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Main
Date: 02 Jul 2006 16:27:15
From: Rusty
Subject: Gaggia Espresso compared to Silvia
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I'm a devoted Silvia (PID) user and a very happy one at that thanks to the
advice I've received over the years from this group.
My daughter has just picked up an older Gaggia Espresso at an opportunity
shop, and I downloaded a user manual for her.
What advice should I give her to enable her to make reasonable cappuccino.
She doesn't own a grinder yet.
Any help would greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Ken Russell
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Date: 02 Jul 2006 04:02:38
From: daveb
Subject: Re: Gaggia Espresso compared to Silvia
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The Espresso is a FULLY capable machine -- they have sold millions over
the years.
Descale -- using Urnex CleanCaf NOT cafiza. and flush very thoughtly
with 2 full tanks of water
Clean the brew group too with a group brush. remove the screen and the
dispersion block 2 5 mm bolts -- clean all of that! check the gasket to
see if it is not rock hard, change if it is.
and the grinder is criitical -- Gaggia MDF is fine. There are great
videos on coffee geek re: making espresso. the gaggia manual is not
great.
Dave "uk98h7klp[" b
Saeco / Gaggia service SE
Rusty wrote:
> I'm a devoted Silvia (PID) user and a very happy one at that thanks to the
> advice I've received over the years from this group.
>
> My daughter has just picked up an older Gaggia Espresso at an opportunity
> shop, and I downloaded a user manual for her.
>
> What advice should I give her to enable her to make reasonable cappuccino.
> She doesn't own a grinder yet.
>
> Any help would greatly appreciated.
>
> Cheers,
> Ken Russell
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Date: 05 Jul 2006 15:05:18
From: Mud Pup
Subject: Re: Gaggia Espresso compared to Silvia
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Tell her to get a new tamper. The stock plastic one is
next to worthless. Also, ignore the "single" basket.
It's really for pods. Finally, remove the long plastic
sleeve on the steam wand and use only the remaining pointy
plastic thing. Doesn't hurt to bend an angle into
the steam wand either.
daveb wrote:
> The Espresso is a FULLY capable machine -- they have sold millions over
> the years.
>
> Descale -- using Urnex CleanCaf NOT cafiza. and flush very thoughtly
> with 2 full tanks of water
> Clean the brew group too with a group brush. remove the screen and the
> dispersion block 2 5 mm bolts -- clean all of that! check the gasket to
> see if it is not rock hard, change if it is.
>
> and the grinder is criitical -- Gaggia MDF is fine. There are great
> videos on coffee geek re: making espresso. the gaggia manual is not
> great.
>
> Dave "uk98h7klp[" b
> Saeco / Gaggia service SE
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Date: 02 Jul 2006 06:56:02
From: Cordovero
Subject: Re: Gaggia Espresso compared to Silvia
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I picked up a used one. After a good descaling, it leaked badly.
Fortunately, it wasn't TOO hard to replace the ball-valve thingy, and
Wholelattelove was helpful, since they not only sell the part cheaply (and
you might as well do the brew gasket at the same time) but have a
description of the repair at:
http://www.wholelattelove.com/articles/espresso_machine_repairs.cfm
Since I got the gasket at the same time, they canceled the shipping charges
for the valve. Cool!
Only other issue was that I cracked the plastic while handing the machine.
It's not the strongest plastic. On the positive side, I found the water
reservoir held more than I expected and wow is it easy to take off the
chassis and work on the machine, whose internals looked brand new on a ten
year old machine.
Cordo
"Rusty" <kenrussell@optus YOUR HAT home.com.au > wrote in message
news:44a76742$0$3324$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.au...
> I'm a devoted Silvia (PID) user and a very happy one at that thanks to the
> advice I've received over the years from this group.
>
> My daughter has just picked up an older Gaggia Espresso at an opportunity
> shop, and I downloaded a user manual for her.
>
> What advice should I give her to enable her to make reasonable cappuccino.
> She doesn't own a grinder yet.
>
> Any help would greatly appreciated.
>
> Cheers,
> Ken Russell
>
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Date: 02 Jul 2006 10:49:41
From: Craig Andrews
Subject: Re: Gaggia Espresso compared to Silvia
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"Cordovero" <cordoveroxxxremovexxx@yahooxxx.com > wrote in message
news:66Kpg.1660$PE1.847@newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net...
>I picked up a used one. After a good descaling, it leaked badly.
>Fortunately, it wasn't TOO hard to replace the ball-valve thingy, and
>Wholelattelove was helpful, since they not only sell the part cheaply
>(and you might as well do the brew gasket at the same time) but have a
>description of the repair at:
>
> http://www.wholelattelove.com/articles/espresso_machine_repairs.cfm
>
> Since I got the gasket at the same time, they canceled the shipping
> charges for the valve. Cool!
>
> Only other issue was that I cracked the plastic while handing the
> machine. It's not the strongest plastic. On the positive side, I
> found the water reservoir held more than I expected and wow is it easy
> to take off the chassis and work on the machine, whose internals
> looked brand new on a ten year old machine.
>
> Cordo
>
> "Rusty" <kenrussell@optus YOUR HAT home.com.au> wrote in message
> news:44a76742$0$3324$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.au...
>> I'm a devoted Silvia (PID) user and a very happy one at that thanks
>> to the advice I've received over the years from this group.
>>
>> My daughter has just picked up an older Gaggia Espresso at an
>> opportunity shop, and I downloaded a user manual for her.
>>
>> What advice should I give her to enable her to make reasonable
>> cappuccino. She doesn't own a grinder yet.
