# Rancilio Silvia V6 and Rocky Grinder



## francispf94 (Oct 9, 2020)

Hello CoffeeForums 

Here is my setup, finally with the basics are ready for the my new journey into the coffee world 

I will post updates here about new settings, experiments, etc.


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## francispf94 (Oct 9, 2020)

First shot was horrible, too fine the grind but then after some iterations, got a decent one:

- 18g dose

- 30s extraction

- Grinder in setting 12-13















The beans (decaf) that I've used were from Guatemala:


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## Peterbob67 (Oct 26, 2020)

That is exactly my first set up and since buying a Sage thing I still wish it was my set up! The Rancillo has a great personality and makes great coffee when everything is in balance!


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## profesor_historia (Sep 1, 2020)

francispf94 said:


> Hello CoffeeForums
> Here is my setup, finally with the basics are ready for the my new journey into the coffee world
> I will post updates here about new settings, experiments, etc.
> <img alt="setup_coffee_rancilio.thumb.jpeg.3092c508d2bd37a7e34b87808b13f3ef.jpeg" data-fileid="47085" data-src="<fileStore.core_Attachment>/monthly_2020_10/setup_coffee_rancilio.thumb.jpeg.3092c508d2bd37a7e34b87808b13f3ef.jpeg" src="https://www.coffeeforums.co.uk/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png">


Hello I have a V6 as well bought 2 weeks ago, are you planning to PID it? How do you manage the temperature surfing?
I have a Compak E10 Master.

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## francispf94 (Oct 9, 2020)

Peterbob67 said:


> That is exactly my first set up and since buying a Sage thing I still wish it was my set up! The Rancillo has a great personality and makes great coffee when everything is in balance!


 Hi Peterbot, thanks for the feedback. I'm happy at the moment with this Rancilio combo, lets see if it will last long! 



profesor_historia said:


> Hello I have a V6 as well bought 2 weeks ago, are you planning to PID it? How do you manage the temperature surfing?
> I have a Compak E10 Master.
> 
> Sent from my ALP-L09 using Tapatalk


 Hi profesor_historia, yes but not right now!  I think I need to pratice for some time and then maybe I go for the upgrade. Right now I'm doing the temp surfing described here:






I try to brew espresso 30 seconds after the orange light turns off.

About your Grinder, that's an expensive one!! Mine costs 10x less than yours 😅 It is worth it? Do you get consistent ground?


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## MrOrk (Apr 17, 2018)

https://www.swisswuff.ch/wordpress/?p=385

I found this helpful temperature surfing my Silvia


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## Doram (Oct 12, 2012)

profesor_historia said:


> Hello I have a V6 as well bought 2 weeks ago, are you planning to PID it? How do you manage the temperature surfing?


 Until you get a PID, you can use a very simple thermocouple to take most of the guesswork out of temp surfing. You just connect the probe under the screw that holds one of the thermostats to the boiler, and get an instant read of the temperature. I found it very useful when I had the Silvia with no PID: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TM-902C-K-Type-Digital-LCD-Thermometer-Thermodetector-Meter-Thermocouple-Probes/154082820599?hash=item23e00d41f7:g:838AAOSw2S1fW0Fg

My routine was:
1) Draw water from the group until the heating light goes on.
2) prepare the coffee in the PF and wait for the light to go off.
3) Once the light goes off, flush water until the thermometer reads the desired temperature (usually for me that was ~107C; The group is ~10C below the temp at the boiler)*.
4) Insert the PF and brew.**

*If you don't have a thermocouple, at stage 3 above flush water just until no steam comes out and water flow settles (which will indicate that you are just under 100C).
**If you get sour shots and suspect temperature was too low, next time do a shorter flush to keep temp higher. If you get bitter/harsh shots and suspect temperature was too high, next time do a longer flush to lower the temperature further.

Knowing the temp at the boiler will not replace a PID, but it's a very easy and cheap way to bridge the gap between blind temp surfing and PID control.


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## profesor_historia (Sep 1, 2020)

Doram said:


> Until you get a PID, you can use a very simple thermocouple to take most of the guesswork out of temp surfing. You just connect the probe under the screw that holds one of the thermostats to the boiler, and get an instant read of the temperature. I found it very useful when I had the Silvia with no PID: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TM-902C-K-Type-Digital-LCD-Thermometer-Thermodetector-Meter-Thermocouple-Probes/154082820599?hash=item23e00d41f7:g:838AAOSw2S1fW0Fg
> 
> My routine was:
> 
> ...


