My GS Project

Ronin

Ahh retrospect and hindsight.......... If only. Good progress there Jeff. I managed to clean out the excess chrome from the thread in the water level sight glass ring and it went together really well. Had a win there Putting the dispersion cone and block back into the group 1 was successful..... Easy. Block 2, well lets say not so easy. Either I overtightened it or there was a fracture in it, and it cracked and twisted badly. Removed it from the block this morning, and did a little panel beating to straighten. Finished in 3 pieces :mad: Silver soldered them back together and spend the time my boss was out filing them back & drilling out the holes. Came out a little rough, but should work I think. I'll continue with this piece and look for a replacement, I think it'll be hard to come by though. It seems a rebuild project needs a problem solver, fix one thing and move on th the next thing that unexpectedly needs fixing.

Ronin

Got the groups on and started the jigsaw puzzle of pipe work. Starting to look like a coffee machine again.

Koffee_Kosmo

Great progress on an absolutely gorgeous job so far I am quivering with expectations on the soon to be finished and working machine Oooohh yea :thumb: KK

Brett_H

Lookin' great there Ronin! Can't wait to see how it comes together.

Ronin

Thanks guys Been challenging, and when you think you're on the downhill run, something else pops up. Like today for example, cut some gaskets for the brew boiler end plates. Almost forgot to put in the element before assembling. Then found one thread on the element damaged, guess that's why there was so much thread tape on it. I think I've a solution that doesn't involve removing the end plates though.

Muscles

Awesome job so far! You guys are killing me with your resto's :thumb:

jeff

Looking great! Man, that's one shiny boiler. Did you polish it? You're continuing to inspire me through my own "dark moments" -- Thanks!

Ronin

jeff wrote:

Looking great! Man, that's one shiny boiler. Did you polish it? You're continuing to inspire me through my own "dark moments" -- Thanks!

Not polished, just clean 😉. I did use a super fine wire wool though. Gave it a lightly polished look without scratching, did the copper pipes too. A coarser wire wool would leave scratch marks. What dark moments Jeff? Would be nice to know I'm not the only one who has 'challenging' moments. Think I found a solution to my elements damaged thread. As it is damaged near the tightening end, I thought of a longer nut or a washer, got a brass washer and seems to have done the trick. Just waiting for the water pressure test now, fingers crossed. That's not for a while yet.

borat123

Looking great! Love the curved shape of the groups, 'sprouting' out from the boiler.

Ronin

Thanks Borat Got home from work today with all relevant tools and wiring for the rest of the job, I think. Was looking over parts and notices an element nut missing, must be here somewhere. They are an odd size and I can't find them anywhere yet. Hope it turns up.

TheLightRoom

Ronin - Defiantly shaping up mate! I can only imagine the amount of grime and gunk on the cloths from cleaning! Cheers, TLR

Ronin

Decided not to risk the brew element with the dodgy thread under pressure. Going to get it fixed or a new one if can't be. The company is on hols to next Monday tho :doh: Will be there first thing Monday morning. Had an issue with the PID probe too, seems it sticks out too far and the front panel won't go on with it in. The Element place also does PID stuff, so I'll be looking into that next Monday also. Got some thermal cut out fuses and will be wiring them into the machine too. Good advice there I think. Put the water inlet valve back together, was difficult so pulled it apart again. Not aligned and damaged the washer and spring. :tearhair: Been slow progress past few weeks. Was hoping for more to be done, but need some things and everything manufacturing closes over Christmas, guess that's why I'm on holidays. Just not convenient

Ronin

Ok for the forth time typing this we'll see if it works. New brew element picked up and installed. Water inlet valve fixed and installed. Pressure switch bracket made and switch installed. Vacuum breaker and OPV sorted and installed. Wiring well under way and on the down hill run. Groups installed except for lever and group caps. Stainless panels brushed look cleaned up (except front panel) and looking better, might spend some more time on these yet. Just need to sort out the PID thermocouple as the one I have is too long and fouls on the front panel. Can't up load photos still as yet, will when I can

Ronin

Thermal cut out fuse on the steam boiler aka Paul Pratt style, also one on eht brew boiler

Ronin

Vacuum breaker valve on left with 90deg elbow and OPV on the right

Ronin

So far so good. This was before I installed the water inlet valve, if you look where the drain tray will go (next to the hammer 😃)

borat123

Ronin wrote:

Thermal cut out fuse on the steam boiler aka Paul Pratt style, also one on eht brew boiler

Interesting thermal cutout. How does it work; is it measuring the actual temp of the skin of the boiler? I remember on the Cimbali two group I had, there was a probe mounted through the element base plate, protruding into the boiler. It fed the temp via coiled up wire into the thermal cutout switch that had a plate that warped when hot and broke the circuit.

Ronin

Thats right, measuring the boiler surface and has a trip switch that trips at?, hum can't remember what temp (120deg C, I think, must check). Just like the one on your house, easily reset. I had to use a thin wire to tie it on to the boilers as there is no other way to do it easily, recommended to me by my go to guy.

borat123

Ronin wrote:

Thats right, measuring the boiler surface and has a trip switch that trips at?, hum can't remember what temp (120deg C, I think, must check). Just like the one on your house, easily reset. I had to use a thin wire to tie it on to the boilers as there is no other way to do it easily, recommended to me by my go to guy.

Maybe try gluing it on(?) I found some new 'special' glue in the adhesives section of Bunnings the other day, that secures plastic to all types of metal, and is flexible, and heat resistant to a high temp. Comes in a small tube and was less than ten bucks 🙂 (the blue one) I used it to stick a transformer onto the inside of the Urania case, and it seemed to work pretty well.

Ronin

Interesting idea gluing it on. It's brass on the bottom, and not sure if the glue would disrupt the heat transfer. Prob wouldn't do that much. I was being a good apprentice and following the masters advice http://www.flickr.com/photos/paul_pratt/3746043752/in/photostream Look closely and you can see the thin wire holding it on. Paul Pratt really does do fantastic work IMOP. I hope to do the machine justice

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