Ugh - I just broke my La Pavoni repairing it

[khiron]

I didn't know about this forum until I had already broken my La Pavoni

I've had a Pro16 since 2000, and it sees heavy duty. I had it repaired once under warranty where I noticed the nuts that held on the sight glass were replaced with plastic - I'll get back to those in a min.

So anyway I noticed over the past year it has developed leaks, and heating issues.

The worst is when it sits overnight with more than a half inch of water (per the sight glass), when I come back there is only half an inch of water (per the sight) and a puddle under the machine . When the boiler heats up, there is a hiss from the steam release valve - a soft tap on that with the base of a demitasse cup seats the valve and pressure starts to build. Once pressure builds I see a little steam appear at the seam between the boiler and base near the bottom of the sight glass. When I draw water into the group, I see a little spatter of water dancing at the top of the group. Once the boiler has heated up and I have pressure I have about a 5 min window to pull before it switches off (fuse I guess) and it takes about 20 mins it resets and I get another 5 min pull window.

So I thought my problem might be fixed with new gaskets and a new fuse, and since I am out of warranty I'll just get the parts (EG&H - great guys) and do it myself. Group head came apart well (except for the C ring that needed a special device to remove). Base came off and OMG the rust ! So I need to pull everything off and rust coat and enamel the base. Now the tricky one, I need to take off the sight glass and replace its seals. Remember those plastic locking nuts? They disintegrated on me

I guess I will try to get some from EG&H next week if they carry them. Anyone had a similar experience with those locking nuts? Any tricks for removing the sight glass assembly easily? Is a dud fuse likely to fix my heating issues, or might I have to replace the pressure switch? The gaskets between my boiler and base disintegrated when I removed my base, and they were not part of the kit EG&H sent me. Does anyone know if those are regular o-rings?

[bill]

Re your question about parts for your La Pavoni Pro. I used to have a La Pavoni Ambassador and was able to get all the parts I needed from a place here in the Dallas area. It's Careri Inc. 1012 Oakmead Drive, Arlington, TX 76011-7734, 817-652-6826, email sre@sreweb.com. My machine was an older model and I know the sight glass was different then yours. I was able to replace the glass tube with no trouble, but there weren't any plastic parts, either. I think the fellow I worked with at Caeri was named Bill. Those La Pavoni lever machines are fairly easy to repair, so I don't think yours is really broken; just maybe a little sick at the moment. Good luck!

[zcjaais]

Hi,

Sounds like a regular mess you got there. First I recommend you check out http://www.pavoniexpress.com/ if you haven't already done so.

The importer here in the Netherlands stopped selling La Pavoni lever machines when they started fitting plastic parts in crucial places. He does not want to provide warranty anymore. Apparently the quality has now gone up, but is still not like the pre-millenium series.

About the sight glass. If you can take off the manometer and loosen the retaining nuts, you can carefully shove out the glass. With a nr 16 metric offset wrench you can unscrew the top nut on the inside through the hole where you fill it with water. I've got some pics here http://www.flickr.com/photos/87806670@N00/ I'd replace the plastic nuts with proper metal ones when you can.

On the fuse switching off, that thing is not a fuse, but a clixon. It will switch off the machine at 127 degrees celcius. That would imply your machine is seriously overheating. Use a torch to look down the filler hole and check how much calcium is on your heating element. That may cause overheating. Also check the pressurestat system for leaks and fix those with some teflon tape.

For parts, I get mine either from the importer, an Italian that advertises on eBay or http://www.espressoservices.co.uk/la_pavoni.html in the UK. This site will also offer you a good overview of what goes where.

Good luck!


Casper.

[mogogear]

khiron,

Just a small departure first- If you update your personal info to include what part of the world you are in - so we - or anybody can make geographically applicable suggestions to help you-that would be super! ( Sorry for the house keeping- Oh, yes throw in your name- if you feel Ok with that!)

Pressurestat =clixon ! is the culprit for the on and off situation- depending on where you are in the world- there are many La Pavoni sites to get the base gasket from. In addition to the other two suggestions, You may be able to get the plastic nuts and gasket from Will at Home Espresso Repair - he is always good for some phone info as well.

http://www.espressorepair.com

Glad you found us - we have been waiting for you to show since August!

[Bushrod]

I'm sure he figured out something in the 23 months since he posted that...

[mogogear]

I am just A SHEEP LOOKING FOR THE LEMMING , HEADED FOR THE CLIFF....bAAAAAA BAAAAAAA!

[peacecup]

Lemming, in fact, don't jump off cliffs! Its a myth, propagated by a Walt Disney film:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemming

PC

[ogatasan]

36 months... sheep.... cliffs... (and gps, maybe)

would this be on topic gentlemen:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/...16&in_page_id=1811

it would look better now if it jumped