I need new gaskets for my Pavoni 1EL.

I have pulled out the piston, and I guess this is not the way it suppose to look. Except the more than generous amount of grease, it seems that the previous gaskets have been somewhat dissolved. Not sure if it's because they simply getting to old, or if the former owner used a lubricant that turned the gaskets soft. The sticky mess had a strong petroleum smell.


I did not dissembled the piston, as I were afraid of getting in too to much trouble when resemble the spring (I do not have a workshop...). Just used a small brush, hot water and soap. To get it 100% cleaned, one needs to take it apart. Is it worth the trouble? Will I get the spring back in place without special tools?


The shower screen gasket is cracked (and rock hard...), so this needs to be replaced as well. The shower screen looks to be in great shape though.


There were a lot of scale build up where the inlet valve is suited. Not sure why. But I have located two small gaskets on one of the valve pins. Guess there will be no harm if they were to be replaced...


Are there different types/materials on gaskets too choose between? Which sort of gaskets will fit my Pavoni best? And which lubricant to use on the different gaskets (guess the lubricant has to "fit" the material)?

And do one need grease/lubricate the spring?

For those of us not familiar with that Pavoni, can you include a bit of information on dimensions, what size shower screen it takes, etc.?

If its group is sized similar to a Bosco, Londinium, etc., piston seals are readily available from a number of sources, including Cafelat with its silicone set, which many people like. If it's smaller or otherwise different different from the "standard" (e.g., La San Marco), a large variety of parts may be less common. Someone like Espresso Parts may be helpful.

The bore of your group should be at least lightly lubricated with a food-grade NSF approved product when you put everything back together, but I've never heard of the spring needing lubrication separately. If someone previously used a toxic petroleum product to do so in the past, God help them and their friends, customers, etc...

Get a silicone gasket set from Cafelat.com. I have a new Pavoni Bar Revolution and installed a set on one of the groups. The gaskets are dreamy, very nice.

Thanks Tom!

That grouphead seems to be exactly the same as on my bar 1EL.

Do you recommend Cafelat silicone gasket for the shower screen as well?

Do you know the appropriate thickness of the shower screen gasket? The one I have now locks the portahandle way to fast, less than 1/8 turn...

I've mostly been ordering my gaskets through espressoparts.com, though there's a local dealer who has been very helpful when that didn't work out.

My machine is a Bar 2L, maybe from the early '90s though I really don't know. Anyway, it's an Astoria group, really, and it takes a portafilter gasket that has flat surfaces, though it isn't exactly square as the top is narrower than the bottom. I always worry that I'm going to get the wrong thing, because it seems like the story has changed every I time I come back, but here's what they say about the one I would order today if I needed them -
Astoria Lever Group Head Portafilter Gasket 67 x 56 x 6mm - AS 32

espressoparts wrote:Fits the Gloria lever group, but was also used in old (pre-1993) model solenoid group Astoria espresso machines. Available in a conical variation. Also replaces the AS_60 lever piston o-ring style gasket. Very rarely used today, if you don't have a lever group, you are probably looking for the AS_56.

The conical variation:
Conical Group Head Gasket - Old - BF 1

espressoparts wrote:66 x 56 x 6 mm. This is for considerably older machines, and is not very commonly used today. For most Brasilia models, such as the Portofino, the BF_11 is used. The BF_1 is used in older Brasilia models (and very rarely with Astoria). Also available, AS_32. Can also be used as a substitute for the AS_60 lever group o-rings.

And what they'll send you if you just say "Astoria Lever Group" is the Lever Group Portafilter O-ring - AS 60, which has I guess been in use in recent decades.

So -- it depends! Yours looks a little like mine, but not exactly, so while I'm going to assume it too is really an Astoria group, there's no reason at all to think you'd use the same gasket. The O-ring is probably the best guess. It's effectively smaller.

lars6153 wrote:Thanks Tom!

That grouphead seems to be exactly the same as on my bar 1EL.

Do you recommend Cafelat silicone gasket for the shower screen as well?

Do you know the appropriate thickness of the shower screen gasket? The one I have now locks the portahandle way to fast, less than 1/8 turn...

The silicone is much softer than conventional gaskets and in my application I chose not to use the portafilter grouphead gasket. My staff is much too gruff to have to worry the more delicate items. If it were my own machine for personal use then I would use one. And yes the grouphead gaskets lock in early when newer.

Donn, I don't think my EL (or newer bar models) use an Astoria group. I think they use a Pavoni group

This group controls the inlet valve with a mechanism on the back of the group (similar to La Sanmarco lever group):


I checked my shower screen gasket, and it measures 56 x 8,5mm. The Astoria gasket measures 6mm. 2,5mm difference sounds a bit too much to make a good fit.

The gasket I have in my machine is old. Might be that this gasket is 10 years old... So if gaskets is a bit thick when new, I have not a clue how the former owner got the portafilter in place when the machine was younger

Tom, do you know the thickness of the shower screen gaskets you use?

Tom@Steve'sEspresso wrote:Get a silicone gasket set from Cafelat.com. I have a new Pavoni Bar Revolution and installed a set on one of the groups. The gaskets are dreamy, very nice.
<image>

Have now ordered cafelat piston seals. As for the shower screen, I guess a standard gasket will do just fine. Pavoni do not state the thickness of the shower screen gasket, but I will try a 8mm.

Balthazar_B wrote:For those of us not familiar with that Pavoni, can you include a bit of information on dimensions, what size shower screen it takes, etc.?

If its group is sized similar to a Bosco, Londinium, etc., piston seals are readily available from a number of sources, including Cafelat with its silicone set, which many people like. If it's smaller or otherwise different different from the "standard" (e.g., La San Marco), a large variety of parts may be less common. Someone like Espresso Parts may be helpful.

The bore of your group should be at least lightly lubricated with a food-grade NSF approved product when you put everything back together, but I've never heard of the spring needing lubrication separately. If someone previously used a toxic petroleum product to do so in the past, God help them and their friends, customers, etc...

Shower screen size is 57mm(x15mm). E61?. The bore of the group is about 55mm, piston some were nere 50mm.

As to the toxic petroleum... I have to admit I have been using the machine for a couple (or more...) shots, without notice any petrol taste. But now, when you hi-light the issue, hrrmmm; if you do not here from my in a couple of weeks or so, you know where I'm gone...

Ps. I will use food grade silicone grease in my next life...

lars6153 wrote: Ps. I will use food grade silicone grease in my next life...

In Sweden, it should be relatively easy to find this stuff, which is the standard lubricant used by Londinium (and not unlikely by other Continental lever machine manufacturers).