If I may impose upon any of you fine folks that are in-the-know: I just picked up a pristine, used-once, 1987 Cremina I found on a local Craig's list. The couple that sold it received it as a gift 25 years ago or so and put it in storage. They pulled it out a short while ago to give it a try which meant heading down to Publix Supermarket and buying a bag of house-brand "ground espresso", pulling a single shot according to the instructions, deciding they didn't like espresso and then putting the machine on Craig's list. Since I have zero experience with these machines and a generous ignorance of levers in general, I thought I'd ask (and this is probably a stupid question) if it is wise to immediately install a full seal and gasket kit from OE before running and using the thing. Although the seller said he didn't see any leaks the first and only time he tried it a couple weeks ago, it would seem highly likely that, unused or not, the machine's seals, if not gaskets, would have deteriorated over 27 years. My gut tells me to fire the puppy up and pull a shot or two and run it till i get around to replacing items...any risk in that?
Thanks

Larz wrote:...My gut tells me to fire the puppy up and pull a shot or two and run it...

This.

Fire it up and flush few rounds of water. If the water is running clear (no funky smell/taste) and not leaking, I would just put it into its own pace. If the lever action is not smooth, some Dow Corning 111 (Food grade Silicone Lubricant) is recommended.

Having a spare set of seal is great, but I wouldn't change the old seal out if they're working well. You may be surprise that the gasket still have a lot of life in them after 27 years.

And congrats on the find!

Thanks Sam, and thanks for giving me the the answer I wanted to hear!

Yes, congratulations on a great find. If it ain't broke don't fix it. Levers are simple. This one will make shots as good as at any fine cafe.

What drgary said!
Mine was next to new (maybe used once) and on Gary's suggestion, I put the lever into service. Runs like an old school caddy.

Thanks Gary, Cher....I shall pull with (blind) confidence. (Cher, what is a "School Caddy"? ) Down the road I hope to be worthy of membership in the venerable LMWDP! I still haven't told wifey yet, because I recently tore part of our kitchen cabinetry out to install my commercial one-group with grinder and she's still smarting about that. I have a strong feeling that the Expobar will be relegated to making party drinks. Now I wonder if I can salvage and re-install that cabinetry......wait....there's still room for yet another coffee toy there!

I used my 1975 Cremina with the original seals beginning in 2007. I only replaced them this year. Everything worked fine, even though the seals were quite old. I'd go with what you have until there's a problem.

Enjoy your wonderful machine!!!!!

Sue

I would turn it on with water and flush it, and make sure it works properly. Then I would turn it off and at inspect the boiler for scale/dirt with a simple flashlight from the top, and at the very least take off the shower screen. Removing the piston is easy and you will need to learn how to do it anyway. Your machine looks great and is probably clean. BUT, it could be very nasty inside, especially the shower screen, so it's worth a look before you start drinking things out of it.

Thanks for sharing your experience Susan; with your and the others' encouragement to "pull-away", I pulled about 7 singles today (only have a single basket at this time...Elektra double on order) but not enough to dial in the exact grind ...all were too fine and semi-choking the machine. The last 2 we're slow but did get to about 30 ml (from 7.5 grams coffee), but couldn't get near the crema the Cremina is legendary for. The same 4 day old beans in my semi auto commercial machine yielded excellent results. I'm going to grind a little coarser tomorrow and see how it goes...extraction was taking much too long. Not much prior experience with single doses on any type of machine and wonder if that is part of it. I have read the thread Steve Robinson addressed about 8 years ago on the subject of poor crema from a Cremina. Further opinions are welcome and much appreciated. Cheers.

Thanks John. I did inspect the inside of the boiler with a flexible flashlight and it looked pristine, the heating element was shiny silver (?? - didn't look like the element of any other old machine I've worked on) and boiler itself looked like it had never seen water. Besides the 7 actual shots I pulled, I pulled perhaps a gallon of water through the system and it was perfectly clear. I will remove the screen anyway for the experience, as you say. Appreciate your advice.