# Maintenance for the Silvia



## Farravi (Dec 12, 2013)

Hello again.

I've been away from the forums for sometime as I am in the process of setting up one of my own, it's nearing completion, so watch this space.

Anywho, I bought the Rancilio Silvia v3 sometime in 2013 after upgrading from my very first Gaggia Cubika (pressurised portafilter)and haven't serviced it yet. By service, I mean, regular backflush and cleaning the group head screen.

I finally got round to do it last night and boy was I surprised to see the thick layer of muck stuck onto the screen, the spacer and even the bolt wasn't spared.

I had ordered a spare screen that I have now fitted bought from Amazon £11.55 including p&p and it came with the group head gasket which I've seem to have misplaced unwittingly.

Needless to say, the muck had blocked the holes of the screen and hence the pressure was all over the place.

After giving it a good clean, I tested the machine and it's running so much smoother, with lots of crema and I the coffee taste so much smoother.

I'm waiting on the meCoffee PID any day soon so will update the other thread and will let you all know how I get along with the installation.

Also if there any tips or a manual as to how to maintain the Silvia, I'd welcome your input.


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## UbiquitousPhoton (Mar 7, 2016)

Rescale once a month or so with a citric based descaler. Fill the tank, put in the descaler, run it through in 1/3 of a tank increments, waiting 20 mins between each run, keep the machine off inbetween because it works better cold. Remember to run descaler through both head and wand. Run a tank of plain water through afterwards, again, both head and wand.

Backflush with cafiza at least once a week.

this should keep all elements pretty clean, but you will still need the occasional deep clean. I found a pallo brush helpful in keeping the screen clean too.


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## Stanic (Dec 12, 2015)

Why wouldn't you clean the machine for so long?


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## Farravi (Dec 12, 2013)

Cheers @ UbiquitiousPhoton

@ Stanic - I exaggerate, I have cleaned it a few times, backflush mainly using







and I've moved around so my machines have been sitting weeks on ends, apart from me, the girls will need more TLC is what I've decided.


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## nicholasj (Nov 11, 2013)

UbiquitousPhoton said:


> this should keep all elements pretty clean, but you will still need the occasional deep clean. I found a pallo brush helpful in keeping the screen clean too.


What extra maintenance does a deep clean involve please?


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## UbiquitousPhoton (Mar 7, 2016)

Drop the screen and soak it in cafiza, scrub up behind it with aforementioned pallo brush. If you don't regularly clean the water tank, take that out and give it a scrub. give the drip try cover a bit of a soak, too if you don't already. Nothing too much, really, the regular backflush and descale is the most important thing.


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## sls (Jan 20, 2018)

Thanks for that. Very helpful.


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## dannoceti (Oct 15, 2018)

I always notice a better tasting shot after backflushing with some cafiza.


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