My guess is that theres a bad spring inside the top half that pushes out the ball pins that lock it in the on or off position. Doug may have operated on one to know if that's the case. Robert is going to send me his bad switch and I will then put it on the operating table. Generally, the switch is very nicely built as is everything on an Oly.

I'm just posting the switch to Ed today. I think Ed's guess is correct. It's probably just a bad spring. It turns off OK, but won't turn on unless you hold it down. It was getting worse for about a year until it finally just broke. Having taken it out now and had a good look one can see it seems to be a very minor problem and any real handyman type (not me, alas) could probably fix it. So I'm sure Ed will eventually be able to get my switch back into production.

hey,
isn't number 103 at http://shop.olympia-express.ch/Cremina6...oductID=44 exactly what you need? i know it actually says that customers from the us should buy spare parts via swisscoffeeproducts.com, but if they dont have the parts you need i am sure olympia express is willing to help you. at least i experienced that they were always quite helpful in mendrisio. hope i might have been of some help!
J

That is the newer style 67 switch which will work but needs the face plate area to be modified to fit.

I'm also looking for a replacement switch. But I'm not sure which one I need since mine was replace with an aftermarket that is too small for the hole. Does somebody know when the change occur how many different switch are they? The one on the first page is the first generation, the one olympia is selling is the last one, is there an other one in between? Can somebody tell me the two different hole size? And let me know if you have a spare somewhere!

Thanks again.

Rob

I can tell you exactly when they changed the switch.....1982 was the last year for the old switch and 1983 the first year for the new square switch. Every switch we have tried requires modification of either the face plate or the little switch plate.
time marches on and the plastic body push in switch took over and we have tried the slim line switches which all have the plastic bezel and push in body and look crappy on the machine, and still require a filing out of the slot on the original face plate.
And yes, Olympia will send you the square new style switch if you order the old one from the drawing (personal experience)....then will send you a mater pstat if you order the big tank pstat from the schematic. Etc Etc. They send the part of current manufacture as is sometimes noted on the schematic and it is usually noted post 1982 on the switch for example. And you will also get the square black switch with the round rocker and not the square rocker on the square switch body, if you are particular about it.
Olympia has quite a few proprietary parts, smart of them but frustrating. We can buy the bakelite boiler cap knobs from the same factory as the Olympia knobs but we can get 5 lobe and not 6 lobe, that is only for Olympia. Same with the steam knob. The switch is another bugger.....it looks square but is about 25 by 26 mm and all others seem to be on the 25 by 30 or so format.....very frustrating, those proprietary parts.
We know we could take a switch apart and transplant it into the ceramic base if we could get the right size illuminated rocker but it is really difficult to find exactly the same size, not that we do not continue to pick through every parts bin in every old hardware store we come accross, just in case, Actually found some Silex stove elements in an old hardware store last week, so maybe someday we'll find the switch, or a good substitute.

Thanks Doug for the in depth response. Mine is the almost square one then...do you have replacement in stock?

Robert

Hi All,

Just wanted bring this thread up to date and say that my problem has been successfully resolved by way of a combination of help from Bob C and particularly Ed, who sent me one of his own rockers switches. So a public thanks to you two guys.

Also I sent my old rocker switch to Ed in the hope that he might be able to fix the broken spring in it, get it working and back into use, in case someone in some far flung corner of the world needs one.

To put it in perspective, without the assistence of the Home-Barista lever community my Cremina would not be working merely for lack of one, rather specialised, no longer produced or stocked part. So really this is just another Home-Barista success story.

Now I can enjoy the delights of the Cremina over our long, very hot Christmas.

Robert

This has been a great thread for me! I am also dealing with a broken rocker switch on my 1980 Cremina (bought new at Zabars in NYC when I was a grad student for less than $400). I have ordered the replacement switch from Switzerland -- which I see from posts here will probably be a different shape than the original (if and when it arrives). I think that I can deal with that -- although I would rather have the original shape (so if someone has a working one, please let me know ... ). My switch is totally dead, with part of the ceramic broken off (and now lost).

My big issue is that when the switch broke it shorted out (spectacularly) and fried one of the wires -- so I now have one wire hanging free and unconnected. My question is does anyone have a complete wiring diagram that could guide me as to which wires go where? Or better perhaps a good photo of a properly wired switch that shows where the wires from the switch go to? I can try to post a photo of what I am dealing with if that would help.

If I can get the electrical working again, my plan is to get the machine back in shape -- I like my Pavoni Pro, but I do miss the Cremina.

Thanks to Orphan Espresso again, You will probalby find the info you need in this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7DXZok-TeE