So I'm still working on my europiccola (very slow project). Today I wanted to place the heating element, but I'm not sure if the position is good. It looks like the flange and the element can only be attached in one specific position (the same position as before the restoration), otherwise one of the bolts is too much at an angle to be tightened.



The boiler flange is in a different position than before and because of this the element is really close to the nut of the sightglass (it seems like they are almost touching). In the old position it whas the lowest part of the element wich whas closest to the nut. Is this a familiar problem? I hope my description is clear.

I'm a little confused. The sightglass nut is on the side of the boiler and you're tightening the heating element under the base. Are you simply referring to the position of each lining up?

Anyway, maybe this will help. When you position the heating element holes over the boiler flange below it and tighten down, this will seal the gasket in the heating element base to the bottom of the boiler. If it's sufficiently tight (don't overtighten steel into brass because that can crack the brass), you will give the boiler a firm grip on the base so it will be fixed in place, which prevents it from swiveling.

Sorry, I don't think my description was really clear. A photo will help! It's about the outer coil of the element (almost) touching the nut of the sightglass inlet hole.



And this is the preferred position. I also think the element coil is not centered because in this position there is quite a gap between the nut and the coil:



Edit:
And this preferred position is not possible because of the holes in the element and boiler flange don't line up properly (like the photo in my first post)

Are the bolts cross-threaded so they're tilted that way?

Can you turn the boiler flange counter-clockwise so the heating element coil lines up differently? If you tighten down the bolts it will still tighten the boiler against the base and seal the heating element.

One hole in the element just does not line up to the corresponding hole in the flange, very clear on this photo:



I think turning the flange 1/3 counter-clockwise will fix the problem, but this could loosen the boiler. Right now it's nice and tight!
Would it be a bad idea to make the hole in the element a bit wider with a round file? I think 1mm will be sufficient.

Joel,

I think that would work. You have a later heating element where the holes don't line up with your flange. La Pavoni changed the standard over time.

A similar issue was discussed in this thread, not exactly, but similar.

Building the Ultimate La Pavoni Europiccola

Also is your heating element remanufactured from a 1981 machine, or is it original to the 1981. Francesco Ceccarelli writes about some heating elements being rebuilt with poorer quality than others. On some the coils are not tight and compact but extend beyond the outer edge. The properly remanufactured ones have the coils wound tighter.

I guess the element is original. It's a two-switch europiccola and is used to have a brown base just like the one francesco dates for 1978-1983 on his famous website. This is an old picture of the element:

It may not be rebuilt, but it was swapped in from a later machine than yours. The date stamped on your element is 1981.

Also your photos show you will need to do some descaling.

But the machine could also be from 1981, right?

Yeah I know. Actually I already descaled once before I took it apart, there used to be a lot more scale. I wilk take care of the remaining scale when the rebuild is done.

Yes, of course. Somehow I got it confused with a 1974 machine. But it's odd that the heating element doesn't mount to the boiler flange. That suggests a replacement heating element or boiler flange. If it were all original it would fit just fine.