Hi, I captured a Gaggia America one group from Germany last year.
I am trying to disassemble and restore the Gaggia by myself. But,one of screw breaks at the boiler.
My friend suggests me to remove the break-screw by using 'Wire Electrical Discharging'.
Anyone has other suggestions (easy way) ?

Joe

You have to treat these babies with care. I would first soak it with some penetrating oil for a week or so. Then you start the process of drilling it out. You may get lucky and can use a screw extractor bit but most probably it will need to be drilled out and re-tapped.

There are fancy alignment tools you can get that help you drill it straight and in the centre. But real men just use a hammer, a punch and a steady hand.

These bolts are crappy old steel or iron so they are easy to drill into.

My Faema E64 holds the record as all bolts (I think it was a dozen) needed to be drilled out. Part of the fun and challenge.

Paul

p.s. I forgot to add there is no way I would risk the electric erosion method.

Hey Joe,

I had lots of practice dealing with stuck bolts with my Conti Prestina rebuild, which is still in progress. But the stuck bolts are out. The part of the thread where I drill them out starts here: Conti Prestina Restoration Some pages earlier you'll see how I got into that mess!

Paul_Pratt wrote:p.s. I forgot to add there is no way I would risk the electric erosion method.

+1. There is a significant risk of welding the broken bolt in places! After that, forget about taking it out!

Paul_Pratt wrote:You have to treat these babies with care. I would first soak it with some penetrating oil for a week or so. Then you start the process of drilling it out. You may get lucky and can use a screw extractor bit but most probably it will need to be drilled out and re-tapped.

Paul,I will try your method first.

drgary wrote:Hey Joe,
I had lots of practice dealing with stuck bolts with my Conti Prestina rebuild, which is still in progress.

Gary, I read your post last year.. Really great example of restoration. Maybe I will try to capture a CONTI too.
BTW, I love the cutting wheel... A cool man's toy

Joe

When drilling the broken stub out after soaking as Paul said, use left hand drill bits
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002NYBJG/ or similar.

Many times the unscrewing direction of a reverse drill will actually vibrate out the stub without using extrators ( (to be avoided like the plague ) etc.
John

I have had occasional success after soaking in penetrating oil I use a small carbide tip on a rotary tool and cut a slot in the fragment of stud, then use a slot screwdriver to remove it. Titanium nitride bits are also very handy in these situations. If you can get the first one to center and drill all the way through. Increase the bit size one at a time. many times the heat loosens the offending part.

I did a bit of work on my own Gaggia this week, an Orione. It's a total wreck.

9 of the 10 bolts sheered off and this was after penetrating oil, heat and an air impact wrench. Oh well drilling out 9 holes is better than 10 I suppose.



Here's the rest of the boiler, looks like it has spent the past few years of it's life underwater.



When I get around to this boiler end plate I'll take some photos of the process I use and hope it will be successful.

Paul_Pratt wrote:I did a bit of work on my own Gaggia this week, an Orione. It's a total wreck.
9 of the 10 bolts sheered off and this was after penetrating oil, heat and an air impact wrench. Oh well drilling out 9 holes is better than 10 I suppose.

When I get around to this boiler end plate I'll take some photos of the process I use and hope it will be successful.

Cool..
Too busy recently, and my restoration is postponed.
I am looking forward to see the photos of your processing.

Joe