Mistral machine no. 32

Kees van der Westen

• Complete nuts and bolts rebuild – new legs, chassis powdercoat, and full re-polish of panels. Every gasket and valve replaced. Over a year part time on the project at this stage!
• New coffee boiler.
• Insulated steam boiler.
• A total of three PIDs, one for the coffee boiler and one per group cap via cartridge elements. Steam is pstat/SSR.
• Power is 25 Amp single phase, about 5 amps more than original.
• Steam valves converted to lever type, one lock-on direction forward and momentary purge backward. Valve bodies are Nuova Simonelli adapted and feature a LM anti-vac valve on each wand.
• Custom paddle switch – functionally the same as Marzocco MP group, two stage operation, but electrical rather than mechanical so there are no seals to change.
• Chronos key pads for shot clock, volumetrics on both groups with a manually controllable preinfusion function. Use either touchpad or manual paddle at any time. I find I like to flush with the paddle and pour shots via the touchpad.
• Custom made dispersion block in POM-C (same as current Speedster setup) for cleaning ease, temp stability.