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Main
Date: 19 Jan 2007 17:19:02
From: anthony
Subject: Help with Atomic machine
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My darling daughter recently stayed the weekend at our home while we
were away elsewhere. Love to have her staying here --except when she
tries making coffee!
She left the Botticelli and La Pavoni alone, but decided to use our
venerable gas-top Atomic.
First effect: she left the machine on the gas all night (on lowest
heat-setting ) -- the machine seems to have survived, even with seals
intact. Flavour's not the same but I guess continual rinsing and a few
uses will get it back.
Second effect is particularly annoying. She decided to give the machine
a thorough rinse-out before use. As a result, I no longer possess the
special little spiral-ring gizmo which is supposed to reside inside the
machine, to jiggle about continually and reduce scaling.
Can anyone suggest a suitable replacement? I'm not sure what metal I
should look for (maybe stainless steel? Or nickel? Or something in
brass?) as I don't want anything which will react adversely with the
alloy material the Atomic's made of. Can anyone advise?
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Date: 22 Jan 2007 20:45:48
From: anthony
Subject: Re: Help with Atomic machine
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Alan wrote:
> "anthony" wrote
> >
> >
> >> Really? I must be unlucky or blind (or perhaps both); I actually check
> >> out
> >> ebay for Atomics pretty frequently because I've been curious (and often
> >> amazed) at the prices they command and I have *never* seen anyone
> >> offering
> >> rebuild kits for Atomics.
> >>
> >
> > Well, I guess I'm relatively lucky, in being only a two-hour train ride
> > from Bon Trading! I have a spare set of seals on hand, but so far don't
> > seem to need to replace the old ones (fingers crossed!)
>
> I know ---- they seem to last forever. I bought my Atomic in the early
> 80's from Thomas Cara in SF, used it pretty much daily up until a couple of
> yrs ago when I bought a Europiccola, and I've *never* replaced the seals.
> Brought it down off the shelf last month to demonstrate it to a friend, and
> it worked perfectly, seals still fine. But it *is* nice to know I can get
> replacements. I wonder where the Bon Trading Company gets them?
In fact, the elderly lady who is always behind the counter at Bon
Trading told me once that her daughter some time ago travelled to Italy
and resurrected the Atomic brand -- she used the original sand moulds
to make a run of new machines -- this would have been around a decade
ago now. So she obviously had her hands on all the original
specifications, could trace original suppliers for the seals etc. Bon
Trading still get shipments in of new parts/seals etc frm time to time,
so they must still have great connections ... it's no accident that
Australia and New Zealand seem to be the main home of the Atomic
outside of Italy!
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Date: 20 Jan 2007 19:37:14
From: anthony
Subject: Re: Help with Atomic machine
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> Really? I must be unlucky or blind (or perhaps both); I actually check out
> ebay for Atomics pretty frequently because I've been curious (and often
> amazed) at the prices they command and I have *never* seen anyone offering
> rebuild kits for Atomics.
>
Well, I guess I'm relatively lucky, in being only a two-hour train ride
from Bon Trading! I have a spare set of seals on hand, but so far don't
seem to need to replace the old ones (fingers crossed!)
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Date: 21 Jan 2007 04:10:14
From: Alan
Subject: Re: Help with Atomic machine
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"anthony" wrote
>
>
>> Really? I must be unlucky or blind (or perhaps both); I actually check
>> out
>> ebay for Atomics pretty frequently because I've been curious (and often
>> amazed) at the prices they command and I have *never* seen anyone
>> offering
>> rebuild kits for Atomics.
>>
>
> Well, I guess I'm relatively lucky, in being only a two-hour train ride
> from Bon Trading! I have a spare set of seals on hand, but so far don't
> seem to need to replace the old ones (fingers crossed!)
I know ---- they seem to last forever. I bought my Atomic in the early
80's from Thomas Cara in SF, used it pretty much daily up until a couple of
yrs ago when I bought a Europiccola, and I've *never* replaced the seals.
Brought it down off the shelf last month to demonstrate it to a friend, and
it worked perfectly, seals still fine. But it *is* nice to know I can get
replacements. I wonder where the Bon Trading Company gets them?
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Date: 20 Jan 2007 15:08:26
From: Mathew Hargreaves
Subject: Re: Help with Atomic machine
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Anthony,
Keep in mind that rebuild kits for the Atomics are sold on ebay all
of the time from the Australian manufacturer. You might want to get two
sets for the seals and other parts that might fail over time. Seems I
remember them being about $10 for a set but I might be a touch low on
this.
CHEERS...Mathew
anthony wrote:
>
> Danny wrote:
> > Alan wrote:
> > >
>
> >
> > Although not part of the original Atomic (I don't suppose), spiral
> > thingies are anti scale devices - they attract scale. Hardware shops
> > (at least in the UK) sell them for use in kettles etc.
