The screw in front of the group head (#1174/1 in the exploded parts view) does not appear to me to serve the function of holding the group head insert in place, mogogear. The group head insert is attached by screws which fit into the three large holes set in triangular formation in the picture below.

Note the three small holes set in a line in the center of the underside of the group. The middle hole is threaded for the screw that holds a small flex washer that acts as a one-way valve to prevent water from the filter basket from being sucked back into the fresh water by the draw when the piston moves downward. Lino referred to this valve earlier. Brew water is forced through the holes on either side of the middle hole.

If you shine a light into the three small holes in the center, and peer into the hole for screw #1174/1, you can see the light. I recall a post, perhaps something by Lino, about rigging something up through this hole to measure brew water temperature?

Underside of group:

mogogear wrote:The freight quotes out of Germany have been good- communication is rough not great. Page translators only do a half way job.

I'd recommend you simply get in touch with the Seller using English once you have recognized an item you might want to buy. I've met very few Germans, aged 12-50, who can't speak English quite passably, some very well. Chances are, if you've found a listing on the WWW, the Seller is not an old Bavarian farmer who can hardly be understood outside his village

timo888 wrote:I recall a post, perhaps something by Lino, about rigging something up through this hole to measure brew water temperature?

I misremembered. It was actually Jim Schulman:

jim_schulman wrote:There's a screw covering the drilled channel between the piston outlet
and the group. By removing the screw one can measure the water
temperature as it reaches the top of the puck (not while making shots
of course). With the water boiling this settled to a fairly steady
temperature betwen 99C and 99.3C

But I still wonder why the screw is there in the first place.

Regards
Timo

Once again, the thrill of discovery that must have possessed the inventive chimpanzee: Is the hole in front of the group simply a vestige of drilling the port between group head and piston chamber?
Regards
Timo

This little odd-sized flex-washer needs to be replaced. It is supposed to act as a one-way valve to prevent water in the filter-basket from being sucked back into the canal which connects the group head with Peppina's piston chamber. Without this little washer, extracted coffee oils would soon foul that canal, and then it wouldn't matter how temperature-stable Peppina was!

Quickie Corporation weren't much taken with my idea for a 45mm-diameter soap-and-scrub brush (espresso filter basket cleaning is too narrow a niche for those think-inside-the-box types in national marketing) and so they'd demur no doubt on the Peppina Group Head Reaming Brush.

timo888 wrote:Once again, the thrill of discovery that must have possessed the inventive chimpanzee: Is the hole in front of the group simply a vestige of drilling the port between group head and piston chamber?
Regards
Timo

Yep.

Washers are in the mail. While waiting for them, I am going to return to the idea of a modern 'retro' home espresso machine that incorporates Peppina's gravity feed and temperature stability while providing a small dedicated pressurized boiler for steam and hot water.

This neo-primitive machine admits nuance 'only' in the brewing temperature, and in the bean, roast, grind, tamp, and preinfusion. Plenty of opportunity for soul in this machine. And for craft.

The machine would have the following main features:

--roughly the form factor of a vintage Gaggia body. I had thought that a more horizontally oriented machine like the Club would do, but a vertical orientation is more conducive to gravity feed from boiling chamber to group.



-- a spring-driven piston with center-mounted lever

-- a heavy brass brew group (maybe 58mm but I'd be content with 51mm) --but whatever the measurement the machine should use readily available rather than hard-to-get components wherever possible

-- a pour-over reservoir for fresh water (this is not the boiling chamber)

-- a fill pump to draw water from the reservoir into a single-temperature boiler dedicated to steam. Steam wand on the right.

-- an unpressurized boiling chamber with a heating element that would bring ~11 ounces of water to a boil in a short time; brew-water level and temperature could be monitored by something like the LVM-41 device

http://www.omega.com/ppt/pptsc.asp?ref=LVM50_LVM40_LVM140&Nav=grek09

In that way, the boiling chamber can remain relatively small (it's not the primary reservoir). The boiling chamber could be auto-filled from the main reservoir only when chamber is nearing depletion and not before though it could be filled manually at any time. By filling the chamber only when it nears depletion we ensure temperature stability for, say, 3 or 4 doubles in succession before the machine needs to recover. Recovery should be swift so we need a good heating element. From an initial cold state, there should be water enough in the boiling chamber to bring the group to temperature with a flush, with plenty of water left over for 3 or 4 doubles in a row.

