The Story of David Kaspar

I've had a Rancilio Silvia since December 2002 and got many great cups of espresso from it until the last few months. Now, no matter what I try, the espresso cup fills up to the brim in about 20 seconds, at which point I shut the machine off to prevent spilling--the result is sour terrible espresso.

I've tried switching my grinder down to the finest setting, tamping as hard as I possibly can, 'bleeding off' excessive steam by running a 'blank' shot before the real shot, but nothing helps.

Does anyone out there in the Rancilio world have any suggestions? Could a part be worn out that needs replacing? How I miss those delicious ristrettos!

Thanks for any advice,
Susan

Hello Susan and welcome to the forum.

It sounds like you are a seasoned Silvia user because all the things I wanted to suggest you to try... you have already tried!

One more thing I can think of must be that the water is not going through the puck of coffee but instead around it.

Has the portafilter or filter basket been damaged? Try with a friends portafilter and filter basket.

Have you tried cleaning the gasket in the group head (where you fit the portafilter) with a damp cloth? Old coffee can get stuck there and cause leakage.

In the worst case the gasket it self could be damaged. Use a flash light and see if there is any visible damage from tightening the portafilter too much.

let us know!

Hi David,

Thanks so much for your reply!

The portafilter, etc., look fine, but I checked the gasket with a flashlight and, yes, it actually looks rather off center--like maybe it got sqwushed from over tightening the portafilter... Do you know how one would go about fixing this on the Rancilio Silvia?

Thanks again!
Susan

Of course, I've got to get the gasket fixed as soon as possible, but until then I tried overpacking the portafilter to slow down the flow. I put as much coffee in there as could fit and tamped it as hard as I could and --voila--I got 27 second delicious espresso that packs a mighty punch (you might call this a triple espresso). Two days in a row--so I think this will be a pretty successful workaround!

Susan

Being an espresso addict myself, I know a fellow espresso addict when I hear one

Good work-around but all that tamping and tight fitting must be hard work.

Oh, yeah... I love a well-drawn espresso with a passion!

Thanks again,
Susan