This very detailed guide was originally written by Chris Faulds and used to be available at cfdesign.work/derancilio. Unfortunately, his website is no longer online. Thanks to the Wayback Machine the article is still readable. But since the presentation is a bit wonky, I decided to mirror his awesome tutorial is this gist.
Chris has spent a huge amount of time writing an in-depth instruction on how to take the machine apart, which may also come in handy for other repairs for the Dedica 680/685. Again all credits go to him. Thanks a lot for the great work!
Monday 1st August 2016
The Delonghi Dedica 680 comes with a standard issue panarello wand. This served me adequately for 8 months before the rubber heat insulation started to disintegrate, causing difficulty to clean and a build up of milk within the split rubber - not good! I contacted Delonghi under warranty and with their 'prompt' reply it was suggested that I could take my unit in for repair (days/weeks without coffee? No thanks!) I was already very aware of a wand modification, which meant swapping out the panarello for the more professional wand found on a Rancilio Silvia. This Rancilio part can be found on ebay for just under £12 delivered (2016).
It may be worth mentioning that the Rancilio wand is a completely different beast and does command a much higher level of skill to operate. However there is a whole wealth of information and videos online about correct technique and the resulting microfoam that can be produced is far superior. I was quite surprised just how much better the machine was now able to perform the task. Providing you are intrigued and willing to follow a few steps, why not give your Delonghi a new lease of life with the DeRancilio modification?
For simplicity this tutorial will break down the Delonghi 680 into 8 rudimental parts; Focusing attention on the first 5 parts, these are labelled as follows:
- Top lid containing the three round buttons
- Outer casing
- Inner cassette/main parts (including group head)
- Chrome trim
- Steam wand (modified version)
- Steam knob
- Underside cover
- Drip tray
- Water tank
The wand is a metal pipe, threaded through an adjustable ‘ball joint’ which is to be removed and reused. The wand/ball joint is sandwiched between the outer casing and the inner cassette. In order to gain access the inner cassette must slide from the top of the outer casing. There may also be a requirement to very slightly modify the inner cassette ’wand hole’ with a craft knife/file.
The original Delonghi and the Rancilio both have a raised rib, but their placements are quite different. On the Delonghi the ball joint is threaded from the top and rests on the rib, secured in place by a circlip in the ridge above. The Rancilio requires the complete opposite tact, threading from the bottom, using force along the bends until flush under the rib. The circlip is then reused to secure the bottom of the ball joint.
From inside the machine a flexible pipe connects to the wand above the ball joint. Unfortunately the Rancilio has a shorter length to connect with the flexible pipe by about a third. Thankfully this has not posed a problem. A comparison is shown to demonstrate the final assembly on the Rancilio.
- Phillips 01 bit
- Phillips 02 bit
- Flathead 03 bit
- T20 security bit
- Pliers
- Craft knife
- Small File
- Tweezers
- Narrow pick (I used a small allen key)
1 Lift out the drip tray (both metal and black parts). Lift out the water tank and place these parts away. As a precaution use a paper towel to dry out the water tank area and connectors (tip the machine if necessary).
2 The top lid takes patience, so DO NOT rush. Thankfully the lid is far easier to reassemble.
2.1 From the back where the water tank was located, remove the two Phillips screws from the top outer case.
2.2 The lid is now held in place at the front by two L shaped catches. To release these the top lid must be pushed from the front around the buttons, sliding towards the back of the outer case.
The outer case has two mounting tabs used for the (removed) Phillips screws, these prevent the top lid sliding back. These black outer casing parts are made of plastic and do have a certain degree of flex. The top lid removal is a somewhat tricky manoeuvre of sliding and GENTLY/SLIGHTLY lifting the lid at the back, while mildly flexing the outer case.
3 To free the lid away completely:
3.1 Locate the attached green and yellow earth cable, unclip the spade catch and slide off to detach.
3.2 Unscrew 3 Phillips screws holding the 3 front buttons to the lid. The top lid is now completely free. This lid can be moved away with the other parts.
Where possible I prefer to partially replace screws in their empty holes. This prevents loss and the mixing of screws.
4 The steam knob is held tight in place by a clamp spring. Simply pull to release.
5 A second yellow and green earth cable needs to be removed from the back of the outer case. Once again unclip the spade catch and slide off to detach.
6 To gain access to the underside, lay the machine down on the non-wand side and use a towel underneath to prevent scratches.
6.1 The underside cover is held in place by 9 screws. Remove the 7 back screws which are 'tamper proof' security T20.
6.2 Remove the 2 front standard Phillips screws. These are very short in length.
Do not make the mistake of mixing these with any other Phillips screws, as they will bust through the case where the drip tray sits!
6.3 Gently pull away the underside cover and place it away with the other parts.
7 Remove 3 Phillips screws holding the water feed tubes to the outer case.
8 Keeping the machine on its side, rotate 180 degrees and return to open ’top end’. The cassette is held by 5 screws around the group head.
