Hi
I came across a 2007 La Pavoni Bar T 2V. My intentions were to descale, familiarize and replace o-rings and like, but that didn't happen. Basically everything is apart except for frame and a few attachments. By far, I am no expert. Therefore, I would like to post my progress and ask question as I go along, so in the end, I could enjoy a shot. I am open to all advise and input and it would be very much appreciated. I have no history of this machine nor do I know what works or not. It did have some water in the boiler. I will post some Pic as soon as I figure how. Thanks to HB help, here are some Pics



It looks pretty clean on the outside. The inside didn't look that bad compared to some Pics I have seen, but you can be the judge of that. To get you caught up to where I am at I will post a lot of pics. Well Here is the insides taken apart.


Group heads The one I have is with the M6 screw


Group heads taken apart pretty cruddy


Scaling going on in the back end of the group heads and that silver bottom tray is rusting up some there on the right. Any suggestion for the tray other than powder coat.
Since it is on the inside, I was thinking of just priming it and spray painting with high tempt primer/paint.







Taken Pics to remember line path and connections


I numbered and labeled wire connections


Looks like the heating element seal has been compromised

After the removal of the heating element the O Ring was brittle / dry rotted







I read you can use vinegar / citric acid to remove calcium buildup so I tried both It seemed to me that the citric acid may have worked better but not a noticeable difference. I started to get into the nice and shiny outside thing loss focus of objective descaling and cleaning. So after getting back on track I purchased Cafizia detergent to remove coffee oil and various tube size scrubbing brushes.



Here are some tubes and fittings that were descaled washed and rinsed. Notice that nice salmon color. It didn't last long the tubes started to oxidize again










The above 4 pics are to remember fitting alignment and placement



Down below is what I had to contend with. Even though the citric acid did brake down and dissolved the calcium buildup I still had to do some finishing brushing, and these small port holes are tough to work with. Once done with the porthole brushing I took a flashlight to inside the boiler. It was not that pretty salmon color it was black to my surprise. so I used long brushes poured dry critic acid granules and ice cubes. Then shake. brushed and rolled for about 20 minutes then re-soaked it in a hot citric bath over night. The following day it was salmon color. whatever the black was it had to be wiped off.

I am going to miss out on some portion of before and after shots because I have already stated putting things back together. Here's the boiler. I messed up the sticker by extensive soaking. Glad I got a pic. When I received the machine the boiler had Teflon tape on all attached fittings except for the release valve, level probe, there are three other fittings that have a metal gasket with a inner rubber. Do I need to put Teflon tape on the release valve, level probe and the ones with the metal gasket. Also one fitting looks like there was a liquid hardener.




This is the metal gasket and fitting. The gasket goes on the boiler side. Do I need to use Teflon tape connecting to the boiler or is the gasket good enough?


Here is the release valve that washer looking thing down on the bottom they call a spring. Should I put Teflon tape on the threads of the valve?

I understand there are many have different opinions on using a thread sealer from Teflon tape, 537 loctite to pipe dope and combination. But as of now I am going with what was on there Teflon tape and the metal gaskets. I would like to get an all around seal when I pressurize test the boiler, so I am open but not into bad taste or contamination. When I used the Teflon I made sure not to extend pass the thread and I vacuumed out through the heating element port.


Here's the one with that liquid hardener I think. If you look closely where the elbow threads mate the other fitting you will see brown on top that is a part of a hard ring that went around the two fitting.