I replaced the middle shaft of my Quickmill Anita's steam valve, and now the steam knob is hard to turn. I used a food-grade lubricant on the valve assembly. It turns now, but probably twice or more as difficult than before.

Did I over tighten something that's not obvious, or did I need to use more lubricant. The valve shaft I replaced is the one from Stefano's here http://espressocare.com/Qstore/Qstore.cgi?CMD=011&PROD=1213038118&PNAME=Shaft++Steam+Valve.

Thanks for any help with this.

Below is a photo of the valve in question, courtesy of Chris' Coffee Service:


From FAQ #18 Andreja Premium: What makes their valves superior to most?

The only friction point is the O-rings; applying some food-grade lubrication (e.g., Dow Corning 111) should be all that's required. My guess is the O-rings will settle in their grooves after a week or two of use and the valve will turn more easily.

Thanks, Dan. I used Haynes Lubri-Film Plus from Chris Coffee (http://www.chriscoffee.com/products/home/espressoaccs/lubricant).

It's been a few weeks now since the repair, and still not getting any easier to turn, although I only steam milk 2-4 times per week for wife's cappas. I'm not sure it's going to settle into any easier turning grooves as you mentioned from how it's reacting so far. I would have thought pulling 6-12 steam jobs would be enough to work it in.

So is it possible I needed to use more lubricant, or is there something I may have inadvertently overtightened?

SWR wrote:So is it possible I needed to use more lubricant, or is there something I may have inadvertently overtightened?

Q1: A little lubrication goes a long way, though it can't hurt to relubricate. Q2: I think it is unlikely, though not impossible.

Have you tried disassembling the valve to better judge where it's binding? I assume the O-rings are the only possible source of friction, but since I don't have the benefit of testing it first hand, that's only a guess. Popping out the O-rings and reassembling without them would confirm. Be forewarned though, they can be hard to get out, easy to nick, and nearly as much fun to get back in the groove as get out.

Thanks, sounds like a disassembly is in order. Perhaps I didn't get the o-rings seated in their grooves correctly. I'll give it a try and repost with an update.

Well, I still have the same problem after disassembling and lubricating again. I'm inclined to think that the Stefano's part is not exactly the same as the valve shaft that is used in the Anita. If you look at the Stefano pic in my original post and compare it to the pic Dan posted in this thread, there is a minor difference in the compression seat end of the shaft. I can only imagine that there's a minute difference in circumference or how it seats and turns.

My recommendation to anyone with a non-compression valve unit in an Anita is to just replace the entire value assembly sold from Chris Coffee rather than try to save a few bucks with the Stefano part and then still have to disassemble the valve assembly to install it. Of course, this is just my isolated experience and could differ with others'.

I've done the same repair with the same part from Stefano. (on my 1st gen Anita) I've had no problems at all. (In fact, I might have pioneered this particular repair on the 1G Anita.) I couldn't imagine spending $45 to replace the valve when an $11 part solves the problem.

I see that you're said non-compression valve...Do you have the newer valve with the ball joint steam wand, or do you have the 1st gen compression style valve with the pivoting wand? If you do have a non-compression valve, then the part on Stefano's web site is not the correct part. That part is only for compression style valves, such as Expobars and the 1G Anita.

If you do have the older valve, did you descale the valve assembly and clean it out before installing the new shaft? Did you inspect the new shaft for a burr or other manufacturing defect? How much lube did you use?

Sorry, meant to say compression valve. I have the same 1st gen Anita that you have. I didn't descale the valve assembly, but I did inspect the insides, and it was fine. I didn't closely inspect the new shaft, though. Perhaps there's a slight flaw in it as you mention. I used 2 pea-sized lubes, one for the 0-rings and the other just for a general application at the compression seat end of the shaft.

I'd be curious if you did anything differently than I did for lube, etc. I actually replaced my valve shaft after reading your post in hopes that I'd get better steam performance.

The only difference I can think of is that I used Dow 111 for lube and I removed and completely disassembled the entire assembly from the machine. I gave it a good long bath in descaler and cleaned it out w/ a pipe cleaner. I lubed the threads on the shaft as well.

It felt a little different at first, but it was fine within a week. Try running it all the way in and all of the way out a couple of times. You might just need to work the lube around a bit.

Mike

I'm trying to fix the leaking steam valve on my second generation Anita. I got the replacement valve assembly from Chris' Coffee, which is the correct part for the job from what I've read. It's the one pictured here:

http://www.chriscoffee.com/produc...s/isomacsteamvalve

I pulled the assembly apart to use only the inner shaft, which is the only part that's actually worn out. It's shown in the picture here:

http://www.chriscoffee.com/faq#18

However, when I pulled the old valve stem out and tried to screw in the new one, it was obvious that the new one is quite different. The shaft is longer on both ends, and it fits too tightly to allow the nut on the end of the valve to be screwed in fully. The knob also doesn't quite fit on to the shaft since the shaft is a bit wider than the hole in the knob. Plus, the screw that normally holds the knob in place won't work because the end of the shaft has a threaded male end instead of the female end needed to accept the screw.

So I'm not quite sure what to do now. For the time being, I've just reassembled the valve using the old shaft, which leaks but still works pretty well. Does anyone know if there's a dealer that sells the shorter valve shaft used in the Anita, or am I just stuck with a leaking valve?

Also, would it be possible to replace the compression-style valve with one of the non-compression valves from the Andreja Premium/Vetrano? Seems silly to have to keep fixing this part when a better one exists.

Thanks for any help or suggestions.