Thanks a lot for the advices. To be honest I think I cannot resist to the new Silvia Pro so I have just sold the grinder and I will sell my current Silvia too. I know it may seem stupid and I should have thought better but you know. I am not decided yet, almost for the same price I could buy the Elizabeth or the Mínima, but I love Rancilio so I don't know. Around 20th of November the Pro will be launched in Spain with an attractive price. I know the Elizabeth offers a lot more so my cold judgement goes with her, but my heart with Silvia. The worst thing is not knowing which one to choose from 2 women....

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## Doram (Oct 12, 2012)

profesor_historia said:


> I know the Elizabeth offers a lot more so my cold judgment goes with her, but my heart with Silvia


 I know how you feel. I had a Silvia V1 for 20 years, then got a V6 intending to PID, but change my mind and sold it. It was hard to let it go and buy something else (Mara X). Don't let the nostalgia and emotional attachment guide your decision: your new machine will be better and you will not look back. I am sure the Silvia Pro will be good, but it's expensive, and for the price I think you can probably get other machines that will be just as good or better. Also don't think that the Silvia Pro is the same size as the Silvia - it's much bigger.


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## profesor_historia (Sep 1, 2020)

Doram said:


> I know how you feel. I had a Silvia V1 for 20 years, then got a V6 intending to PID, but change my mind and sold it. It was hard to let it go and buy something else (Mara X). Don't let the nostalgia and emotional attachment guide your decision: your new machine will be better and you will not look back. I am sure the Silvia Pro will be good, but it's expensive, and for the price I think you can probably get other machines that will be just as good or better. Also don't think that the Silvia Pro is the same size as the Silvia - it's much bigger.


I know it's bigger, and I like this aspect, don't ask me why







, don't know, it gives me the feeling of working on a profesional machine. The footprint is almost the same as Expobar Office Control which I had for more than a year so I am used to big mahxines. It won't be much more expensive than MaraX and I want the PID, it's a must. The price will be I hope under 1200€ so not so bad. After all they build coffee machines since 1927









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## L2en (Jun 10, 2018)

profesor_historia said:


> Thanks a lot for the advices. To be honest I think I cannot resist to the new Silvia Pro so I have just sold the grinder and I will sell my current Silvia too. I know it may seem stupid and I should have thought better but you know. I am not decided yet, almost for the same price I could buy the Elizabeth or the Mínima, but I love Rancilio so I don't know. Around 20th of November the Pro will be launched in Spain with an attractive price. I know the Elizabeth offers a lot more so my cold judgement goes with her, but my heart with Silvia. The worst thing is not knowing which one to choose from 2 women....
> Sent from my ALP-L09 using Tapatalk


I have a very soft spot for Silvia, I have one ten years old and it is a wonderful machine. I was thinking of the Pro, but then I saw one of the American youtube channels' 20 minute long introduction of it and I was really not impressed, it is well overpriced in my opinion. Lots of weak points of the original the Pro does not solve, the water tank, for example, Lelit did so much better in their higher end machines. So I will go with the Lelit. 
But watch some of the reviews, maybe you will actually love the Pro.

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## francispf94 (Oct 9, 2020)

Doram said:


> Until you get a PID, you can use a very simple thermocouple to take most of the guesswork out of temp surfing. You just connect the probe under the screw that holds one of the thermostats to the boiler, and get an instant read of the temperature. I found it very useful when I had the Silvia with no PID: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TM-902C-K-Type-Digital-LCD-Thermometer-Thermodetector-Meter-Thermocouple-Probes/154082820599?hash=item23e00d41f7:g:838AAOSw2S1fW0Fg
> 
> My routine was:
> 1) Draw water from the group until the heating light goes on.
> ...


 Thanks a lot @Doram for that, I will give it a try and order one. I think my shots are a little sour... so maybe it is the temperature


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## francispf94 (Oct 9, 2020)

profesor_historia said:


> I know it's bigger, and I like this aspect, don't ask me why   , don't know, it gives me the feeling of working on a profesional machine. The footprint is almost the same as Expobar Office Control which I had for more than a year so I am used to big mahxines. It won't be much more expensive than MaraX and I want the PID, it's a must. The price will be I hope under 1200€ so not so bad. After all they build coffee machines since 1927
> 
> Sent from my ALP-L09 using Tapatalk


 For that range of price you have Rocket Appartamento which is another level, right? I looked for Rancilio Silvia Pro too before buying the Silvia V6 but the difference is a lot and the only thing that I cared was the PID on the PRO... so, I bought Silvia for less than half the price.