-- a fresh-water nozzle on the left for water pumped from the boiling chamber, for americanos or rinsing stuff off

-- an analog thermometer to display brew-water temperature
-- maybe an analog gauge to show brew-water level
-- a removable stainless steel drip tray


Ah, well, back to workaday matters.

Regards
Timo

The future of innards from HX machines:

http://www.timkaiser.org/project7.html

Regards
Timo

As a La Peppina and Cremina fanatic, I am so glad to find this post. I purchased a Peppina six months ago and it is in relatively excellent condition. I did try to take it apart out of curiosity but stopped when it seemed excessive force was required to remove the group/boiler component. Now I know the screwdriver in the slot trick! I think the rings and valve washers are in good condition (knock on wood) but my major problem is when I was tightening the boiler back on the force caused a 4 mm hairline crack that leaked water. You see in a few parts at the base of the boiler where it sits on the heating elemen , the enamel had been chipped and there were small spots of rust (1mm). I guess this weakened the metal and caused the crack. Needless to say I am at a loss on how to fix this. Getting the boiler to be recoated seems impossible since all the porcelain enamel companies refused to take on this tiny job. Then my idea of getting some kind of v shaped rubber gasket were sidelined when I tried retighening the boiler and somehow it doesn't leak now. I know this is a temporary respite. Any ideas on how to fix this? Someone suggested to take it to a jewelry repair place and have them use their tiny welding tool to strengthen the rusted/cracked areas, but even if this works, how to recoat it with a food-grade coating??

Now on to my 1982 Cremina. This too is a recent purchase and after a three month restoration (all new gaskets, new sight glass, complete cleaning and new black powder coat to match with my Rocky) I have been playing with it. The one problem I have is the up and down stroke of the piston right around the point where it passes the intake hole from the boiler stalls and requires tremendous force to continue the up or down stroke. Any ideas?? Could the piston shaft be bent? I notice that there are small particles of metal being scraped from the pistion shaft that seems to be rubbing against the front portion of the grouphead. I am feeling lazy and don't want to take the piston out just yet. But I know this will reveal the source of my trouble. Just want to know if anyone else has had this problem???

As a final note, at this point I can honestly say the espresso from the La Peppina is superior to the Cremina. But I have to get a smooth up and down stroke from the machine for a final comparison!

youngbunny wrote:I think the rings and valve washers are in good condition (knock on wood)

I had to buy the o-rings in quantity and have some up for sale on eBay now. I am still waiting on the washers--couldn't find an exact match and am having to improvise.

youngbunny wrote:...when I was tightening the boiler back on the force caused a 4 mm hairline crack that leaked water. You see in a few parts at the base of the boiler where it sits on the heating elemen , the enamel had been chipped and there were small spots of rust (1mm). I guess this weakened the metal and caused the crack. Needless to say I am at a loss on how to fix this. Getting the boiler to be recoated seems impossible since all the porcelain enamel companies refused to take on this tiny job.

I've read that the food-safe quality of enamel coatings has a lot to do with the firing in the kiln. I don't know enough about it to offer any good advice. If you give up on your Peppina, there's always eBay. I wouldn't mind a second heating element

There are some folks in LMWDP who are very well-versed in the Cremina and they will be able to offer you some advice. I'm a neophyte. You should create a new thread for it. You don't want it to be buried down here below my ramblings about a neo-primitive machine based on the Peppina's gravity-feed

Regards
Timo

Shoot me an email backchannel at timo at timolimo dot com if you're interested in a spending about $75 for another boiling kettle. I may be able to get one from someone who offered to sell me a moribund Peppina a while back... if he still has it.
Regards
Timo