Yes, on Cremina at least half pumps will circulate water and heat the group up: When filling lever machine cylinder, where does the air go?

The sound on the video does sound like a seal noise and not metal to metal...the sound of the seal rubbing on the cylinder wall.

If the Cremina is designed that way, I stand corrected. I don't think the Ponte Vecchio works that way, but I've never considered it. In fact, I never preheat the group, prefering to brew at a cooler temperature.

But what sense does it make to heat the group with half pumps while leaving the seals dry? Why not just purge a little water through the whole group, thereby lubing the seals too?

PC

orphanespresso wrote:The sound on the video does sound like a seal noise and not metal to metal...the sound of the seal rubbing on the cylinder wall.

Thank you Doug! I'll stop fretting now.

bigstormgirl wrote:I have the new 2011 also, and I get this noise too. But not all the time. The noise reminds me of the old paper cutter boards when you lower the blade.

That's EXACTLY what it sounds like.

Hi Slow Turtle,
On watching and listening to your clip, it sounds like at the bottom of the lever's travel it is actually hitting the top of the bell. "clink!" Is that happening?

I let just a little water through to wet everything then due half pulls to heat to desired temp. while saving water.

On my Cremina 67, I bleed off some of the excess pressure through the steam wand and then about thirty seconds or so later, I simply lift the lever up 2/3 of the way, to allow the hot water to enter and circulate the head and then out the head.

Then I put the empty basket under the head and give it another 2/3 lift, with water heating up the basket and out the bottom of the head. Bleed off a little more steam from the wand, and then I'm ready to pull the shots.

Been doing it this way for MANY years and the machine, with only one rebuild earlier this year has been making fine espresso.

Have fun!

Sorry for reviving this 2-month-old thread but I think this is probably the most relevant topic for it.

As mentioned here, I did notice some metal-to-metal sound on my Cremina occasionally. But I didn't give it too much thought because I couldn't pinpoint the exact cause.

Today I disassembled my group head for lubrication and I noticed something I didn't before. Either it wasn't there before or I overlooked it. There is actually a small brass surface exposed because of worn off chrome most likely due to metal-to-metal rubbing(between inner lever fork with group head). For those of you who actually think that you have metal-to-metal sound (especially you have the older cremina), you might need to pay more attention. This isn't a damage per se; just a very minute issue that causes no problem at all. You won't actually see it unless you took the whole lever pin out like I did. Just thought some of you might wonder where the metal-to-metal sound came from if you have it. But I can't be 100% sure that the sound is coming from this rubbing but it's a very likely candidate. I applied a little lube there just in case.

Didn't want to start a new thread so I figured I'd just add my question to this one.

Any other Cremina owners out there experience a "ticking" sound from within the case? It's not an overly concerning sound, maybe akin to the element in a baseboard heater expanding (ticking) but I just wanted to make sure it was normal, or at least experienced by others.