Yes, my new Sama Export has the dreaded "rusty boiler bolt syndrome". I loosened two of four bolts with an allen wrench, but the others were rusted tight.

Has anyone been successful in removing these rusted bolts, and if so how?

PC

I assume that the four bolts are the group to boiler bolts??

Clean, lube, and tighten the two you got out. Use an anti-seize compound. If the threaded holes are also badly rusted, run the bolts (or nuts as the case may be) in and out a few times to clean the threads as much as possible. Tightening the two you got off will relieve pressure on the two that are stuck. Use a metal tool and tap on the bolt heads repeatedly while applying heat. If the area can take it, 180-190 degrees can be sufficient. When I say repeatedly, I am talking a few hundred times. The heat and vibrations of the impacts can have an excellent effect. We use to free badly corroded and rusted battery hold-down bolts that way. Dribble some penetrating oil in there the best you can and allow to sit. Repeat that four or five times, allowing an hour or two between applications. See if the bolts will loosen then. You may even try to tighten them SLIGHTLY(!) before loosening, wiggling them back and forth 1 or 2 degrees.

In the long run you may have to cut the nuts off to remove the group. There are nut splitters, but I don't think there is enough room there for that. A Dremel with a small carbide tip and lots of tape to protect the surrounding area will be the best bet.

Once off, I would recommend chrome or stainless replacement hardware.

Peacecup, I have. Sort of...your boiler bolts sound EXACTLY like what happened to mine! Have a look at the topic "SAMA-kind of disaster" it has my long running project Export. The boiler is fixed now, (long story) I had snapped off two bolts below the surface of the boiler flange. It is a VERY tight space to work on so I had help to drill out the rusted bolts and silver solder in studs to accept nuts...which later failed. I had to take some time off for a while to avoid scrapping the whole thing! Later I found a machine shop that drilled the flange to accept 1/4-20 stainless bolts. After several unsuccessful attempts to seal the boiler I put down the project for a year. Last month had another look and found the problem, the machine shop had drilled all the way through the flange, so my leaks were finding their way through the bolt holes! I was able to finally put it back together last week. I fixed it by using teflon tape on the bolts and filled the holes on the backside of the flange with potable plumbing epoxy (food-safe and rated for the temperature). I was nervous about their being off flavors so I also made sure to seal over the patch job with silicone. So far, so good and NO off flavors or leaks! The issue now is in brewing. I think that the seals were for the 3 seal version of the piston and didn't have the "w" seal so I was punching holes right through the puck! I am now rebuilding the group with the correct 2 seal variant gaskets and an auxiliary spring for an added 2+ pressure. I'll up date on how this works out. I recommend you leave those bolts alone! It is a huge headache and unless you have a leak don't worry about them. Mine was fine until I got the "have to replace everything" BUG.

Unfortunately the boiler does leak, which is why the bolts rusted, and why it needs to be fixed. I can see it might be a struggle. Right now I hope to be able to drill "easy outs" into the center of the bolts, and unthread them. Only the hex heads are stripped, and the bolts are not broken yet. I may look for a machine shop to do this before I try it myself.

Its all a bit of a bother since I'm not the restoration type. I like drinking espresso much more than I like solving mechanical problems. That is why I bought my first Export new.

PC

Machine shop sounds a good idea. The bolt size is quite small and breaking an EZ out almost as likely as breaking a bolt.

I agree with Doug as he's been down this road before. The original bolts are so thin and brittle that they WILL snap . Knowing what you have time for or want to put up with will help out this decision. If a machine shop does work on it, make sure they know not to drill past the flange. good luck!

It lives!

GB gave the advice of soaking the bolts in penetrating oil I did that for a week, at the same time using a fine steel blade to scrap around the edges of the bolt heads. I figured that if I could cut a small groove between the bolt head and the boiler plate it would help the oil soak under. After a week of that, and some gentle repeating hammering on the bolt heads I was able to remove them with an allen wrench. I was very pleased.

After a bit of scraping and sanding I got the old gasket off, replaced it, and sealed it back up. I left the outer body off while I tested it for leaks the first time, and it seems to hold pressure. Tomorrow is the big test, and hopefully pulling the first shot.

After this the old Sama deserves a refurb, so I'll replace the rusty bolts with stainless steel, and treat her to a new pressurestat. The one it came with was a could not be turned lower that around 1.2 bar (where the safety valve opens) so for me it is totally useless. I like pressue below 1 bar. I make take outer cover back down to the original red - right now she has a 3-M contact cover.

After all I've read about the horrors of getting these rusted bolts out, I can't say how much I'm looking forward to that first shot tomorrow!

PC

Nice work. Way to have patience.

First cappa pulled this AM. Ahhh.... lever espresso. Nothing like it. Its going to be a very nice weekend.

I managed to restore the Sama to her former candy apple red glory by removing some contact paper a former owner had applied. It chipped a small bit of the paint, but its mostly in very nice condition. I'll get a photo up one of these days!

Last question is how to seal the sight glass tube - there is still a steam leak at the top nut. I can't seem to find a parts diagram that shows what washers/gaskets go in what order on the sight glass.

PC

Sama espresso all day...well now, that's better. Miraculously, the p-stat is working better since the rebuild, staying down around 1 bar or less. Maybe just needed a good cleaning?

RE: the sight glass seals, anyone know how these should work? The replacement sets just look like they have two small gaskets, one for each end of the glass. Is there supposed to be a rubber o-ring on top where the large nut locks the glass in. That is where mine appears to be seeping steam.

PC