How often do you replace e61 gaskets

[PhaetonFalling]

Hey, I just wanted to know.

How often do you all replace e61 shower screen gaskets.

Ever look behind them to see what the dispersion screw looks like after maybe a month or two?

How clean is yours? How clean should it be? Is there a cleaning procedure for this?

Sincerely

Namson Pham

[HB]

I don't run espresso machines 24/7, so the grouphead gaskets last a long, long time. It's time to replace when the gasket fails to seal. If you remove the dispersion screen / gasket from time-to-time (instructions), you can check how well the espresso cleaner is working:


E61 dispersion screen after Puro Caff cleaning (details)

As you see, there was still a smidgen of grinds. The grouphead surfaces looked squeaky, including the dispersion screw. Is it worth fussing about this small trace of grinds? Maybe not, but I remove the dispersion screen every time I chemical backflush, typically once a week (or two if I'm lazy).

The thread Espresso Machine Cleaning Digest summarizes an end-to-end cleaning regime.

[Grant]

Hey, I just wanted to know.

How often do you all replace e61 shower screen gaskets.

Ever look behind them to see what the dispersion screw looks like after maybe a month or two?

How clean is yours? How clean should it be? Is there a cleaning procedure for this?

Sincerely

Namson Pham

My Bricoletta has been on and running 24/7 for almost 2 years and I am still on the original PF gasket. Still seals tight....replacement is only $6 so it really isn't a concern anyways even if I had to do it more often. I have taken the group gasket/screen apart a few times to make sure my cleaning routine was doing a good job. I backflush with just water 3-4 times a week....daily if I think about it and use a brush to scrub the gasket at that time.

Every Sunday morning I give the machine a very thorough detergent backflush and extra rinse backflushes.

After the detergent flush...everything is sparkly clean.

Grant

[another_jim]

The gaskets don't need to be replaced more than once a year, even in 24/7 operation. However, there are several models of shower screen, and some foul with coffee, while others don't. The plain wire shower screens do not foul; the illustrated kind, with the holed metal backup plate, comes in versions that do foul. If you have a fouling kind, you'll need to remove the gasket and clean up the screen every two weeks to a month.

If your gasket is older than about six months, removing it will, in all likelihood, destroy it, since the base tends to bake onto the group surface. Have a spare ready. Otherwise, removing it regularly will prevent this from happening. The best removal gadget is an adjustable collar that fits over the protruding shower screen (there are exotic plumbing tools and occasional jar opening gadgets that will do this). Otherwise, try to find a slightly curved piece of thin steel that can lever out the gasket. There are shower screen models that have a groove, which makes removal easy. The original E61, and some of the Spanish clones, have a notch cut out of the saucer section, which also makes gasket removal a breeze.

[PhaetonFalling]

However, there are several models of shower screen, and some foul with coffee, while others don't. The plain wire shower screens do not foul; the illustrated kind, with the holed metal backup plate, comes in versions that do foul. If you have a fouling kind, you'll need to remove the gasket and clean up the screen every two weeks to a month.

I have the kind with the metal backup plate and the wire mesh.

I seem to have coffee residue and grinds building up between the metal backplate and wire mesh resulting in a kind of dark lookin' impression of the backplate through the wire mesh.

I've been soaking it in machine cleaner on low heat over a stove.. and sometimes poking at it... you won't believe the colour of the solution afterwards... its gross...

Sincerely

Namson Pham

[another_jim]

I've been soaking it in machine cleaner on low heat over a stove.. and sometimes poking at it... you won't believe the colour of the solution afterwards... its gross

Yeah I would. I replaced the first gasket & shower screen on the Tea after a year and a half. That was the plain wire kind, and it had stayed clean as a whistle. About 6 weeks later, my shots started getting more and more staticky. After spending three days trying to figure it out, I removed the screen, and it was nearly sealed with baked on coffee tar. Weekly backflushes hadn't done a thing to stop the buildup. I didn't even try to clean it, just put in a new screen.