Hi, I replaced my ponte vecchio gaskets the other day after the old ones failed. I lubricated the new ones with dow 111. The new gaskets are placed correctly.

At first everything seems fine, no problems but then after a couple of shots there is a gurgling sound when i release the lever and the lever goes up to its starting position with out any resistance and no liquid comes out, if I press the lever down again it behaves normal (ie. coffee comes out).
There seems not to be any water escaping back into the boiler, as the water in the boiler taste good and look clean.
I have disassembled the group three times, and the same thing happens every time. All the gaskets seems to be undamaged and look good.
I do not know what to do.

Thankful for any suggestions.

/pelle

It does sound as if the gaskets aren't sealing for some reason. Sometimes it can be difficult to see if there is a slight tear. Otherwise, maybe the gaskets are improperly-sized, or old? Keep up updated if you find the problem.

PC

Usually what you describe indicates that the gaskets have failed, or as Peacecup says are not sealing properly but you describe no resistance on the first pull and sealing seals on the second pull....it sounds like you have air in the cylinder on the first pull perhaps and it is not full of water as it should be. possibly the water tube to the group is plugged or restricted. this is a guess of course to offer a second possibility. With a bad sealing gasket there is often water leaking from the group when the machine is hot and under pressure and if you notice no leak then it is possible that only the lowest gasket on the cylinder is the problem. If you have the patience, you can rearrange the gaskets on the piston to see if this helps and also lubricate the back of the gasket (where it fits into the groove) to make sure it is sealed on all sides, not just the cylinder side.