One of the core principles of the open-source movement is that anyone who wants to build on a piece of work, in whatever way they want, is easily able to. With source code freely available, the original project can be expanded upon, modified, updated, or simply looked at and used as inspiration. Usually we think about this in the realm of software freedom, but hardware is an important component as well. And not just electronics hardware, either. [Norm] demonstrates this espresso machine which was built on these open-source foundations.
The project takes some inspiration from the open-source Gaggiuino project, which was another build that modified an entry-level espresso maker with finer control over temperature and pressure. [Norm] was not willing to sacrifice his espresso machine for this cause, though, which is how this machine with its cobbled-together hardware came to be. An older machine with some worn parts was sacrificed to the coffee gods instead, making use of its pumps, boiler, and a few other bits of hardware especially from the hydraulics system. The software control is built around the Gaggiuino project, and includes a custom control board for user interface.
Right now the coffee maker does indeed work, but [Norm] hopes to make some improvements to the device including adding an enclosure of some sort, both to prevent accidental contact with the boiler and to give it a sleek, professional look. We kind of like it the way it is, while acknowledging that it isn’t quite ready for commercial production like this. It has a similar industrial feel as this espresso machine we featured a few years ago that is made out of old engine components.
Finally, something very useful.
+1
Love this homage to the Coffee Gods!
Well this is pretty cool. I brewed beer professionally for a little while before COVID politics kneecapped the over-the-counter service industry.
I’ve been looking for an affordable way to scratch the “ritual itch” of making something like beer. Sort of like properly tamping a pipe full of good tobacco, pressing ammunition, or processing your own garden vegetables; there is something Zen in the preparation rituals. Something to do without active thought.
This looks like a more than affordable option that will meet with spousal approval as smoking indoors is verboten.
Well this is pretty cool. I brewed beer professionally for a little while before COVID politics kneecapped the over-the-counter service industry.
I’ve been looking for an affordable way to scratch the “ritual itch” of making something like beer. Sort of like properly tamping a pipe full of good tobacco, pressing ammunition, or processing your own garden vegetables; there is something Zen in the preparation rituals. Something to do without active thought.
This looks like a more than affordable option that will meet with spousal approval as smoking indoors is verboten.
You’re very right.
+1, 2, 3 and 4
I’d caution against considering home espresso a particularly affordable hobby. Like audiophile stereo gear, it *is* possible to get into relatively affordably with used or modded hardware, but the average price point for the hobby is extremely high and upgrade-itis is a thing in most of the discussion forums. I’m still on my first major set of machine and grinder, both bought used (separately) on Facebook marketplace and rehabbed, yielding nice mid-range capability for under a third of what they’d have cost new (I spent $700 or so total on ~$3000 worth of gear)–but it was still *quite* expensive to set up, and noticeably expensive to keep in operation (power, higher-grade coffee, other consumables, repair parts, etc).
It’s a delightfully physical hobby with tons of tinkering potential, but it’s also a deep rabbit hole with effectively no bottom.
The control panel is printed in a nice Ferrari yellow, and the wiring reminds me of my old 1974 Alfa Romeo. Complimenti, molto ben fatto
Scuderia FDS Espresso (fallo da solo)
Beautiful! Are there similar hacks documented for the De’Longhi Dedica?
I have both the Dedica machine and an older EC270 bought around 2009 which I use for mucking about. The difference is that the Dedica takes almost no time to heat up, whereas the old one is a huge mass of metal that takes a bit longer to heat up and then heat just continues spreading afterwards. Portafilter on the Dedica stays relatively cold in comparison, not so on the EC270. Both make good coffee with aftermarket 51mm portafliters (3 ears for the Dedica, 2 for the EC270).
Maybe De’Longhi machines are not the easiest to take apart (security torx screws and lots of hidden tabs and screwheads) but there are lots of (cheap) spares available to fix them and lots of cheap “broken” machines to acquire. Starting from broken ebay cheapie might even be a good idea as you will get a good feel for how it’s put together and which part goes wrong.
EC685: https://hackaday.io/project/162176-open-source-espresso-machine/log/157584-dismantling-a-delonghi-dedica-style-ec685m
EC270: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-ZCQTy4u98
On my EC270, I’ve added a “4000W 0-220V AC SCR Electric Voltage Regulator Motor Speed Controller Dimmers Dimming Speed With Temperature Insurance” from Aliexpress to control the pump flow rate. It goes in series with the pump (one wire in, one out), has a separate potentiometer you can mount anywhere you like and you can buy little metal screw terminal “adapters” (5.1mm screw hole to 6.3mm tab) that will make the wiring as easy as unplugging one wire from a tab on the pump, plug it into the dimmer and then add a spare “tab plug – tab plug” cable that goes from the dimmer back into the pump. There are some PWM dimmer controllers I suppose one could use with a microcontroller to dial in a perfect “water distribution profile” but I just enjoy my espresso with a slightly lower debit than provided by the unmodded 48W ULKA pump (4000W controller you say?). That’s it :-)
Great idea to adapt it to dedica, which are cheap and amazing machines. I’d be pleased to hear more about your modifications.
Does this machine support the RFC 2324 protocol?
RFC 2324 – that’s a good idea!
This is great! I love the exposed components.. Maybe you could protect it with Lexan?
Please take a look at my open source Gaggia mod.. It might provide some ideas for your next iteration!
https://github.com/ndipatri/RoboGaggia
O bet it tastes even better when you build machine yourself.