C85/1 Documentation

[Ryan Pierce]

I’ve just received a free eviscerated Faema C85/1. By eviscerated, I mean it’s an empty shell. Its guts (hopefully all of them!) are in a separate box. The former owner intended to clean it fully.

The good news: it looks complete, and looks to be in pretty decent shape.

The bad news: I didn’t take it apart so I have no idea how to put it back together.

Does anyone have documentation (user docs, service docs, parts lists and parts diagrams, etc.) for this?

Thanks,
Ryan

[Michael Tesch]

Score!

There's some diagrams online, but I've found there's some variation over the model years - so what you find might not match what you have. We have a Compact from '92 - imagine it's pretty similar, but I could find no pdfs for it specifically.

I just spent the last month cleaning it out and getting hoses replaced (that was a saga of itself, as all the fittings are BSP and the usual US hose manufacturers seem to think this is something exotic).

Feel free to post pics of the puzzle pieces.

[Ryan Pierce]

Do you have info on hose replacement? My hose from the vibratory pump to the fill solenoid is leaking. The others seem fine.

I know a lot of people prefer to bypass the water softener, but I’d like to use it. I have a flat black ring gasket that I think goes on the bottom of the cartridge but it is brittle and doesn’t want to fit. I’m looking for a replacement. I’m also wondering if anyone has fabricated the device to recharge the ion exchange resin with salt.

What does the switch on the boiler heater do? Is it supposed to prevent the heating element from turning on if the water level is too low, or if it is too high? In my case, the heating element immediately turned on with the boiler empty. We caught it quickly and disconnected the heater for the rest of our testing, hopefully before there was any damage. Is this by design?

Otherwise, all parts appear accounted for, except a few knobs, and some of the outside panels are missing / broken, so I figure these may need to be fabricated from scratch. We have successfully descaled several areas that seem problematic. We had some trouble with the sight glass being clogged with scale and the pump filling the boiler completely with the sight glass showing a level below the probe. Descaling it fixed that, and the boiler now stops filling automatically. Next we turned our attention to the brew circuit. The group head now looks like it might be clogged. Water only came out intermittently with the brew switch turned on. We are sure the group head solenoid is operating. Unfortunately, the vibratory pump is trying to build 9 bars, and with the hose tear, what was a rapid drip becomes a flood, so we couldn’t do much more testing.

I’m also wondering what this thumb screw does. It seems to be some kind of adjustment.

Thanks,

Ryan

On Mar 18, 2023, at 10:41 AM, Michael Tesch <tes...@gmail.com> wrote:



--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Faema Compact User Group" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to faema-compact-user...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/faema-compact-user-group/CAJicaRyaj6CZnraS9wXjiF2901vMgQ5qSPGkz5DTcf3cy69muA%40mail.gmail.com.

[Scott Jones]

The cheapest way to address the leaking hose is to carefully cut the crimp with a Dremmel. Then attach a braided water supply line from any hardware store with little hose clamps. 

Apart from that, a hose store might be able to crimp new hoses on your original fittings.

I purchased a dog kennel tray that fits perfectly under the machine to catch leaks. I'll go months without a leak. Then I'll forget to empty the drain bottle or something will start dripping. 

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/faema-compact-user-group/EDBF65BB-1953-4ACA-AD65-6836270B2204%40pobox.com.

[David Hallam]

Try looking on eBay.  When I was rebuilding the C85/1 that I no longer have, I found lots of plumbing bits and pieces on eBay.

David

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/faema-compact-user-group/CANAsz%3DMsj3RXb_DnTE2EhfhKoERvyL2My%2BkiWuQ8T92bFyjbCQ%40mail.gmail.com.

--
"Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people. Theodore Roosevelt"

[Michael Tesch]

I went to a local Pirtek to get a new hose - they went out of their way to figure it out, due to the BSP fittings on everything, and it was like $150 for a 6" hose, but it works and a new machine would have been significantly more.  Called a lot of different local hose shops - got the impression they mostly do industrial stuff.  Most of the cost was the fittings - could probably get all the pieces by trial and error on amazon (or whatever) too.

Did not think of the hose clamping approach, probably woudl have been cheaper.

> What does the switch on the boiler heater do?

The one that looks like this: https://www.espressoparts.com/products/rancilio-165-degree-resettable-safety-thermostat?variant=37554641961147&currency=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&utm_source=Google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping&gclid=CjwKCAjwiOCgBhAgEiwAjv5whFXycUgMn412r4qk1V40G0SOrZjz-hqqeDiZ-YDAkSmM6pNiEY3DOxoCGkEQAvD_BwE ?

It's a cutoff that will trip if the temp gets too high, such as what happens when there's no water.  I've gone through two of those because I had the pressurestat miscalibrated (or it was no longer calibratable?) - eventually just replaced the Sirai and everything is stable now.

No idea what that screw is for.

My pump is from 1990 - after getting everything back together, tested it and found it's only creating 4 bar.  So that's the next project.

Cheers,

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/faema-compact-user-group/567a6405-4d31-e8d7-580e-fd2c762a0900%40gmail.com.

[Flo Baine]

Hello,

I asked the same question what this screw is for.
The answer I got is: It regulates how fast the water can flow into the  boiler.

Maybe if you have a high pressured water main, and you di the manual fill you need this?

[sam pratt]

Correct, screw comes into play when external water pressure exceeds units ability to regulate operational pressure 👍.   Flow can be reduced from pressure reducing valves, but that's not their intended purpose.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/faema-compact-user-group/9be9ffa1-a83c-4821-a7c0-4627b2f15755n%40googlegroups.com.