8.1 Remove the first Phillips screw next to the wand hole. This is shorter and only mounts into the outer case.
8.2 Remove the remaining 4 screws that are spaced around the group head. These screws go through the outer casing and clamp the chrome trim in place.
The chrome trim will now be loose, retained only by the group head and wand.
The wand is connected to the steam pump on the inner cassette via a flexible pipe and two metal pipe clamps. However the wand clamp is difficult to reach, deep within the recess of the inner cassette.
Keep in mind that the Rancilio wand has a shorter connecting length to the flexible pipe by about a third; it makes sense to have decent access and good visual confirmation when making the tricky wand clamp reconnection. Therefore the alternative requires that the metal clamp is removed from the steam pump, which has much better access at the top. The clamp on the wand remains in place while the inner cassette slides away from the outer case.
The caveat to this method is that prior to re-assembly the inner cassette 'wand hole' may need very minor widening modification so that the wand clamp can fit through with ease.
9 Release the steam pump clamp by squeezing with pliers whilst pulling and twisting outwards, away from the pump.
9.1 Feed the flexible pipe under the steam pump/knob for better clearance.
9.2 At the underside of the machine, ensure that the mains plug and water feed pipes are tucked in and have clearance.
9.3 Turn the wand and align the remaining clasp to the squared ‘cut out’ section of the inner cassette.
Careful technique and patience is required to this area when sliding the inner cassette from the top of the outer case.
9.4 With the inner cassette released from the outer case the chrome trim is now free, place it away with the other parts.
10 With improved access, the wand pipe clamp can now be released by squeezing with pliers.
11 The adjustable ‘ball joint’ and metal circlip are now clearly visible.
11.1 Remove the circlip above the ball joint by gently prying it off with a flat head screw driver. Try not to bend or damage the circlip as it can be reused.
11.2 The ball joint can now be pulled from the top of the wand.
12 Unscrew the nipple on the Rancilio and run the wand under hot water around the rubber. Rub washing up liquid around the rubber sleeve and down the metal pipe towards the nipple end. Gently twist and pull to release the rubber.
13 Ensure the ball joint is the correct way up (wide part first) and thread up the Rancilio from the nipple end. The bends do require a combination of twist and force, the ball joint will flex.
13.1 With the ball joint pushed up against the rib, attempt to force the the circlip on to the Rancilio, flush against the bottom of the ball joint.
This may be tricky and will require a lot of pressure.
13.2 With the circlip flush against the ball joint, apply upwards pressure on the circlip against the ball joint (to keep the clip straight), whilst twisting the clip at same time. This is quite a difficult task to maintain, as it is very tight. With patience and a few full twists, the circlip begins to score a line and seats itself in a shallow ridge to prevent movement.
A hacksaw could be used to very mildly score the Rancilio, but it is not necessary and the line needs precise placement without cutting too deep.
14 The flexible pipe can now be attached to the wand and the metal clamp replaced using the pliers, ensuring that an evenly spaced, tight connection is made.
14.1 With the wand held at the 1 o’clock position, twist the join of the clamp to roughly 4 o’clock. The wand is only shown above the inner cassette to demonstrate the clamp aligned relative to the square cut out of the wand hole.
15 Thread the flexible hose through the underside of the inner cassette to gauge how much the square cut out needs to be widened for the clamp. Using a craft knife and/or file combination, aim to increase the square cut out area just enough so that the metal clamp will not be disturbed in any way during reassembly.
16 Begin reassembly:
16.1 From inside of the outer case, start threading the wand from the nipple end, through the wand hole until the ball joint. Rest the wand arm pointing outwards (away from the group head).
16.2 Thread the mains lead and inner cassette into the outer case and partially re-insert, but stop before the group head enters the outer case.
16.3 Thread the flexible pipe of the wand through the inner cassette wand hole.
16.4 Replace the chrome trim, ensure all the locating tabs line up and gently push the trim into the outer case. At this point everything should look identical to the picture.
16.5 Align the wand clamp join with the modified square cut-out and brace the chrome trim whilst beginning to insert the cassette. Carefully thread the group head through the outer case and chrome trim
16.6 Check that the wand is still in the outside position and that the chrome trim is still flush to the outer case, with all the tabs located.
16.7 Bracing the chrome trim, tighten the 4 group head screws, clamping the chrome trim in place.
16.8 Reconnect the flexible pipe to the steam pump with the clamp. Re-apply water and washing up liquid to the wand and replace the Rancilio rubber insulation. Replace the wand nipple.
The remaining reassembly of the machine should be a straight forward reversal, working back from step 8.1
Thanks for rehosting this, was very helpful and I managed to mod my EC685 without problems.
Between point 9.2 an 9.3 should probably be another step though. At least for the model EC685, there's another grounding cable inside the rectangular part near the bottom. As such, you have to pull the casket out around 1/4 ways, disconnect the cable and then pull it out completly.
I hope that's helpful for some :)