Any advice on how to pry off a 2 year old (o-ring) seal without taking off your finger(s) or losing an eye? I have a la Pavoni Bar V2 and the seals have never been changed. One of the portafilters is leaking (surprise) and I cannot get the old dried up cracked seal off.
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Shirley K's Coffee Shop

I know nothing about your particular machine.

Some people have resorted to sinking screws into the hardened rubber and pulling on the screws. (Including a friend of mine). If you go this route, don't sink the screw into your group head, but I guess you know that.

Just reading about some of the problems people have has led me to purchase and replace the seal on my Anita. Of course it cracked in half when I eventually got it out.

Mark

Some people have resorted to sinking screws into the hardened rubber and pulling on the screws. (Including a friend of mine). If you go this route, don't sink the screw into your group head, but I guess you know that.

This works very well.

Another thing, don't turn it on it's side or upside down (unless you drain the water first) since it will leak and get water in places you don't want to have wet.

Mark

poniday wrote:Any advice on how to pry off a 2 year old (o-ring) seal without taking off your finger(s) or losing an eye?

If your dispersion screen has a screw in it, take it out and get the dispersion block out, too. If your's is like my LP, the screen is held in by said gasket.
Another trick, especially handy if the water in the machine is not heated yet, lock in the PF and run the brew water. As soon as it comes up to pressure, slowly unlock the PF. The water pressure may get under the gasket and push it out a bit as it follows the PF down. It can take a couple tries. It doesn't always work. If the machine is hot, be careful with the scalding thing. It hurts, and can scar. That being said, I've never burned worse by not paying too much attention to the steam wand. It will burp, but, (and again, depending on your machine) it shouldn't explode. This does not mean that you shouldn't exercise caution. You're pulling the PF off while it is still being pressurised by the pump with this. If you turn it off during the process, all the pressure goes out the three-way valve.