> >
> >
> > --
> > Regards, Danny
>
> thanks Danny ... even if not original, they work really well ... I'll
> try my local hardware store tomorrow.
> Cheers and thanks
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Date: 20 Jan 2007 16:46:16
From: Alan
Subject: Re: Help with Atomic machine
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"Mathew Hargreaves" wrote
> Anthony,
>
> Keep in mind that rebuild kits for the Atomics are sold on ebay all
> of the time from the Australian manufacturer. You might want to get two
> sets for the seals and other parts that might fail over time. Seems I
> remember them being about $10 for a set but I might be a touch low on
> this.
>
> CHEERS...Mathew
Really? I must be unlucky or blind (or perhaps both); I actually check out
ebay for Atomics pretty frequently because I've been curious (and often
amazed) at the prices they command and I have *never* seen anyone offering
rebuild kits for Atomics.
The only source that I'm aware of is the Bon Trading Company in Woollahra,
Australia which does not have a website, does not sell via ebay, but can be
communicated with via their fax number, which is: 011-61-2-9371-8467
(country code included for US faxers).
Next time you see one of those ebay ads for Atomic rebuild kits, Mathew, I'd
really appreciate it if you could post the link. Purchasing through ebay
would be *much* less tedious than through faxed communications. Thanks.
---
Alan
>
> anthony wrote:
>>
>> Danny wrote:
>> > Alan wrote:
>> > >
>>
>> >
>> > Although not part of the original Atomic (I don't suppose), spiral
>> > thingies are anti scale devices - they attract scale. Hardware shops
>> > (at least in the UK) sell them for use in kettles etc.
>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > Regards, Danny
>>
>> thanks Danny ... even if not original, they work really well ... I'll
>> try my local hardware store tomorrow.
>> Cheers and thanks
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Date: 20 Jan 2007 04:50:05
From: anthony
Subject: Re: Help with Atomic machine
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Danny wrote:
> Alan wrote:
> >
>
> Although not part of the original Atomic (I don't suppose), spiral
> thingies are anti scale devices - they attract scale. Hardware shops
> (at least in the UK) sell them for use in kettles etc.
>
>
> --
> Regards, Danny
thanks Danny ... even if not original, they work really well ... I'll
try my local hardware store tomorrow.
Cheers and thanks
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Date: 20 Jan 2007 02:31:31
From: Alan
Subject: Re: Help with Atomic machine
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"anthony" wrote
> My darling daughter recently stayed the weekend at our home while we
> were away elsewhere. Love to have her staying here --except when she
> tries making coffee!
> She left the Botticelli and La Pavoni alone, but decided to use our
> venerable gas-top Atomic.
> First effect: she left the machine on the gas all night (on lowest
> heat-setting ) -- the machine seems to have survived, even with seals
> intact. Flavour's not the same but I guess continual rinsing and a few
> uses will get it back.
> Second effect is particularly annoying. She decided to give the machine
> a thorough rinse-out before use. As a result, I no longer possess the
> special little spiral-ring gizmo which is supposed to reside inside the
> machine, to jiggle about continually and reduce scaling.
> Can anyone suggest a suitable replacement? I'm not sure what metal I
> should look for (maybe stainless steel? Or nickel? Or something in
> brass?) as I don't want anything which will react adversely with the
> alloy material the Atomic's made of. Can anyone advise?
What on earth are you talking about? I bought an Atomic back in the 80's
(still have it and use it occasionally), a couple friends of mine also have
Atomics, and none of have ever been aware of any "special little spiral-ring
gizmo" residing in our machines. It must have been popped in there by some
misguided merchant as an "extra feature" or maybe part of a stray
spring-loaded safety valve mechanism somehow found its way in during
manufacture. In any case, be glad you lost it --- not only is it not
"standard equipment", but I also doubt that anything jiggling about inside
would have been an effective scale-reducer . . . .
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Date: 20 Jan 2007 11:45:54
From: Danny
Subject: Re: Help with Atomic machine
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Alan wrote:
>
> What on earth are you talking about? I bought an Atomic back in the 80's
> (still have it and use it occasionally), a couple friends of mine also have
> Atomics, and none of have ever been aware of any "special little spiral-ring
> gizmo" residing in our machines. It must have been popped in there by some
> misguided merchant as an "extra feature" or maybe part of a stray
> spring-loaded safety valve mechanism somehow found its way in during
> manufacture. In any case, be glad you lost it --- not only is it not
> "standard equipment", but I also doubt that anything jiggling about inside
> would have been an effective scale-reducer . . . .
>
>
Although not part of the original Atomic (I don't suppose), spiral
thingies are anti scale devices - they attract scale. Hardware shops
(at least in the UK) sell them for use in kettles etc.
--
Regards, Danny
http://www.gaggia-espresso.com (a purely hobby site)
http://www.malabargold.co.uk (UK/EU ordering for Malabar Gold blend)
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