# Rancilio Silvia steam wand 3 hole tip on a PID'd Silvia.



## Ian S

Hi all,

Sorry to have to ask this probably already many times answered question. I used the search for 15 minutes or so.

I was wondering about buying that £6.50 three hole tip from eBay.

Are they really rubbish at steaming? And too tight to fit the steam wand thread?

I have the PID and so this Silvia produces a lot of steam pressure at 150°C.

I thought I ask here to see if anyone has tired one on a PID'd Silvia. Or a normal Silvia. From Gaggia users the search found only complaints.

Thanks.


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## masonharley

Hi Ian,

The three hole tip will fit the wand. Rancilio actually made it stock on an earlier version of the Rancilio Silvia. My only worry is that you are putting your boiler at risk of burning it. The three holes will diminish your steam, so it won't give as good performance. It might be okay to steam a very small pitcher of milk but personally i wouldn't recommend doing this. Putting it on a PID'd Silvia is not going to make a difference, your just going to see the steam temperature drop quicker than usual because of the 3 holes. If the steam wand is working fine as it is then i'd stay on the safe side and leave it. If you have the V2 Silvia then you will have a copper heating element which is more likeley to burn out rather than the new V4 which has a new stainless steel heating element. If the wand isn't performing as well as it used to take off the tip and soak it in some detergent like Urnex Cafiza for about half an hour. I do this with my wand and it removes all of the milk proteins which will give you better performance out of your wand.

Cheers

Mason.


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## Ian S

Thanks









The single hole has not deteriorated.

The PID does make a lot of difference as it raises the temp from standard and provides more steam at higher pressure so it takes longer to drop off. There is so much pressure that, if not applied with care, it can blast quite a bit of milk out of the 250ml jug I use.

I always re-charge the boiler after every steam.

I can only presume that if it takes 100 ml of steam (@ x°C & y PSI) to heat 200 ml of milk to 50°C, then that's what it takes, whether one hole of three. And that, with the same °C and PSI, if it's 30 seconds with one hole it would be 10 seconds with three holes??

Is that the case? And do three holes not produce microfoam (in 10 seconds?) with the Silvia?


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## masonharley

All you will get with the three hole steam tip is when you turn it on it will just blast big 'hunks' of air in to your milk and you will only have microfoam that is suitable for a Cappuccino. Like i said earlier you are putting your heating element at risk. Even though it might be quicker to steam you will more than likely add too much texture to your milk and if you like to do latte art a single hole tip is best for the home barista. By adding the 3 hole tip you will get problems. When you turn it on it will just kind of explode and blast too much air in. I have provided a video link below on YouTube to show you the 3 hole steam tip on a 2009 Silvia. The video shows the person turning on the steam and injecting too much air and i am not surprised his boiler hasn't burned. You presumed it would take 10 seconds to heat the same amount of milk but no it doesn't work like that.You need to have enough time so you can add the right amount of texture to the milk before it becomes scalded which is what you will end up with with the 3 hole tip. It took the guy in the video 25 seconds to steam 100ml of milk which is 5 seconds from the 1 hole (It takes 30 seconds on average to steam 100ml of milk with a Silvia with a 1 hole steam tip.)






Thanks, any other questions just let me know in this thread.

Mason.


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## Ian S

Thanks for the links









I get that 'exploding' out from the single hole tip. Sometimes I purge it first. What I said earlier about carefully applying the pressure.

That was 20 Seconds with the 100ml and three hole (video progress bar 27 to 47 seconds). But from and to what milk temps and with what steam temp and pressure. And how far did he turn on the tap. Meaningless without data.

The Seattle one didn't list anything other that 145°C and it took 27 seconds. Assume pressure to be the same as mine. No milk volume or temps.

I just steamed one, it was 30 seconds for 200ml from fridge temp up to just too hot to hold. I got about 80% froth:milk, but sometimes I get approaching 100% froth:milk. I could get more but the jug would overflow, that might be with some larger bubbles. I guess quantity might depend of the bubble size ratio. I paid close attention earlier today and there were a lot of very tiny bubbles that would quality as micro foam.

Milk type also affects foam, they say. I'm using unpasteurised unhomogenised Jersey. I steam it from straight from the fridge.

Just steamed some milk:

About 4.5 Bar steam pressure in the boiler after purging the water from the steam wand and letting the pressure settle.

Dropping to 1.5 Bar whilst steaming 200ml for 25 seconds.

Then I turned on the pump to refill the boiler with water which took 6 seconds.

From the brew head 6 seconds delivered 70 ml. I should try it again at pressure from the steam wand.


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## masonharley

Interesting where do you get your unpasteurised unhomogenised Jersey from?


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## Ian S

Direct from a farm in Herefordshire. There are several in the UK who do mail order and some sell at farmers markets.

It has to be direct as the UK Gov prohibits sales of unpasteurised milk in shops. Though Sainsbury's, at least, sell unpasteurised cheese.

I wanted Jersey as it's A2 protein. And unpasteurised as a pro-biotic in it's own right and also to make Kefir.

Delivered it works out to about £2.65 per litre.


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## Johnnyhall1961

I have a new V 6 Rancilio Silvia and I just can't get the steaming correct, I have tried various methods but the steam seems really powerful and seems to boil the milk before I get it to a microfoam state any advice is welcome

frustrated of Bristol


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## profesor_historia

Johnnyhall1961 said:


> I have a new V 6 Rancilio Silvia and I just can't get the steaming correct, I have tried various methods but the steam seems really powerful and seems to boil the milk before I get it to a microfoam state any advice is welcome
> frustrated of Bristol


Hello, I have a new V6 too and I found the steaming easier and better than with my former Expobar Office Control (HX). I press the steam button and wait until the orange light goes off and then let a bit if steam off . When I start to steam the milk I put the tip only a bit inside the milk and try to get a whirlpool effect. A thermometer would help, you reach the 60°C pretty quick. I was also amazed how powerful is the steaming on the V6. I use the one hole tip, the original one, I tried the 4 holes just for fun and I had boiling milked splashed all over...

Sent from my ALP-L09 using Tapatalk


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## Doram

Johnnyhall1961 said:


> I have a new V 6 Rancilio Silvia and I just can't get the steaming correct, I have tried various methods but the steam seems really powerful and seems to boil the milk before I get it to a microfoam state any advice is welcome
> 
> frustrated of Bristol


 How much milk are you trying to steam? In what type/size of jug? Is it full cows milk or something else?

Have you watched this video?


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