# Rancilio S24!



## carbonkid85 (Jan 19, 2011)

Just found a Rancilio S24 with a Rocky on eBay for £195! Mercy!

A tough few moments of negotiating hard with the other half ensued, before a suitable deal was struck. I can't believe the price! Don't really need the Rocky, so I can stick that back on eBay to bring the price of the S24 down...

Anyone know anything about these machines? Anything I should know?


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## lookseehear (Jul 16, 2010)

Congrats! Not seen one before but just had a look and it looks pretty big - will it fit in your kitchen?


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## Spazbarista (Dec 6, 2011)

Good machines but.....Get it serviced.


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## carbonkid85 (Jan 19, 2011)

Yeah it's bloody massive. Hence the negotiating. I will be spending my bank holiday reorganising the kitchen accordingly...!

Good call on the servicing. Think I shall start a thread looking for a recommendation.


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## Jason1wood (Jun 1, 2012)

Could you let me know about the rocky as desperate for my first decent grinder. Nice purchase by the way.


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## carbonkid85 (Jan 19, 2011)

I'm collecting my S24 before. It hasn't been in use for a while, doesn't look like it has ever seen heavy use and generally looks to be in good condition. I'm still worried that behind the shiny exterior, there will lurk a crusted up boiler the likes of which I have never seen before.

Obviously the first thing to do is descale/backflush and replace gasket/shower screen. Is there any way at all of knowing whether this is enough without opening the boiler to visually check for nastiness? I have stripped and rebuilt Gaggias before, but they are super easy to work on. The S24 is a HX (as far as I know) and is bound to be a bit more of a challenge. I don't want to tear it down and then struggle to put it back together again...

I'm probably just going to have to take a deep breath and get on with it though right?


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## Spazbarista (Dec 6, 2011)

I would have a look in the boiler to get an idea of what level of scale there might be in all the other parts of the machine. If it is pretty clear then you have lucked out enormously, and well done.

A friend of mine had one that went bang a few months after he took ownership of it. It is too expensive to repair and so has been junked. With these things often being found in pubs and restaurants there is no telling what has gone on or how many owners it has had. Worth having a look to at least be reassured, or be able to take remedial action.

I've not used one, but IIRC they are single boiler HX machines, and therefore will require a fairly long cooling flush before each shot.


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## carbonkid85 (Jan 19, 2011)

Urgh.

It's not good.


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## Spazbarista (Dec 6, 2011)

Oh dear. What have you found?

(ps. I noticed that a coffee machine repair man has been posting recently. He might be a good source of advice)


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## carbonkid85 (Jan 19, 2011)

Well it contains less dead spiders than it did previously...

I cleaned it up a bit internally, filled the tank and switched on. The pump immediately primed the boiler, which seemed like a good thing. When it had finished, I tested the brew button which again caused the pump to come on but nothing came from the group head and the pump suddenly cut out. The power light is still on, but that's it!

Oh dear...


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## antdad (Dec 1, 2011)

carbonkid85 said:


> Well it contains less dead spiders than it did previously...
> 
> I cleaned it up a bit internally, filled the tank and switched on. The pump immediately primed the boiler, which seemed like a good thing. When it had finished, I tested the brew button which again caused the pump to come on but nothing came from the group head and the pump suddenly cut out. The power light is still on, but that's it!
> 
> Oh dear...


Bump...how did you get on?


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## carbonkid85 (Jan 19, 2011)

antdad said:


> Bump...how did you get on?


Yep! Got it there in the end. Took a hell of a lot of cleaning. Water inlet was blocked with scale, changed out the inners of the vibe pump, stripped the machine almost completely. Unbolted the boiler and emptied the flakes of scale out, descaled boiler, element and HX.

Machine is up and running now though. Steams like a beast! The only thing stopping me now is awful technique...


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## Ran1 (Oct 22, 2013)

How's the S24 coming along?

Did you get to the bottom of the problem?


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