Rancilio Silvia w/ PID and Low Water Indicator

    Comments and faves

    1. Ern 3000 (52 months ago | reply)

      Nice work. I thought that this was going to turn out like that one Pentax lens you took apart... =P

    2. rizio (52 months ago | reply)

      Dude, that is freaking AWESOME! What's the red light for exactly?

    3. GabeSpresso (52 months ago | reply)

      It's a low tank water indicator. I have a sensor in the water tank, that triggers the LED. I used to hate pulling shots and having to check the tank to see if it was low on water. Now the LED comes on when there's about an 1" of water left.

    4. rizio (52 months ago | reply)

      Hah! Now that is a good idea. That brings up a question then, how are the 2 tubes in your tank situated? Mine just kinda bend out of the hole and down into the tank, but I can't let the water get down that low because one of the tubes will be out of the water. Did you affix them to the bottom somehow?

    5. GabeSpresso (52 months ago | reply)

      One of the tubes is the intake to the pump, and the other tube comes from the Over Pressure Valve (OPV) after the pump which helps regulate the pressure. So really, only the intake tube needs to be below the water line. If you look in the water tank, you'll see a raised plastic + sign. That's to hold the intake tube in place, maybe you already knew that. The tube sorta wedges between the tank wall and that + plastic piece, so it shouldn't move too much.

      But yeah, the LED is a nice useful touch. I was playing around with the machine pulling shots when BAM, it came on. I sorta wish it was on all of the time, the deep red is mesmerizing. :D

      I can take more pics of the setup so you can see the water sensor, etc.

    6. rizio (52 months ago | reply)

      Ah! I saw that little "plus" this weekend and figured it was there to hold the tube in place. It does stay on one side of the cross and the corner. That is good to know I can run a little longer than I do now (as it is, I just refill the tank _every_ time I use the machine) since that shorter tube need not be under water.

      Ha ha, yah that light is a really good idea man, well done. It seems you are pretty mechanically inclined, must be due to the day job?

    7. GabeSpresso (52 months ago | reply)

      I don't know if I'm mechanically inclined, but I'm glad my machine didn't blow up when I powered it on. Just make sure you take a lot of before pics. I had to scratch my head a few times during the rebuild.

      I like doing this because my day job sucks.... sorta :)

    8. rizio (52 months ago | reply)

      Ha ha, yah mine isn't so great from time to time as well...

    9. ★

      neurograb added this photo to his favorites. (51 months ago)

    10. johnchabin (40 months ago | reply)

      Do you have any more info you could share regarding the low water sensor?

      johnchabin
      at
      hotmail.com

      Thanks!

    11. linux-works (37 months ago | reply)

      "hey, that's a pretty cool clock. does it show world time?"

      ;) ;)


      (I plan to do an arduino based PID to mine, shortly)

    12. ★

      Karin_and_Bruce, Niall Staines, and dviper11 added this photo to their favorites.

    13. happyman. (15 months ago | reply)

      This is the best mod that I have ever seen! Isn't it too hot to place the PID there?

    14. Daniel Nolan (14 months ago | reply)

      I agree this is the best configuration. Can you tell me what make and model of PID you used?

    Want to format your comment?
    keyboard shortcuts: ← previous photo → next photo L view in light box F favorite < scroll film strip left > scroll film strip right ? show all shortcuts