I've been lurking around this site ever since I decided to upgrade from my SB Barista, and have really enjoyed reading everyone's posts. I recently got a used Astra gourmet, and took it apart assuming it needed a big time descale. I was surprised to find it was scale free inside - go figure! It did have a decent amout black and brown gunk inside though.

Anyway, I was wondering if I should use some sort of anti-sieze compound on the heating element bolts when I reinstall them? None of the other connections to the nickle plated boiler had teflon tape, but two of them (drain and steam wand connection) seemed to have some sort of thin brown crusty stuff on the threads. I couldn't tell if it was an anti-sieze compound or not. The three bolts holding the heating element had nothing on them at all but came out easily. I figured I'd ask the collective expertese here just to make sure.

Regards,

Noah

FWW, I did use some anti seize I got from a local shop on mine when i replaced them. I didn't use anything on the gasket. Then I tightened the bolts again after the machine had been through a heating cycle. I have not had any leaks. The original bolts were eaten about half through from corrosion. So I replaced them with stainless steel. While you are at it, clean the contacts on the pressurestat. Also, I drilled a half inch hole in the case to be able to reset the pressurestat from outside the machine. Don't put the case on till after you have done a few heat cycles and checked for leaks. I did find that i had a 60~hum when the machine was on and I re tightened the front case bolts and it went away.
You may find that the machine overshoots after the first turn on. You can wait and let steam to bring it back down. On my machine I find that it will go to ~1.4bar when first turned on then after that it will stabilize at the set temperature +-.1bar. She takes about an hour and flushes to really get rock solid.
You have a great machine!

Thanks for the reply.

Was that anti-sieze anything special or just run of the mill Locktite? Funnily, the first time I plugged the Astra in, I was hearing an odd hum and wasn't sure if it was the machine or the overhead fluorescent lights, but it did seem to subside after a bit. Other than a pump pressure gauge that seems stuck (probably scale inside, and I'm not sure how to descale that?) the machine seems pretty darn good. You are right. I really didn't realize just how nice a machine it was until I physically saw it. As you said, it is a great machine. The steam is amazing, and DRY. I cannot wait to froth some milk with it!

Locktite is the opposite of antiseize. It seizes the threads to keep it from coming out. Go to your local auto parts store and ask them for a tube of antiseize. It is basically an aluminum powder in a grease suspension. Works wonders, I use it on my motorcycles. It keeps the chrome bolts from corroding into the aluminum block.

Thanks Dave. I thought Locktite made an anti-sieze formula as well as the red and blue versions of thread sealant. BTW, when re-attaching all the connectins to the boiler, would you use teflon tape or some other thread sealant? There wasn't anything on the threads when I disassembled the boiler.

Regards,

Noah

They may make one, I just haven't seen it. My only concern would be the heat. It may liquefy the suspension and it would melt off the bolts. I have not had a problem with it on my motorcycles but I don't use it on any high temperature parts. Side casing bolts don't get overly hot. As to the rest of the machine, you could give the fittings a wrap of Teflon tape but they should not need it. BSPP and BSPT threads use a physical lock between the bullet end and cup on the ends of the lines with the BSPP. BSPT use tapered threads (hence the T) and they lock with themselves when tightened down. Just don't over tighten. Go finger tight then another quarter turn. If the fitting leaks, give it another quarter turn. If it still leaks then a little Teflon tape may be in order. Remember you are tightening things cold, when it heats, the brass expands and the fittings will get tighter.

Thanks Dave! One nice thing about the Astra is that everything is SAE. I can just go to the orange borg and get fittings and tubing.

Use a high temp Never Seize like: https://www.neverseezproductscart...9cc80c77f4d3398c16

I had an Astra Gourmet for 4 years which I just sold. It was a very nice machine.
When you took the heating element off, what kind of gasket was there? My machine originally had a thick cardboard-like gasket which went bad after about 3 years. Astra has a better teflon gasket that I used for the replacement. I would recommend using one if these. Also, Richard at Astra had recommended replacing the 3 nuts, which I did.
Two other things:
1. I my machine you had access to the pressurestat from the top--just take out 2 screws to remove the cup tray and you could access the pressurestat.
2. I would recommend getting the "thin" dispersion block that is available from Astra (they don't advertise this).
I agree with you about the quality of steaming. I was able to do great latte art with this machine. One negative with the machine is that I had to flush a fair amount of water before pulling a shot.
Rob

Rob,

I've read all of your posts about your Astra and it seems you definitely liked it. I can't wait to get mine into service!

When I pulled it apart to descale, the heating element gasket was the standard paper laminate type. It seemed ok but very hard, so I didn't want to reuse it. On the advice of Bob C (TUS172 ) I bought a sheet of 1/8" PTFE gasket material at the local McMaster Carr and cut out a new gasket. Although I've never seen the teflon gasket that Astra now provides, I figured the solid teflon sheet material I got is probably ok. I guess I'll find out one way or another!

I was going to get the thin dispersion block but figured I'd wait until after I reassembled that machine and pulled a few shots.

One thing I'm kind of stuck on is the pump pressure gauge. This machine has a single gauge with 2 dials that reads both pump pressure and boiler pressure. The boiler pressure half works fine but the pump pressure needle is stuck at 130 something psi. I figure it's scaled up inside. What's the best way to clean it out?

Lastly, do you or anyone else who might see this know of a way to descale without having the dissolved copper from the pipes plate the brass fittings? I descaled the boiler by itself, and although some of the copper from inside the boiler plated the nickel on the outside, I was able to scrub it off. However, I want to descale all of the copper tubing but really don't feel like spending 2 hours scrubbing copper plating off of all the brass flair nuts! I was going to try a lower concentration of citric acid, maybe 3/4 T per liter but I'm definitely open to other methods.

Regards,

Noah

Noah,

Not sure how you would fix the gauge. I would probably see how much Richard would charge for a new dual gauge. I bet its not real expensive.
Also, I forgot to mention. I did not use any anti-sieze when I put my heating element back on. The nuts came off easily when I replaced the gasket.
Rob

Humm, mine came out easily too, so maybe I'll just reassemble sans the anti-sieze compound.