Curious Drake » audrey

Rancilio Audrey Group Head

Vince — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 03:08:26 +0000

Today I disassembled my Audrey with the intent to install pre-infusion mod and to clean the group head. I did not install the mod though. I realized that my mental picture of the mod is not matching what I found in the machine.

I am looking for a place to attach the water shock absorber. I have a couple of ideas now. I can connect the shock absorber right at the high pressure nozzle of the pump. It would give me an opportunity to connect a pressure gauge. That would force me to replace or modify the high pressure tube, which, to my surprise, is made out of heavy plastic. The plastic holds 15 bar pressure. Impressive! Another possibility is to attach it to the input of the OPV valve. It is a less attractive option because of the lack of space around that area.

The second option is an Allen screw that looks like a screw on the E61 head. It might be there for the same reason too. If it it the case, then I should be able to use it either for a water temperature gauge mod, or use it for the pressure gauge and shock absorber.

I also disassembled the shower head and discovered that it is a bit different. I think it is a simpler design than on the Silvia.It might be less efficient as well. I have not way test that. I do not have a SIlvia.

I am posting a few pictures of the Audrey head here.

Three-way Solenoid Valve

Three-way Solenoid Valve Label

Assembled Shower Head

The difference between the Silvia and Audrey is visible on the following picture. On the Silvia, the shower head has a removable disk below the shower screen. On the Audrey, the disk is not removable. The small black dot on the right of the deep part of the head is the water orifice.

Shower Head with the Screen Removed

Finally, a little bonus for phone junkies like me. I used the Audrey water container as a light modifier for taking the pictures above. I am using a Nikon SB 28 with a PocketWizard Plus II, You can see the flash at the top of the picture and the Wizard in the left bottom corner.

Audrey Light Modifier for Off-Camera Flash

Rancilio Audrey Pre-infusion mod

Vince — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 23:26:00 +0000

Next facelift for my Rancilio Audrey will be a pre-infusion mod. There are two ways to do that. Simplest way is to add a couple of water hammer aresters (kudos to JeepinGeo @ coffeegeek.com).

JeepinGeo also posted a Youtube video of this setup (I assume it is the same guy and the same setup) in action.

The second way is to add a programmable timer to the pump electrical circuit. It is a bit more difficult because it requires a relay, power source, wiring, etc. It sounds funny too. On the flip side, it is still simpler than this one:

Rancilio Rialto/Audrey Wiring Diagram

Vince — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 02:50:28 +0000

Some people are looking for a mod that allows to use low water light on the Rancilio Rialto and Audrey espresso machine for a heating indicator. I think I found a diagram on the web that explains how to do that. I did not open my Audrey yet to see if the diagram is accurate. I am just posting here so that other people looking for this diagram would have easier time finding it than I had. Here is the link to the file in its original location. I also attached the file to this post in case that this source would go away as many others did. Here it is - Rancilio Rialto/Audrey wiring diagram in PDF format and a .gif picture.

Audria Wiring

I also found a Partsguru.com page with pdf scans of Audrey user manuals and assembly diagrams

Hold on!

I found a forum topic where this diagram was posted. It appears that there is a mistake in this diagram. I will open my Audrey and check if it is correct.

My Miss Audrey Inside

Pomp wiring

Boiler wiring

Boiler and low water sensor wiring

_MG_6110-q