Forgive the newbie post. I've been all over the forums here and elsewhere and can't find the answer to this one, so I think I am doing something wrong and should bow to the experts.

5 years ago I ebay'd a 2000 Europiccola Lusso. It had a rusted out base from someone improperly cleaning the drip pan, but that didn't bother me, since in every other way it worked perfectly, and after years working with it, I can regularly turn out fantastic espresso using the local "blue bottle coffee."

So, five years later, I get a bonus at work and decide to treat myself to a new chrome base for my favorite coffeemaker. I read up on the operation involved with replacing the base and the gaskets and thought I was well equipped to proceed.

Many adventures ensued. Let's just say that removing the plastic flange from the base of my EPC-8 (you know, the one that holds the base to the boiler, that the stainless steel heating element bolts onto,) proved too much for the flange and the poor thing cracked in half.

I called Thos. Cara here in San Fran, and they pointed me to European Gift and Housewares for a replacement.

EG&H told me that the plastic flange isn't available any longer, (for others trying to remove this, don't pound on it, the gasket is sealed to the base. EG&H said to obtain a heat gun and carefully heat the plastic flange in several short bursts, (so that you don't melt the flange as well.) Eventually the sealant will melt, and the flange can be removed without snapping it the way I did.) Anyway, EG&H tells me that La Pavoni is no longer making a plastic flange, and is once more making a brass flange, which has the same threading as the plastic one. EG&H shipped me one, and it arrived yesterday. It looks similar, it has the three threaded bolt holes for the heating element, and fits over the boiler.

So tonight I have been trying to re-assemble the base. The flange screwed in easily for about the first 1/4 inch, and now it won't budge. I can monkey it, and pound it on with a block and a hammer, but I am afraid of stripping out the threads on the boiler, because I am at the point now where I am really feeling strong resistance, and if I go much further I feel that I won't be able to get it off once more should I ever need to do that. Am I really supposed to just wale away at this thing until it tightens up? There's about an inch to go!

Stats on my machine:

This is a Sept 2000 EPC-8. it is not a millennium or a pro model. It has the 49 mm group head, and one switch and no pressure gauge. Oddly it has a brass piston rather than a plastic one, which must have been a replacement by the prior owner.

Things I have tried:

Gently heating the flange with a firelighter to see if it tightens more easily this way.
Sprayed it with penetrating fluid to see if that makes a difference.
Gently tapped the ring with a hammer and wooden block until I reached this impasse.
Awakened the neighbors' baby with my fruitless cries of frustration.

My wife, wiser and less macho than I, suggests that I just take it to Thomas Cara and say, "please put on the base, and bill me." I have got to tell you, I am almost there, but I thought I would try to preserve a few dollars (and maybe pride) and see if anyone has had the experience of replacing this ring with the brass one, and could recommend a process for putting the ring on, or just reassure me that I am not ruining my machine. It would be a terrible shame to ruin my favorite thing just because I wanted it to look a little nicer when company came around. I thought I was doing it a favor.

From what I know, the plastic ring threaded on the boiler with some type of glue (not sealant or threadlocker) in the threads of the boiler. I suspect that you just need to chase the threads with a pick to make sure all of the glue is out of the threads and the threads are clean all the way to the end. It does not take much crap in the threads to bind the flange nut.

By the way, though I am not the official welcome wagon.....WELCOME TO HB!

This was the EG&H tech's suggestion as well. (I called this morning.)
1) Remove the flange,
2) heat the boiler threads with a propane torch until hot,
3) Apply a strong solvent like paint thinner after it cools for a moment,
4) and then scrub the threads with a wire brush.

I thoroughly cleaned the threads on the boiler and the flange. Still the same issue.

Now that the boiler threads are sparkling clean, I can see that there is the tiniest place (1/2 mm or less), where the top of a thread on the boiler has been sheared away. The flange gets to the place where this gap would be in the very middle of the flange threads, and it is at this point that the flange locks.

So... is it a loss, or is there something I can do to get the flange onto the boiler?

I thought I might:

1) Get a propane torch and try heating the flange to see if it advances after it has been heated. I used a firelighter before but that was a small flame and I doubt it heated the brass enough to make it expand.

2) get a very small jeweler's file set and see if I can knock the rough edge off of the boiler thread gap. The gap is very small, and it really does look like a shear in the thread rather than corrosion. I could see when taking off the plastic flange that other attempts to remove the flange had been made (screwdriver marks on the base, etc.) This gap in the threads looks like the edge of a chisel or screwdriver has just taken off the top of a thread.

i would try the file for sure..
it seems like you found the problem, the threads are damaged and just need to be cleaned up..

see if you can find a file with a really sharp triangular profile to get in the threads.
sometimes called knife file or escapement file.

Nicholson makes very good quality files in the US, often available locally

OK, I am popping back in to close this case!

Repairing the damaged thread did not help, the brass ring spun onto the thing until about halfway and then locked up. I took a picture of the threads and brought that to a co-worker with some machining experience and he said that a gap that small would not normally cause a thread to lock. He described the earliest screws and bolts, where the screw would literally thread onto a tab of bent metal on the side of a hole, so continuous threads aren't vital to make most threaded objects operate properly.

I called EG&H again and talked to their tech (Mike, I think his name was?) And he had me describe my problem in a little more detail. After I told him that the brass flange spun onto the boiler threads with no effort, using a single finger, until it abruptly locks up, he said that it had to be that the threads were the wrong size.

So he went digging around and located a plastic flange (part P-06P) and sent that off to me. I received it this evening and it spins all the way on to the boiler with no difficulties at all.

For anyone reading in the future, Mike said to put it on with a little glue to avoid the "boiler turning on base" problem that facilitated the change from the plastic flange to the brass one, but seeing as how I had trouble with the glue to begin with, I will skip the glue and just be sure to not grab the base at all when locking in the portafilter. (I always grab the lever for that anyhow.)

So LONG story short, the P-06 is not a replacement for the P-06P, if you had a plastic flange on there to begin with, you will need to somehow find a plastic flange to replace it with.

NOW to get the thing back together! I am going to be happy tomorrow morning!