The S1 Cafe - Helping Your Espresso Dreams Become Reality

hello every one !

i just get a slightly used mini vivaldi S1 (manufacture 09/2011 ) that was bought at Cafe Union in march 2012

I plan to descale it , when i remove the water reservoir i found bolt under the steam boiler .... is this a drain?

i thought you only found a drain plug on mini II , the model i have is a mini vivaldi (not the mini II)

is it safe to empty it with the drain ?

i heard a just a little bit of noise (like when you make water boil in a kettle) when the machine is heating

is it safe the descale it now or what is the prefer time ?

thanks

Mini Vivaldi II is only sold by Chris Coffee. Other places that sell it must buy from Chris Coffee and resell with additonal markup.

Cafe Union has been around longer than Chris Coffee and buys direct from LaSpaziale. The Mini 2 name is owned by Chris, but it is essentially the same machine (once you press the secret buttons to switch it from 5C to 1C mode). The only other difference is the single, round gauge (which I prefer since it is easier to read and doesn't vibrate all over the place like the Mini 2)

The drain is on all new Mini Vivaldis. Use it to drain the steam boiler, fill it with decale using a funnel once you remove the vacuum breaker. Then drain the descale and rinse with fresh water 3 times through the same holes.

This only does the steam boiler. More importantly, you'll need to do the brew boiler. You do this manually by rolling the machine on its front and removing the brew boiler brass nut in the back.

Do this descale every 2 years. If your machine was the Cafe Union demo model that they ran all day, descale right away.

thanks endo

is it normal the drain plug is more difficult or it is jammed

i can turn it but it is difficult , it turn a couple of turn but it is jammed ans i dont want to broke it


after trying , i finally open the drain ,

i remark there is a little gasket on the drain plug , is it better to change it ?

Once your removed the plug, did you find that it drained freely? I think I popped that plug off exactly once on my former V1 and on my former V2. In both cases, after removal, no water came out. Turns out even though I had very little scale build up over all, I did have a thin crust on the bottom. I had to shove a screwdriver up there and break the crust.

after i remove the drain it flow freely , it seems to be very clean there was just a little scale , anyway i plug the drain and let the machine sit with a mix of citric acid in the stem boiler

i will see after , as soon i finish the steam boiler a begin the brew boiler , but i sup^pose i need to change the gasket for the brew boiler after opened it ?

I don't remember mine having a gasket. I think I just wrapped the threads with teflon tape.

thanks that's i am going to do ,

i am not sure but i found that a have 2 toggle switch inside : 15/ 20 amp and the other is a on/off (it is to off)
is this mean i can put the 7 day programmable timer? mmm

Yes, there should be a cable where it plugs in right behind the front panel next to the pressure gauge.

about the Vacuum Breaker , how much teflon you put?

i put a coule of layer but it seems to leak a little bit when i put on the boiler

maybe i don't put enough teflon?

edit: i read somewhere that it take at least 7 turn ....do !

well i think i have to let it cold again to retest :(

by the way, when it is safe to open it , is it better to let it cold (like very cold ) ?

Definitely don't unscrew the plug until the boiler has cooled down and the Vacuum breaker valve has reopened. That will ensure the water is cool and not under pressure.

The only real rule of thumb about Teflon tape is that if you use too little it will leak and if you use too much you won't be able screw the bolt back in.

thanks, i will retry tomorrow then

hello again!

now i put more teflon tape and my vacuun breaker is ok but i have a small leak where the bolt of the sensor

is it safe the tighten the bolt or is it tormal to have small leak there? (i don't found this normal)

thank for all the answer

i appreciate the help on this forum

or maybe it is the gasket? i don't want to change the sensor if it still work

can i put some teflon tape to the sensor and re tighten the sensor

concerning the pre infusion , i suppose i can put that module on my machine ? considering it is the same as the mini vivaldi II

I hope it's okay to reactivate this old topic.

I have a Mini Vivaldi II that I purchased in April 2011 from Chris Coffee. I'm not incredibly technical in terms of doing major revisions on the machine, but can do basic stuff. I am interested in descaling / cleaning the inside of the steam and brew boilers, but have some questions.

1) Would a mini VII bought around April 2011 have a steam boiler that has a drain plug (eg, which presumably makes it easier to descale / clean)?

2) Is it difficult to do these cleanings?

3) Can someone provide a link to good instructions on how to perform these cleanings?

4) In an unrelated question, I've occasionally gotten a thin layer of slimy film (algae, presumably) in the water reservoir. I've cleaned it with water and dilute white vinegar. I've also always used only Polar Springs water (because my tap water is very hard) and have always had one of the white water 'filters' in the water reservoir. Do I need to worry about whether any algae has gotten into the steam or brew boilers?

Thanks everyone!

Jeff