some months ago I already wrote about a problem with my semiautomatica's portafilter gasket.
after the periodic maintenance things are always good but, week after week, the portafilter starts to lock with more and more difficulty.
I guess that during the shots some pressurized water can be forced in the housing over the gasket, pushing it down more and more.
after a couple of month from maintenance, during shots, I can hear a loud bang. Immediately the portafilter becomes loose and a lot of water leaks from the top of the portafilter. It is the gasket that returned in its place.
I thought It could be a problem due to a not original gasket. For this reason I bought one from our HB member Stefano, but this did not solve the problem.
Then I have to think that there is some problem with the group. Maybe a sort of consumption of the brass, with an enlargement of the gasket housing.
I think that a thicker and more conventional gasket could help stopping the water better than the o-ring shape of the original gasket. At least it would fill more efficiently the gasket housing.
I tried with the one of my Bezzera BZ10, but it is too thick and mainly too tall.
Does someone have any suggestion about another gasket I could use?
Could I use any sort of glue to keep the o-ring gasket in place?
alberto

Finally I solved.
Talking with a local retailer I discovered that Elektra supplies two different gaskets for Semiautomatica.
The newer one is the black o-ring shaped gasket, the one I had problem with.
There is also an older version, which is red and with square profile, very different from the o-ring one and maybe a little smaller.
The retailer told me that it is still in production and according to Elektra should perform exactly as the o-ring one.
I found this is not true.
With the red one my portafilter locks in place more firmly and, after three months, I have noticed no problems at all.
I suggest all people with problems in locking portafilter in Elektra Semiautomatica to switch to the older gasket.
alberto