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E61 Group Drips/Lever Slips Up

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Link to "E61 Group Drips/Lever Slips Up"by CSME9 on Mon Jan 18, 2010 1:28 pm

My Isomac TEA has two symptoms, unit has been backflushed regularly.

1. 6-9 water drips out the bottom group tube when pulling a shot. (Does not drip when power is on at idle/not being used).

2. When the brew lever is pushed down (pump off) it slips back up a little and i get portafilter pressure sneezing.

I think i need several parts, Stefano at espresso care offers a rebuild kit with seals/gaskets which i think will fix the drip but i believe since the brew lever slips i may need cam lobes ?

Can anyone advise on what parts i will need for both the water drip and slipping lever ?

Thanks, Will
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Link to "E61 Group Drips/Lever Slips Up"by HB on Mon Jan 18, 2010 3:00 pm

Replacing the seals using Stefano's rebuild kit sounds like good advice. If the macine is a few years old, it's possible the cam is worn; it's easy to confirm by removing the lever arm (remove the handle by unscrewing the large slotted screw, turn the large nut to remove the cam assembly). See Problem with drooping E61 brew lever and Constant dripping from E61 grouphead for more details.
Dan Kehn
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Link to "E61 Group Drips/Lever Slips Up"by CSME9 on Mon Jan 18, 2010 6:32 pm

Dan,

I removed the lever arm & the big nut. The bottom cam lobe that comes up thru the group discharge tube is visibly worn/angled. The top cam lobe coming from the mushroom is not so bad. The long cam inside the lever is slightly worn where it meets the bottom cam lobe.

Think i will buy Stefanos seals/springs rebuild kit to stop the water drip along with the long lever cam.

I cant make it out from the E-61 group diagram, can you just buy the small top/bottom cam lobe or is it better to buy the entire assembly with gaskets and all new springs.

Thanks, Will
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Link to "E61 Group Drips/Lever Slips Up"by erics on Mon Jan 18, 2010 11:00 pm

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Link to "E61 Group Drips/Lever Slips Up"by CSME9 on Tue Jan 19, 2010 11:02 pm

Thanks Eric...does part # 460008 slide into 460084 or are those separated inside the lower tube.

Thanks, WS
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Link to "E61 Group Drips/Lever Slips Up"by erics on Tue Jan 19, 2010 11:49 pm

P/N 460008 does slide within 460084. 460008 and everything below it come out when you unscrew the lower fitting (P/N 460088) as illustrated below:
Image
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Link to "E61 Group Drips/Lever Slips Up"by CSME9 on Sat Jan 23, 2010 9:41 am

Eric,

Thanks for the info.

I ordered the 3 expansion, brew, pre, drain valves with a new lever cam and 2 gaskets and lubricant.

When installing the valves does it matter what position the pump lever is in ?

Do the rubber gaskets on the 3 valves have to be lubricated with the dow lubricant ?

Thanks, Will
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Link to "E61 Group Drips/Lever Slips Up"by erics on Sat Jan 23, 2010 10:48 am

I would put a light film of the Dow 111 on the cam surface and on the valve "pushrods" that come into contact with same - about a matchheads worth on the cam and same quantity spread over the pushrods contact area.

Install all the valves below the lever with the lever "up". Install the brew valve with the lever "down". The rubber gaskets (actually this could be termed the valve face) do not need any lube.
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Link to "E61 Group Drips/Lever Slips Up"by CSME9 on Sun Jan 31, 2010 1:00 am

Ordered all the parts from Stefano at espresso care, had a couple questions, he answered them in a few hours and the order arrived quickly .

Machine is 6 years old so i replaced all 3 upper/lower plungers, lever cam shaft with the 2 rubber gaskets, all 4 springs, gicleur screen and all 5 teflon gaskets.

Pretty straight forward, i followed the diagram Erics provided . I backflushed w/cafiza before i started . Gicleur screen had little scale, mushroom had a bit more , i soaked the mushroom in lemon juice, used a green scrubby pad inside the grouphead mushroom chamber . Soaked the lower chamber in cafiza to clean the coffee oils.

The lower chamber spring was stuck gunked up , i had to use needle nose pliers to pull hard to get it out.

Backflushed with water, ran water thru group to flush any scale that may have dislodged when finished. Lever operates smoothly but does click when raised to middle position ( i think its normal ). Before there was a grinding click due to the top/bottom pushrod ends being worn at an angle, The lever does not slip back up and no more water dripping thru discharge tube when pulling a shot. So far so so good.

WS
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Link to "E61 Group Drips/Lever Slips Up"by CSME9 on Sun Feb 07, 2010 11:04 am

erics wrote:I would put a light film of the Dow 111 on the cam surface and on the valve "pushrods" that come into contact with same - about a matchheads worth on the cam and same quantity spread over the pushrods contact area.

Install all the valves below the lever with the lever "up". Install the brew valve with the lever "down". The rubber gaskets (actually this could be termed the valve face) do not need any lube.



Its been about a week since replacing all the springs and plunger valves.

When i raise the lever to activate the pump i hear a click. Is that normal ?

The tops of the new plungers are flat on top but rounded in the four corners, does it matter how it mated to the lever cam ?

The old plungers were old and worn down on the sides and made a stiff/grinding click, i cant recall what a normal lever is supposed to sound like ?

Thanks, WS
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Link to "E61 Group Drips/Lever Slips Up"by erics on Sun Feb 07, 2010 11:23 am

The "click" is from the push button switch that activates the pump.

The mating surfaces (4) of the valve pushrods PROBABLY have a spherical surface - tough to see with these dimensions and these eyes :) . The spherical surface encourages a slight rotation which serves to minimize wear on all surfaces.
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Link to "E61 Group Drips/Lever Slips Up"by CSME9 on Sun Feb 07, 2010 3:08 pm

With the power off if i hold the black pump button in and lift the lever i still get a lever click sound .

Is the lever supposed to make any clicking at all ?

Thanks, WS
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Link to "E61 Group Drips/Lever Slips Up"by erics on Sun Feb 07, 2010 4:23 pm

I just duplicated your action and had the same click.
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