What the heck is a Parker ZB09?
Turns out, it's a solenoid. It's not the problem. The 2-way valve guide that runs through the coil, however, is. The crack in the threads just below the rubber o-ring is obvious in this photo. As soon as we turned on the water, it shot out from this spot. Doh. This will be a rabbit hole to perhaps beat all rabbit holes, finding (first) what that part is and (second) if it's even available.
This isn't the fourth Saturday in May, but this will likely be our craft project for a while. Katie's parents gave it to me for my birthday a few years ago. It's been sitting in our garage (in our old house) and our basement (in our new house) until, well, now. I went out and got a couple of fittings to hook it up to a garden hose. We wanted to see if the thing even worked.
By 'thing,' I mean what is basically a $4,000 commercial espresso machine. The story goes, as I recall, years (and years) ago Katie's dad put a bid on a container at auction. He won. Inside the container, along with a ton of other stuff of course, was this la Pavoni Pub V and its matching ZIP grinder. We think they were manufactured in possibly the 1980s. No idea, however.
Around Christmas this past year, we ordered a couple of new burrs and got the grinder up and running.
It's umm, pretty sweet. This espresso machine will be even sweeter. If it works… Which brings me back to that busted coil and whether or not we'll be able to find that part. Clearly, the solenoid itself is still available, and there seems to be a few of these things still floating around so I'm hopeful. Because yeah, cleaned up and running, this beast will pull (so it sounds like from reading coffee geek forums) some amazing espresso shots. Heck, if weight is any indicator, we're in for some good coffee because it must weigh at least eighty pounds. The grinder (which is, admittedly, mostly just a motor surrounded by a metal case) weighs close to thirty.
In the photo below, the gap in the copper piping is where the ol' Parker went. I had to pound out the coil with a hammer. Assuming we can find another one, I'll (presumably) pop it into the solenoid, then connect it back up again… just test to see if it heats up water. It does turn on, so there's that…
That thought will keep us searching, and cleaning, and repairing. Oh, if it all works out… Since it's hard-plumbed, we'll have to drill a couple of holes into our granite countertops. Then run a cold water supply and hook it up to a drain. But that's how devoted we are to our espresso. Just sayin'…
This isn't the fourth Saturday in May, but this will likely be our craft project for a while. Katie's parents gave it to me for my birthday a few years ago. It's been sitting in our garage (in our old house) and our basement (in our new house) until, well, now. I went out and got a couple of fittings to hook it up to a garden hose. We wanted to see if the thing even worked.
By 'thing,' I mean what is basically a $4,000 commercial espresso machine. The story goes, as I recall, years (and years) ago Katie's dad put a bid on a container at auction. He won. Inside the container, along with a ton of other stuff of course, was this la Pavoni Pub V and its matching ZIP grinder. We think they were manufactured in possibly the 1980s. No idea, however.
Around Christmas this past year, we ordered a couple of new burrs and got the grinder up and running.
It's umm, pretty sweet. This espresso machine will be even sweeter. If it works… Which brings me back to that busted coil and whether or not we'll be able to find that part. Clearly, the solenoid itself is still available, and there seems to be a few of these things still floating around so I'm hopeful. Because yeah, cleaned up and running, this beast will pull (so it sounds like from reading coffee geek forums) some amazing espresso shots. Heck, if weight is any indicator, we're in for some good coffee because it must weigh at least eighty pounds. The grinder (which is, admittedly, mostly just a motor surrounded by a metal case) weighs close to thirty.
In the photo below, the gap in the copper piping is where the ol' Parker went. I had to pound out the coil with a hammer. Assuming we can find another one, I'll (presumably) pop it into the solenoid, then connect it back up again… just test to see if it heats up water. It does turn on, so there's that…
That thought will keep us searching, and cleaning, and repairing. Oh, if it all works out… Since it's hard-plumbed, we'll have to drill a couple of holes into our granite countertops. Then run a cold water supply and hook it up to a drain. But that's how devoted we are to our espresso. Just sayin'…
