USED rancilio silvila v3 with mini jolly vs NEW gaggia classic with virtuoso preciso

[Mhippo]

Do the o-rings come in contact with the water? If not, try making a Silicone gasket next time

 

[shadow745]

Do the o-rings come in contact with the water? If not, try making a Silicone gasket next time

Been there and done that. High temp silicone in conjunction with a high temp o-ring works fine, but silicone by itself doesn't have the static strength to handle the pressure of the steam boiler. Tried all sorts of fixes and simply replacing the o-rings when they show signs of failure is the best alternative.

Sounds like you have been listening to the quacks on the Gaggia forum.

 

[Mhippo]

Sounds like you have been listening to the quacks on the Gaggia forum.

No, just trying to think of possible solutions... I don't even know what the Gaggia forum *is*.

 

[CCafe]

Larger boiler size in the Silvia is good for more steam, but can be it's weakness maintaining temp. stability throughout the extraction unless it's timed perfectly. Also will take longer to recover. Good thing with the Silvia is the boiler is brass.

Gaggia boiler may be small, but it recovers quite fast, so it actually has as good or better temp. stability than machines having much larger boilers/less wattage on the heating element. Not sure how other Gaggia machines are, but the Panarello tip is easily removed from my KitchenAid Pro Line wand as I've never used it.

The reason the Silvia cost more is because Rancilio has their heads up their asses and think their equipment is superior. Most think the issue with the Silvia is the price has increased quite a bit in the last 8-10 years with little to no enhancement to justify the cost. The only real change I can agree on with the Silvia over the years is the addition of the adjustable OPV. Other than that I think it's overpriced when new compared to other offerings. Same with their grinders. There's a reason you will find tons of used Rocky grinders on the market.

I'm going to come to the aid of Rancilio here. They don't have their heads up their asses and think their product is superior. The price of everything has continued to go up. That brass boiler you're so fond of happens to be taxed pretty heavily on import fee's. If you haven't noticed a lot of machines now are sporting a lot more plastic in them and the import/export fee's are that reason. Cost of shipping has increased considerably. Its why plastic is being found in even the highest end machines. When you produce millions of units you look for every way to cut corners on cost saving approaches. Now lets look at the Silvia. Nope they haven't changed much here. They found something that works and as the saying goes if its not broke don't fix it.

Rather than eating the costs and losing money on the Silvia they do what all good business do. They past the cost on to you the consumer. I might also say that places like 1st Line have been selling the Silvia for years at the same price. They do so much volume that giving a Silvia away for a little over cost won't bother them in the least. Its one of the reasons why you can buy a Silvia from them for $679 yet the list price is almost $1000 now.

Honestly I think harping on Rancilio about the cost increase is a little harsh. I don't play much with low end machines much these days. Most of what I work on are Franke, Cimbali, Egro, Thermoplan, Schearer super auto's and I can say they all have been incorporating more plastic to help offset the rising costs of precious metals while trying to shave weight and save on shipping.

 

[shadow745]

To each his own... guess you would use the same rationale to explain why the Rocky has remained unchanged for quite some time, while staying up in price for what it is. They won't even make the thing stepless to at least try to keep pace with what other grinder manufacturers are doing.