# My First Setup



## josh18t (May 22, 2016)

Hey just wanted to say thanks to everyone thats helped me so far. After weeks of trawling Ebay/Gumtree and the forum I finally found a used Silvia, it came with a few jugs, knock box, tamper, naked porta and a few other bits. Decided to go for a new Mignon in the end as I needed to get a white/silver one really to match the kitchen.

Only just took delivery of the Silvia so I'll have to test it this evening when I'm in from work. Fingers crossed its all good.


----------



## scottgough (Feb 9, 2016)

Nice setup, you're going to have hours of fun, enjoy !


----------



## UncleJake (Mar 20, 2016)

Nice! Enjoy...


----------



## Phil104 (Apr 15, 2014)

Looking good and enjoy the experimenting and above all, the results in the cup.


----------



## Spy (May 12, 2016)

Well done Josh. Looks like a nice setup.


----------



## hotmetal (Oct 31, 2013)

No sleep till bedtime for you tonight! You'll be all set for good coffee by morning.


----------



## PeteHr (Nov 18, 2015)

Well done Josh. Having owned a Silvia (V3 which yours appears to be) for many years, I'm sure you will be delighted with it. Just be sure to de-scale regularly (even with filtered water) and you shouldn't get any problems. I also found that regular backflushing with puly caf was necessary or you could start to detect some bitter flavours in the cup. I got a cheap blind filter basket rather than use the plastic disc that came with the machine. Same with the portafilter and baskets, and shower screen etc. Keep them regularly cleaned with puly !


----------



## josh18t (May 22, 2016)

Thanks Pete it came with the rubber puck for back flushing, how regularly are you doing it?

It was advertised as a v5 with brass boiler, but I just checked the serial code and the year of the machine is 2014. After looking It seems like they never officially made a v5 but just made some alterations to the v4.

I started using it tonight and was going to try to stick with bottled water as the water in my area is pretty hard. I guess I should de-scale every couple of months just to be sure anyway.

I've spent a few hours trying to dial everything in tonight. I got some decaf beans from my local shop and they gave me a shot to test for comparisons which was pretty useful. I think I'd have a heart attack if I was using regular with the amount I've tried tonight.

So far getting a consistent tamp seems the biggest challenge, I tried the bathroom scales method but found I was tamping way to hard. Im also waiting on some more accurate scales which should help.


----------



## johnealey (May 19, 2014)

+1 on all of @PeteHr comments.

if using bottled water then as a minimum (until such a point as you read the thread on bottled / magic water) try something like waitrose essential if you can get it or tesco ashbeck or if available at a reasonable price volvic as some of the others like buxton / morrisons own may be too hard.

Major difference between the v3 and v4 was the seperate element in the V4 from memory (element may also have been made of stainless?) making it easy to replace if you cook it. V5, and stand to be corrected, was an EU power saving version of the V4.

Key thing with all of them is to ensure when you finish steaming, make sure you pull some water either through the wand or via the grouphead; failure to do this cooks the element as you have drawn pretty much all the water out making steam so need to get the pump working by means of the water or group switch to fill it back up.

Nice set up should see you making some cracking coffees ( mine still in use from time to time)

John


----------



## PeteHr (Nov 18, 2015)

When I owned the Silvia (which I sold on here around Christmas, after I think it was 7 years) I used Brita filtered water (very hard water here as well) and de-scaled approx once per month (maybe I was being a bit paranoid but I loved Miss Silvia !). I tended to do a backflush with Puly at the same time. So basically I had a long descale/cleaning session approx once per month.

I would also suggest changing the group head seal reasonably regularly (they are inexpensive) as if they are allowed to go hard not only don't they seal very well but they can be a real pain to remove !

It worked for me, and as far as I know Miss Silvia is now providing great coffee to her new owner !


----------



## josh18t (May 22, 2016)

Cheers I'll probably look at doing the same and having a monthly cleaning session. The guy from bells barista was telling me to backwash just water but every night which I thought was a bit excessive.

Im defiantly going to order a group head seal as I've had a fair few shots where I've had water spurt out of the sides making a mess (and a rubbish shot). Hopefully that would sort it out.

Had some great coffee so far though, just need to get my consistancy right.


----------

