# Silvia keeps reheating during shot pull



## GaryG (Mar 1, 2013)

Hi guys

My machine has suddenly started to reheat half way through a shot. I usually get it to reheat before and then pull some water through until the 'hiss' stops. But now it seems to keep reheating much earlier.

Any ideas?


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## Stanic (Dec 12, 2015)

maybe scale on heating element reducing heating effectivity and the thermostat is switching it on sooner? have you got a PID installed?


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## GaryG (Mar 1, 2013)

Stanic said:


> maybe scale on heating element reducing heating effectivity and the thermostat is switching it on sooner? have you got a PID installed?


No. Is that the next fix? How do I get scale of heating element?


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## Stanic (Dec 12, 2015)

de-scaling...I use this every 6 months

PID would not fix scaling but will greatly improve thermal stability (no need for re-heating and pulling water) and indirectly has a potential to reduce scaling (as you simply pull much less water through the boiler, of course also depends on the input water quality)


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## GaryG (Mar 1, 2013)

Stanic said:


> de-scaling...I use this every 6 months
> 
> PID would not fix scaling but will greatly improve thermal stability (no need for re-heating and pulling water) and indirectly has a potential to reduce scaling (as you simply pull much less water through the boiler, of course also depends on the input water quality)


Awesome. So that's what I'm going to do.

What PID have you got? And where do you buy the Descaler?

Awesome thank you


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## Stanic (Dec 12, 2015)

I've got it in one café/shop but you can get it for example here

It should last for many years.

I have the meCoffee PID installed..very happy with it but there are also some other options of course. The meCoffee is hidden inside without any display and drilling and is operated using an app.

Here is an interesting picture I found, comparing clean and scaled boiler of Rancilio Silvia..quite a difference and helps to understand the loss of heating effectivity









image credit Whole Latte Love


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## Stanic (Dec 12, 2015)

my de-scaling workflow:

first clean the machine properly, the group with something like puly and the steam wand with rinza or the likes

then prepare a bit more than one liter of the solution as recommended, pour into the tank, pour 0,4 liter through the group, then using the water switch pour around 0,1 liter through the steam wand, put the portafilter with blind disc into the grouphead and activate the brew button, make sure the hose from the OPV is not inserted into the tank as the remaining water would dilute the solution in the tank and pour around 0,1 liter through the hose

leave to rest around 20 minutes, then repeat to renew the de-scaling solution in the system

after another 20 minutes fill the tank with clean water and pour 0,5 liter through the group and 0,1 through the wand and also the OPV hose, and repeat to make sure no residues are left in the hydraulic system

take care not to get the acidic solution on you skin/eyes/wherever


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## GaryG (Mar 1, 2013)

This is awesome help my friend.


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## gwing (Jul 17, 2017)

GaryG said:


> No. Is that the next fix? How do I get scale of heating element?


Maybe







A PID is a great idea as it keeps the temperature within a much tighter band than the original thermostat.

However, as a consequence it switches the heater on and off more frequently. If you have got your manual Silvio temperature surfing routine sorted out you should be able to pull the shot without the heater coming on mid pull, or at least at the same consistent point somewhere near end-of-pull. The PID gets rid of the need for this surfing ritual - but then it may well come on randomly somewhere in the middle of a pull (unless Silvia PIDS have become more complex these days).

Good coffee ...

Rob.


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