# Rancilio Silvia/mazzer mini reliability?



## l3radduz (Jun 25, 2012)

Hi I've been looking to replace my current Krups hand me down and after searching around for some time I'm considering getting a Silvia and mazzer mini. These two combined are right at the top of my budget so ideally with correct care i would like them to last which brings me to ask

how reliable are they?

how often should a home machine be serviced?

and if you have either how long has it lasted and what repairs has it needed?

Thanks

Bradley


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

Hi Bradley and welcome to Coffee Forums UK

Absolutely years is the answer to your questions.

You can self service these if required but regular cleaning and descaling should see you right for many years to come.


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## l3radduz (Jun 25, 2012)

Thanks Glenn, my only worry is to spend that money for problems to then start occurring after the warranty expires.


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## Spazbarista (Dec 6, 2011)

Both machines are robust and built like tanks. I had a Silvia for ten years and it never went wrong. Use Volvic in it to keep scale down, backflush with detergent every few weeks and it'll be fine.


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## ronsil (Mar 8, 2012)

I had my Silvia for around 5 years. Weekly backflush with water & monthly with Puly. There is a school of opinion that says not to backflush a Silvia but I don't go with that.

We used to live in Bournemouth which is a very hard water area. I did tests on the various bottled waters & found 'Spa' to be the softest yet still retaining the slight 'bite' needed for espresso.

Be prepared to learn Silvia. She stands no nonsense but has the ability to achieve a beautiful espresso.

Allow for a 45 minutes warm up.

I never had the Machine breakdown in all the time I had her.

BTW You may find the Mazzer E a bit clumpy. Many people remove the screen in the chute.


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## Spazbarista (Dec 6, 2011)

The basic doser Mini is great, clump free.

Second Ronsil's advice about Silvia. The key is to either google research temperature surfing on a Silvia, or fit a PID. If you don't, you'll be eternally frustrated at the inconsistency of your shots.


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## l3radduz (Jun 25, 2012)

Thanks guys using bottled water rather than filtered tap water sounds quite a good idea. I'm very familiar with back flushing and general care of coffee machines so i should be able to make it last. Temperature surfing wont be much of an inconvenience and once i set the grind i should imagine my shots should be alright as they usually are quite consistent when using the La Spaziale S5 at work but this will be my first proper home machine. I like the idea of pidding the Silvia but i wouldn't want to void the warranty and then for things go horribly wrong even though i have heard it can extend the boiler life. For the Silvia to last at least five years with out issues is quite reasonable. Maybe some time towards the end of that i will consider looking at fitting a pid.


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## MelonCoffee (Jun 21, 2012)

Reliability on the Mazzer - I have known these to be left in a shed that got washed away by the sea in a storm, the Mazzer (once dried) was switched on and jammed due to the burrs rusting together. The user 'forgot' to turn it off so it cooked quite happily for about 6 hours. It was too hot to touch (it removed his finger prints when he touched it) anyway, following cooling it down and dropping it off to me to look at it worked perfectly happily with new burrs fitted, it did run a bit noisy and that was just the top bearing. Again some rust (probably due to the salt water). So a 1 hour repair and good as new! unbelieveably robust. The only issue can be the return spring on the doser models. If you drop a Mazzer on the floor simply pick it up and use it again, then go and find someone to repair the crater in the floor!

Reliability on Silva - Never known too many problems, a simple seal & shower plate replacement occasionally will see you right, and when you backflush use a liquid espresso cleaner rather than the powder type, they tend to be as good at clearing coffee deposits and have the added advantage of never blocking a solenoid.

PM me if you need a supplier of liquid backflush


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## l3radduz (Jun 25, 2012)

Thanks that's good to hear but i shouldn't be moving it around much so i shouldn't have to worry to much about dropping it and damaging the floor. I normally use the powder cleaners and haven't had much problems but have seen people suggest liquid form rather that the powder before. I probably will end up trying them out.

It's nearing the time that i will be ordering my new set up and i'm starting to have a moment of indecisiveness and considering forking out a bit more to get a Fracino Cherub. Being able to steam and brew at the same time is starting to sound more appealing to me as i do like the odd flat white or piccolo and some times having friends round making multiples of these would be a lot easier. with fracino being a UK based company if anything should go wrong parts shoudn't be to hard to come by.


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## ronsil (Mar 8, 2012)

If you have the funds, don't hesitate, go for the twin boiler:rolleyes:


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