubby to the rescue. Perhaps had the need for a little preventative maintenance a few times a year was emphasised at point of sale these situations would not crop up quite as often as they do, I bought my Silvia from a specialist retailer in SA who shall remain unnamed, not a word was said about operation or looking after it, fortunately I was savvy enough to pick up on  requirements myself.

Brett H

I have a soft spot for the Silvia due to having one for 10 years and reselling it for 2/3s (or close enough to) of it's original worth.  In those ten years I maintained her reasonably well but wasn't overly fastidious.  I was rewarded with zero down time and regular god shots.  I have a newish (2 yeArs) Rocky and the roast that troubled Kelsey's smart grinder made no impact on the operation of Rocky.  These things are built well and to last.  I suspect that my Silvia will be going strong in someone's home long after many of the Silvia killer Gee's have turned up their toes and contributed to landfill. What ever happened to those Silvia killers? Only a couple of retailers now stock them... They were supposedly the next big thing.  ::)

GaryatGala

Silvia seals are great. Mine only needs a slight turn and it's locked in. Have never had any liquids come out the sides of the portafilter. After the issues i had with the EM6910 and having to ask for advice from  sages like AM, the move to the Miss Silvia was like a God send. She certainly feels and looks like a Sherman tank. They will last for 10 years and beyond, and are a great value for money product. I can get by the single boiler procedures and the wetter steam and consequently slightly diluted tasting coffee, but everything else is great. When i read this topic, it reminds me of JamesM's ECM Giotto clean up in the CS $1500-$3000 section. The mm's of crud n black stuff and ensueing colourful language, and then the restoring of the tanks to their former glory. Goes to show if it's a strong product going through a long term of abuse, if the internals are fine and it still works well ,you buy them at a good price and a bit of clean up, replace a few parts, you have a bargain. Gary at G