Astoria Lever Maintenance

[ian2kris]

I now have the luck to be able to use an older 2-group Astoria Lever espresso machine at my work. Aside from keeping the portafilters clean in the typical manner, does anyone have any hints on maintenance? Because of the mechanics of this type of machine, I know backflushing is not an option, but am wondering if, aside from scrubbing the inside of the grouphead as well as possible, there are any methods for thorough cleaning.

Ian

[Paul]

Hi

You don't mention whether the machine is used in a cafe or not. Either way, this is how I take care of my old commercial lever friends:

Grouphead - once a week I make up a solution of espresso detergent and warm water and scrub the showerscreen and group gasket with a toothbrush. You can get nice little brushes for this purpose but I haven't yet bothered. After getting everything nice and soapy I run some water thru the group.

Group - when a machine first arrives at my workshop I completely rebuild the group (bearings, seals and springs). After this, in my case the machine typically goes into a non-commercial setting. I have not had to replace piston seals in 3 years since my first restoration. That said, if you wanted to be sure go ahead and replace the spring and seals. This way you will be fine for years. If your machine is in a cafe you would do this each year I guess. Rebuilding a commercial group is not terribly difficult. There are good exploded diagrams around to help you.

Group gasket - No matter whether a machine is for commercial or home use I think this needs replacing at the same frequency. My machine at home is on each day. I think a lot of the gasket hardening occurs during the heating up and cooling down process.

The group on your machine is very common and still made today. You are lucky in that you'll have no problems finding parts.