Hi,

I unexpectedly purchased a Olympia Cremina off Ebay a couple of weeks ago (forgot about the bid I put in, nice surprise). Anyway, it was built in 1981, the outside looks in good shape, only a couple of small paint chips where the water tray goes in. It turns on and it comes up to pressure nicely with no leaks.

For a new/old machine, is there a way to test it, to see if it needs any gaskets? I pulled off the cover and inside looks really clean, no indication of any leaks on the boiler or fittings, and I don't see any scale build up inside the boiler (at least what I could see with a flashlight). The lever was kind of hard to pull up when I pulled my test shot. Should I add some grease to piston gasket (or replace)? If so, how? Overall it looks in really good shape, but if I need to change something I would rather do it now than later.

Any help would be greatly appreciated (I did search the forum, but didn't see anything on new testing).

Thanks.

Hi Larry

Short test for olympia cremina is very easy.

- Turn on the machine and let come up pressure
- open steam-valve a short time and let come up pressure a second time.
- let now work the machine 10-15 minutes for heating well all parts.

Now turn OFF the machine.
Do NOT open steam valve.
After cooling down enough (i think +-20 minutes) the lever of the cremina should go a bit up, because there is a vacuum in the boiler -> the seals are OK

- If the lever goes not up, seals are no more perfect.
When you can do a well espresso use your machine quietly and order a full replacement set or a piston set by http://www.olympia-express.ch/ServiceSupport.asp or http://www.orphanespresso.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=6_28. You will see the right time to change it.
after replacing you can work a long time, because newer seals are better than older. olympia sell a lot of seals of EPDM.

Best regards from switzerland
hope you understand my terrible english
nils

Nis...your English is a WHOLE lot better than my Swiss.
Great advice.

Nils, I really appreciate your vacuum test procedure, sharp thinking.

We generally recommend poking and probing on the seals most easily gotten to, such as the boiler cap gasket and the portafilter gasket, and if these are soft and supple then it is likely that the rest of the seals are fine as well. the simplest thing to do as a starter is to lay the machine on its back, move the piston to the up position, remove the dispersion screen and examine the cylinder from below. Nice and smooth? Then take a bit of Dow 111 on your finger and lightly coat the cylinder. Bring the lever back down and work it a bit to see how it feels. Wipe off any excess lubricant. Set it back up and bring it up to temp and pressure and feel the lever action....nice and smooth with no bumps or rough spots?

The seals are very easy to replace on the machine if needed, but in general, if it's not leaking or hard to move the lever, don't fix it.....yet.

Doug

Thanks Guys... great information..