I replaced my group head seal today, was told to do this every couple of months. To my horror the 1st screen with the larger holes in it that resides behind the fine screen had a massive dent in it. It looked like whoever installed the screen originally forced it in by pushing the screen with their finger! I figure this could have been contributing to some of my newbie trials and tribulations. Don't make the same mistake, when you get your machine home pop out the screen and have a quick look.. I'm looking forward to tomorrows session and trying out a screen that is actually against the puc!

Remove the screen every week after a detergent back flush.
Rinse the screen and gasket in fresh water and wipe down the group a couple of times with a wet cloth to remove all traces of detergent.

My grouphead gasket is 18 months old and still going strong. If it makes it to two years, I'll replace it then.

cafeIKE wrote:My grouphead gasket is 18 months old and still going strong. If it makes it to two years, I'll replace it then.

I usually replace mine every six months to a year. The easy way to tel is if they start to lose their elasticity. If you squeeze it from an 'O' to an '0' and it doesn't look like it wants to crack around the sharper corners, and it wants to snap back into shape, yer good. If it's a bit slow to resume it's shape, order the new one. Better yet, keep a spare around and order it's replacement.

good to know thanks

Once a year is standard maintainance for replacing a group head gasket, I believe.

Frequent removal of the showerscreen is a good practice. I do it now about once every 3-4 months. This is what my showerscreen looked like after about a year of not being cleaned/inspected. I thought the grouphead gasket holding the showerscreen in place would have prevented grounds build up in behind. Not so. That's one dirty showerscreen.