Vibiemme Maintenance

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Randy G.
Posts: 5340
Joined: 17 years ago

#1: Post by Randy G. »

It's been just over three years since the Vibiemme Domobar Super arrived and it was time to do a little maintenance... actually it was a bit past that time. I recently placed an order for some small parts with Stefano's Espresso Care, and with a bit of spare time on a day here and there I did the following:

- I finally replaced the original group gasket(!) and while I was at it I also changed the shower screen, which was also an original part. I knew the gasket was old and past its time, but what was unexpected that it snapped like a pretzel when I bent it. I had removed the original screen and gasket so many times that the screen had quite a few prying dents in it. The replacement was a different design and seems tougher. The pleasant surprise was that this new screen eliminated the doughnut extraction that virtually always happened with the original screen even though it was kept perfectly clean through its life. The Vibiemme takes the 8.5mm gasket.

- Next chore was to disassemble of the entire E-61 brewhead. Even though I backflush occasionally, the 3-way was not releasing pressure as well as it should. I had purchased two of the small packets of the Dow 11 lubricant. There are quite a few parts in an E-61 brewhead, but being an old Tetris player, puzzles like this are not difficult. Still, I laid the parts out on a towel to eliminate guesswork- mainly because I was having one of those weeks. I brushed all the parts clean in some hot Urnex Cafiza and gave the moving/rubbing bits a very thin coat of Dow 111 and it all went together quite nicely. It was particularly effective on the manual brew lever's O-rings. The 3-way relief now exhausts with authority again.

You have probably read that one packet is a lifetime supply for most users, and I agree. When used properly you could do all the tasks I outline here at least five times with one packet.

- I also bought a valve assembly rebuild kit, just in case. I had never opened either valve and the hot water valve had always been stiff and I wanted to have the parts on hand, just in case. I didn't need the parts but the Dow came in handy. The grease on the various O-rings in both valves was pretty disgusting, so those parts got cleaned off and lubed. They now feel quite nice and smooth as they should.
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