>>
>> Any help would greatly appreciated.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Ken Russell
>>
>
>
I found & bought {:-D a Gaggia Espresso at my local Salvation Army store
on Fri June 16th for the princely sum of $5.99! At the same time I also
snagged a set of 7unused Sorrento IPA espresso cups & saucers for
$12.99!!
Craig.
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Date: 02 Jul 2006 10:52:16
From: Craig Andrews
Subject: Re: Gaggia Espresso compared to Silvia
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"Craig Andrews" <alt.coffee@deletethis.rogers.com > wrote in message
news:4gq4o7F1n3lt0U1@individual.net...
>
> "Cordovero" <cordoveroxxxremovexxx@yahooxxx.com> wrote in message
> news:66Kpg.1660$PE1.847@newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net...
>>I picked up a used one. After a good descaling, it leaked badly.
>>Fortunately, it wasn't TOO hard to replace the ball-valve thingy, and
>>Wholelattelove was helpful, since they not only sell the part cheaply
>>(and you might as well do the brew gasket at the same time) but have a
>>description of the repair at:
>>
>> http://www.wholelattelove.com/articles/espresso_machine_repairs.cfm
>>
>> Since I got the gasket at the same time, they canceled the shipping
>> charges for the valve. Cool!
>>
>> Only other issue was that I cracked the plastic while handing the
>> machine. It's not the strongest plastic. On the positive side, I
>> found the water reservoir held more than I expected and wow is it
>> easy to take off the chassis and work on the machine, whose internals
>> looked brand new on a ten year old machine.
>>
>> Cordo
>>
>> "Rusty" <kenrussell@optus YOUR HAT home.com.au> wrote in message
>> news:44a76742$0$3324$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.au...
>>> I'm a devoted Silvia (PID) user and a very happy one at that thanks
>>> to the advice I've received over the years from this group.
>>>
>>> My daughter has just picked up an older Gaggia Espresso at an
>>> opportunity shop, and I downloaded a user manual for her.
>>>
>>> What advice should I give her to enable her to make reasonable
>>> cappuccino. She doesn't own a grinder yet.
>>>
>>> Any help would greatly appreciated.
>>>
>>> Cheers,
>>> Ken Russell
>>>
>>
>>
>
> I found & bought {:-D a Gaggia Espresso at my local Salvation Army
> store on Fri June 16th for the princely sum of $5.99! At the same time
> I also snagged a set of 7unused Sorrento IPA espresso cups & saucers
> for $12.99!!
> Craig.
Sorry, that was the Milano style. {:-D
http://www.sweetmarias.com/prod.espresso.shtml#espressocups
Craig.
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Date: 02 Jul 2006 11:00:12
From: Craig Andrews
Subject: Re: Gaggia Espresso compared to Silvia
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>>
>> I found & bought {:-D a Gaggia Espresso at my local Salvation Army
>> store on Fri June 16th for the princely sum of $5.99! At the same
>> time I also snagged a set of 7unused Sorrento IPA espresso cups &
>> saucers for $12.99!!
>> Craig.
>
> Sorry, that was the Milano style. {:-D
> http://www.sweetmarias.com/prod.espresso.shtml#espressocups
> Craig.
I just went & double checked, it's ACF & a set of 11 cups & saucers for
$12.99!
Craig.
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Date: 01 Jul 2006 23:39:06
From: Randy G.
Subject: Re: Gaggia Espresso compared to Silvia
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"Rusty" <kenrussell@optus YOUR HAT home.com.au > wrote:
>I'm a devoted Silvia (PID) user and a very happy one at that thanks to the
>advice I've received over the years from this group.
>
>My daughter has just picked up an older Gaggia Espresso at an opportunity
>shop, and I downloaded a user manual for her.
>
>What advice should I give her to enable her to make reasonable cappuccino.
>She doesn't own a grinder yet.
>
>Any help would greatly appreciated.
>
More or less, the same advice you would give anyone who bought a used
Silvia in the same situation. The manual you downloaded for her is a
great start.
first, get some espresso machine cleaner and some scale cleaner and
clean the thing really well. It does not have a 3-way valve so you
cannot backflush it, but that doesn't stop you from using the cleaner
to give as much of the brewhead and portafilter a cleaning as
possible. If it has been sitting in a garage for some time you may
need to open it to remove any 6 or 8 legged visitors who came along
for the ride before bringing it into the house... whoops, too late!
;-).
Depending on age and previous use, it may need a new brewhead gasket.
Of course, as you have stated, and as others will probably mention, a
grinder is a must. The gaggia MDF would be a nice visual match, but
you know the drill when it comes to grinders....
Randy "lock and load.. fire in the hole!" G.
http://www.EspressoMyEspresso.com
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Date: 05 Jul 2006 14:39:08
From: daveb
Subject: Re: Gaggia Espresso compared to Silvia
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ALL good advice!
Dave "dsrtg54vy" b
Mud Pup wrote:
> Tell her to get a new tamper. The stock plastic one is
> next to worthless. Also, ignore the "single" basket.
> It's really for pods. Finally, remove the long plastic
> sleeve on the steam wand and use only the remaining pointy
> plastic thing. Doesn't hurt to bend an angle into
> the steam wand either.
>
> daveb wrote:
> > The Espresso is a FULLY capable machine -- they have sold millions over
> > the years.
> >
> > Descale -- using Urnex CleanCaf NOT cafiza. and flush very thoughtly
> > with 2 full tanks of water
> > Clean the brew group too with a group brush. remove the screen and the
> > dispersion block 2 5 mm bolts -- clean all of that! check the gasket to
> > see if it is not rock hard, change if it is.
> >
> > and the grinder is criitical -- Gaggia MDF is fine. There are great
> > videos on coffee geek re: making espresso. the gaggia manual is not
> > great.
> >
> > Dave "uk98h7klp[" b
> > Saeco / Gaggia service SE
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