# Not bad for less than £100 ;)



## HizerKite (Feb 25, 2011)

Izzo Alex 2 (older non pid model)

Bought non working a couple of weeks ago, spent a couple of days stripping and rebuilding.. I usually sell them but decided to keep this one ;o)

13th October 2012, fitted solid state relay, not really needed but I don't like the pressure stat switching 6 amps and this stops the switch sparking...


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## funinacup (Aug 30, 2010)

Absolute bargain, you lucky sod!

How much work did it need to get it running?

Michael

Fun in a Cup Coffee Training


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## HizerKite (Feb 25, 2011)

Was just a case of dismantling, descaling, repairing the anti vac valve and putting it all back together. I have now replaced all the group seals and springs though the originals weren't actually that bad. Just need to find a way to connect my volvic water bottles as can't use tap water round here.


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## Southpaw (Feb 26, 2012)

Nice find and good job on the refurb!


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

Nice work. Thanks for sharing the pictures too. Makes you appreciate the internals alot more when you see them all exposed.


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## Obsy (May 21, 2012)

Wow that's the best bargain I've seen. Good job on the refurb. Don't blame you for keeping this one!


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

Just goes to show (Combined with the £85 Mazzer Royal ) , excellent espresso can be had at home for less than £200 . Just need to find the bargains Good work!


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## RobD (May 2, 2012)

Nice work, looks to be a real bargain, and there is nothing more satisfying than pulling a really good shot from a machine that you have restored, a real man in his shed moment









one thing, didn't you fancy insulating the boiler while you where in there?

PS gary my Royal was only £51!!


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

RobD said:


> PS gary my Royal was only £51!!


You'll need burrs by the looks of things!


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## Spazbarista (Dec 6, 2011)

Brilliant work!!


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## HizerKite (Feb 25, 2011)

Many thanks to everyone for the kind comments. I have a couple more machines that am working on but my favourite is definitely this one.. Robd, I am thinking about insulating the boiler but have read conflicting posts about whether it's a good idea...

Still struggling to get good crema so would very much appreciate recommendations of beans - I don't want to have to join any mail order scheme or anything so ideally just something I can easily order online..

Richard


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## RobD (May 2, 2012)

Hi Richard

Dont know the best beens but i have never had any problems with Java Lingtong, lovely for a big flat white on a lazy sunday.

What negatives have you heard about insulating boilers?


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## HizerKite (Feb 25, 2011)

Many thanks, will have a look at the Lingtong. I heard that you should only insulate if there are separate steam and brew boilers. Plus I don't really know where to get a suitable product.. ironic really as I work for an insulation manufacturer ;o)


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## RobD (May 2, 2012)

would that be a certain expanded foam building product produced in Hadleigh?









what you could use is close cell expanded silicon sponge, if you go to the It Lives thread i put the details of the ebay company i got mine from, along with some photos of it fitted, but there are plenty of companies that produce it, as for requiring separate boilers that doesn't make sense as on the Expobar Brewtus both boilers are insulated, yes it does speed up the recovery time on an HX machine but as long as you remember to flush and pull the shot within 20 secs or so its seams Ok, but i really am no expert when it comes to flavour.


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## HizerKite (Feb 25, 2011)

It would indeed! I'll have a look at your link, many thanks for the info. I don't drink espresso except on rare occasions but am a huge fan of latte and have one after dinner everyday. It takes at least 15 minutes for my machine to warm up and my old Francis Francis takes only a maximum of 3 but I just like using a real machine so the wait is worth it. Maybe the insulation will speed up the process but there's not much reason to go to the effort otherwise. My biggest issue is the cost of Volvic, especially now that I have to flush... The tap water in Suffolk is undrinkable unfortunately.


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## ECA (Sep 14, 2012)

That looks like quite the job. Wish I had the technical know-how to do a great job like that. Well done on the set up.


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## Colin T (Nov 23, 2012)

Very jealous. Where did you do your shopping?


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## forzajuve (Feb 2, 2011)

Great work! That is an impressive before and after shot of the boiler. Incredible to think someone paid a lot of money for that new, has not taken care of it and then got rid as couldn't be bothered to service either themselves or paying someone else to do it. Talk about a throw away culture! Anyway, all the better for us that can hunt out those little gems!


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## rmwkenefeck (Nov 25, 2012)

Amazing! Great save!


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## RisingPower (Dec 27, 2009)

Damn. Nice job.

I had a try at insulating the izzo, but it just made it a pain to get at the internals and had very little effect on heat retention.

It's a fairly big boiler and takes a long time to warm up with or without baffling.

There's an article on coffeetime about insulating the alex









http://coffeetime.wikidot.com/insulating-the-izzo-alex-mk-ii-paul-l


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## BigBen (Feb 24, 2013)

Awesome find!! The re-build job is phenomenal! Have you thought about a home reverse osmosis kit? These are increasing in popularity.

Ben


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## jpt198 (Apr 28, 2013)

Hi,

Sounds like a bargain, and a very satisfying repair job!

I know that this is almost 10 years old, but I wondered if you had any pics the various stages? I saw the a couple of external pics on your flickr (with some other beautiful pics!).

I think I have a quite a bit strip down, clean and rebuild job for my izzo alex mk2, so was having a hunt for related posts!

cheers!

Jon


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## ThePeginator (Dec 17, 2019)

HizerKite said:


> It would indeed! ...
> The tap water in Suffolk is undrinkable unfortunately.


Small world, my parents live in Elmsett.

You're right about the water. We're up in Norfolk, same story. Luckily I went to Waitrose a few months ago and just filled a trolley with water, still got loads left.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## HizerKite (Feb 25, 2011)

Hi, I live in Norfolk now also. A small village called Topcroft, around 4 miles from Long Stratton. I've long stopped working on coffee machines but have recently though about getting back into it. I have friends living in Elmsett, definitely a small world


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## HizerKite (Feb 25, 2011)

ThePeginator said:


> Small world, my parents live in Elmsett.
> 
> You're right about the water. We're up in Norfolk, same story. Luckily I went to Waitrose a few months ago and just filled a trolley with water, still got loads left.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk





jpt198 said:


> Hi,
> 
> Sounds like a bargain, and a very satisfying repair job!
> 
> ...


 Hi Jon, unfortunately I don't have any of the old photos, I'll have a look on my backup drive later in case there are some there. Best thing to do is take photos before you disamtle then carefully descale with citric acid and make sure everything is tight when you re assemble. The Izzo is very easy to work on and you can't really go wrong. They are built to a very high standard with very few plastic parts.

Let me know if you struggle with anything and am sure you'll get it working perfectly.

Regards

Richard


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