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Caravel Maintenance Question re: Piston and Cylinder

Postby GVDub on Thu Apr 16, 2009 2:12 pm

So every once in a while, when the lever is fully raised, I'll get some water out the side slots of the cylinder. I checked and lubed the top seal, and it seems to be okay. Is this maybe a piston o-ring thing? Cleaning? Replacement? How often do those cylinder seals need to be changed? Same question for the o-ring. I'm still trying to figure out the best maintenance regimen.
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Postby mikekarr on Thu Apr 16, 2009 3:57 pm

I had a lot of this until I changed the O ring this last weekend. Now, no problems, no more steam or water coming out of the sides. I suspect that I could have just removed the old O ring and cleaned it and put it back, it seemed to be in good shape. It was kind of a mess in there.
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Postby timo888 on Thu Apr 16, 2009 5:03 pm

GVDub wrote: How often do those cylinder seals need to be changed? Same question for the o-ring. I'm still trying to figure out the best maintenance regimen.


It really depends on the duro of the elastomer and on how hard you pull the lever.
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Postby alex f on Fri Apr 17, 2009 7:52 am

I get water leaking from the lever's armpits when the kettle is too full.
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Postby peacecup on Sat Apr 18, 2009 5:10 pm

I think the top o ring prevents leaking over when the lever is all the way raised. One think you can try is simply not to push it quite so far back. It will still fill. Those o rings should be easy to source, but the one I got from orphan did not fit my machine. I went back to the 40yr old italian one and just lubed it.
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