# RANCILLIO SILVIA: YEARS OLD NO IMROVEMENTS!!



## Gilly (Jul 29, 2019)

Ok , Can someone explain why RANCILLIO have never got to grips with at least two underlying problems.

Firstly the ghastly drip tray/ solenoid valve misalignment turning your lovely mild steel frame into a 1970's Morris Marina rot box(remember those);

And secondly why have they never considered putting some kind of water level gauge on the side of the Silvia so you do not have to remove half the kitchen crockery off the top every time you feel your Silvia is running dry.

Am I missing something here?

Is it beyond the realms of possibility that they could Galvanzine the steel or reconfigure the position of the outlet valve?

Your opinions please!!!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Philip HN (Nov 7, 2019)

The Morris Marina was by all accounts the worst car of all time, but they still sold more than 800,000 in the UK.... The Rancilio Silvia has also got a decent following and has had for years so I suspect that while they still sell and the positive noises outweigh the negative, the motivation to change is neglible. You are right about the rust though, I had to treat and re-spray my "Marina" a couple of times over the many years I owned mine. But to my astonishment at auction it still sold (with an open and honest description which included a dripping steam wand) for only £75 less than the price of a new one. So people want them. Isn't it time to start thinking about an upgrade?


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

If people keep buying them and retailers don't/can't ask/force them to do it, then they won't do anything unless they want to. After acquisition by Ali group as all to often happens the manufacturers get swallowed into a much larger corporate culture. I know because I am struggling with just that problem at the moment..

Many of the coffee companies now are owned by larger corporate entities who swallowed up numerous smaller companies (e.g. Astorias recent acquisition of rocket). This is fine for the business customers but generally unfavourable for the prosumer and we become a much smaller part of the revenue stream that they envisage. The smaller independent companies have other pressures, revenue and budget as a problem, but are much more receptive to producing what their customers want and keep a much closer eye on the prosumer market. You can talk to the owner and then things *get done, *in these larger companies who are parts of corporates, it's not so easy.

The very large companies are not anti consumer as such (especially where big money is concerned) but sometimes business practices can seem that way for the domestic and prosumer buyer. Take for examples the time a few years ago Rancilio put in the energy saving system that users were having to disable with some DIY work....had that been tested by someone who knew what the issues would be, there would have been a way to disable it (still complies with the rules). However, there wasn't anyone who said anything that mattered a jot to them...so they went ahead with it....because easy compliance was their focus.

The other big problem is corporates are thick skinned and slow to react. So once they are big enough even if people stop buying something and feedback why, they often don't react until they have truly destroyed the product and it's far too late.


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## shadow745 (Apr 29, 2012)

3 years ago I bought a V1 Silvia from 2005 or so. Seller hardly used it and thankfully no rust in that area. I did a few tweaks to be sure none ever occurs and even though it should've been handled by the factory, it was nothing for me to figure out and do for just a few dollars/hours.

I can't agree with the water reservoir issue as compared to the machines I've owned over the years the Silvia lid is awesome to remove, refill and be good. I've always been in the habit of topping off the tank of every machine I've had each morning since I started espresso. Even the mighty Cremina I had involved me turning it upside down each morning to drain the boiler followed by a fresh refill. Really don't see how some overlook something as important as the water tank level to the point machines have sensors to prevent damage.

Decided to add a pic/info for my 3-way/frame fix. I bought a 90 degree brass PEX fitting and modified it to fit onto the bottom of the 3-way exhaust tube. I sealed the exhaust tube seams with electrical tape and ran a strip of tape along the seam where the drip tray meets the frame. Initially used electrical tape, but have since switched to aluminum foil tape. These mods ensure nothing ever gets in that area to rust and the 3-way dumps out nicely into the drip tray instead of splashing all over as in stock form. Of course this prevents the drip tray from being slid out, but no problem there as I keep a thick sponge in it to catch all runoff, then I wring it out and wipe the tray out after each use and it's like new every day. I also put some thin rubber pads under the drip tray as that eliminates any metal-metal vibration as well as leaving an air gap to be sure no moisture gets trapped under there.


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## Bica60s (Dec 3, 2019)

Must admit I haven't noticed any issues with water splashing outside of my drip tray holder although it comes close! I remove the tray and sponge the drip tray holder after every use. I wish the drip tray was a little deeper but beyond that, all seems fine.

I've looked a a lot of sub £500 machines and owned a few and based on that alone, I have yet to come across a better made machine at this price point. It is made to last unlike many others. It is more robust than the Gaggia which I just couldn't justify the spend on a new model after seeing the inside of one! Nice solid brass boiler with replaceable element, robust switches and brass OPV, decent pipework and quite a robust (and cheap to replace) vibration pump. It seems to share a lot of its components with the more expensive commercial Rancilios, so really there's not much to moan about except to agree that "nice to haves" would be a water reservoir transparent pipe on the outside (except you couldn't have a removable tank if you did that), or a tank that could be slid out sideways to avoid having to pull the whole machine forward from under the overhead units in the kitchen to refill it.

It's something of a design classic and as with many such things, each has it's foibles. One the whole, the positives much outweigh the negatives. If and when the base eventually starts to rust, don't let it get so far as to become an issue. Clean it off, kill the rust and repaint the thing, problem solved (or get it powder coated for not a lot of money).


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## ashcroc (Oct 28, 2016)

Bica60s said:


> Must admit I haven't noticed any issues with water splashing outside of my drip tray holder although it comes close! I remove the tray and sponge the drip tray holder after every use. I wish the drip tray was a little deeper but beyond that, all seems fine.
> I've looked a a lot of sub £500 machines and owned a few and based on that alone, I have yet to come across a better made machine at this price point. It is made to last unlike many others. It is more robust than the Gaggia which I just couldn't justify the spend on a new model after seeing the inside of one! Nice solid brass boiler with replaceable element, robust switches and brass OPV, decent pipework and quite a robust (and cheap to replace) vibration pump. It seems to share a lot of its components with the more expensive commercial Rancilios, so really there's not much to moan about except to agree that "nice to haves" would be a water reservoir transparent pipe on the outside (except you couldn't have a removable tank if you did that), or a tank that could be slid out sideways to avoid having to pull the whole machine forward from under the overhead units in the kitchen to refill it.
> It's something of a design classic and as with many such things, each has it's foibles. One the whole, the positives much outweigh the negatives. If and when the base eventually starts to rust, don't let it get so far as to become an issue. Clean it off, kill the rust and repaint the thing, problem solved (or get it powder coated for not a lot of money).


Get some felt pads to put under the feet to make moving it about for tank refills easier.


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## Bica60s (Dec 3, 2019)

I have some and will use them...good suggestion ashroc.


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