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## profesor_historia (Sep 1, 2020)

francispf94 said:


> For that range of price you have Rocket Appartamento which is another level, right? I looked for Rancilio Silvia Pro too before buying the Silvia V6 but the difference is a lot and the only thing that I cared was the PID on the PRO... so, I bought Silvia for less than half the price.


The rocket apartamento is an HX I think right? And no PID. There are always will be pros and cons, I like the quality of the build in Silvia, there is a maintenance service in Madrid etc. It has a PID, and it has the steam wand to the right where I have the washingbasin.

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## francispf94 (Oct 9, 2020)

profesor_historia said:


> The rocket apartamento is an HX I think right? And no PID. There are always will be pros and cons, I like the quality of the build in Silvia, there is a maintenance service in Madrid etc. It has a PID, and it has the steam wand to the right where I have the washingbasin.
> 
> Sent from my ALP-L09 using Tapatalk


 Yes I understand, with a dual boiler machine you can get temperature precision with PID. I like Silvia too, it gives the industrial looking that I always loved in the coffee shops


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## profesor_historia (Sep 1, 2020)

francispf94 said:


> Yes I understand, with a dual boiler machine you can get temperature precision with PID. I like Silvia too, it gives the industrial looking that I always loved in the coffee shops


I made up my mind and go with the Pro, it will have a very good price in Spain. There will be always pros and cons but this time I will go with the heart not the brain . I should be receiving it by November the 20th then I'll put photos and videos.

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## Doram (Oct 12, 2012)

profesor_historia said:


> I made up my mind and go with the Pro, it will have a very good price in Spain. There will be always pros and cons but this time I will go with the heart not the brain   . I should be receiving it by November the 20th then I'll put photos and videos.


 Enjoy it! Going with your heart can be a good thing sometimes. ???? And do let us know once you have it - will be interesting to hear the experience of moving from Silvia to Silvia Pro.


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## francispf94 (Oct 9, 2020)

profesor_historia said:


> I made up my mind and go with the Pro, it will have a very good price in Spain. There will be always pros and cons but this time I will go with the heart not the brain . I should be receiving it by November the 20th then I'll put photos and videos.
> 
> Sent from my ALP-L09 using Tapatalk


Nice professor! Let us know if you feel it is worth to upgrade then! You should get at least more consistency between shots.


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## profesor_historia (Sep 1, 2020)

francispf94 said:


> Nice professor! Let us know if you feel it is worth to upgrade then! You should get at least more consistency between shots.


I visited yesterday Rancilio headquarters in Madrid and I could try the Pro. Wonderful, sturdy, very easy to use the PID, I pulled some shots, it seemed so easy not having to temperature surf. Hope to have it by the end of the month. I will put here a complete review.

Another interesting thing, the steam wand is not the no burn type but you can buy separately the one from the new Rancilio Specialty which is bigger, no burn and just install it on the Silvia, don't even need to open the machine









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## 28267 (Dec 8, 2020)

profesor_historia said:


> I visited yesterday Rancilio headquarters in Madrid and I could try the Pro. Wonderful, sturdy, very easy to use the PID, I pulled some shots, it seemed so easy not having to temperature surf. Hope to have it by the end of the month. I will put here a complete review.


 I don't know if professor has got his pro yet, but I went with my heart on my upgrade and my Silvia Pro arrived last week, some initial thoughts.

I was surprised to find my first shot was almost perfect using the settings dialled in for my 16 year old Silvia! The shot was nice and smooth, PID ensuring I hit the right temperature for it with no surfing.

On the coffee side it feels just like my old Silva, just with much better temperature control and hence consistency. A bit too close perhaps, I turned the machine off when going to pull a shot earlier, muscle memory sent me to where the shot button is on the Silva.

Steam side is very good plenty of good dry stream, no issues with the water/damp steam you need to clear when starting on Silvia. The three hole wand works well producing good foam.

Now for the negatives so far.

It is big.

It arrived with a fault, a wire had fallen off the brew pump in transit. Quick call with supplier, lid popped off and fixed.

Steam pump is loud and causes quite a bit of vibration.

Even with those niggles it is a lovely machine, it feels like a Silvia but delivers consistent results with ease and superior steam.

Now I've just got to get her to make friends with the wife, she's only tried to use her once and she responded with E01 on the PID!


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## profesor_historia (Sep 1, 2020)

Another negative point let's say would be the water tank capacity, it's the same as on the other models but hey, not the worst thing either.

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