The Problem

My girlfriend went back to the U.S. recently and I got her to order me a gasket set for my La Pavoni from espressocare.com. We live in China.

Last night I decided to get on with replacing the bits. I could not get the piston out, even tapping the replaced acorn nut with a hammer didnt work. Not wanting to destroy the shower screen I decided to dig the now one year old and probably 1000 cup of coffee old gasket out, and destroyed it in the process. I did, however check that the new gasket looked like it was the same size.

Well it isnt. The shower screen falls out.

Strangely, going back over the espressocare website, I notice that they do not have different serial numbers on their kits, all three kits are MP-96s, though one has the P-55 gasket, another has the MPN-55 and yet another has the MP-55 gasket.

My mahcine was bought new on taobao in China from a seller in Shanghai a bit more than 12 months ago.

It has the plastic sleeve.

The Solution

I am hoping that espressocare can send me a new o-ring.

But I live in China, which means it will take a while for my new o-ring to get here, but it also means I live where most things are made.

What I am really after are the exact dimensions and shape of the o-ring I need. If I have these I can get onto taobao and talk to the at least hundreds of shops selling o-rings in a variety of dimensions. Some even seem to allow you to get your own made up to whatever specification you want....

T

I have an early millennium machine which should have the same gasket as yours. I have some new replacement gaskets to measure, but unfortunately it is very difficult to get accurate measure of o-rings since they flex/move. I have used regular o-rings from the hardware store when I needed one in a pinch. There are charts you can find online that tell you what materials are food safe, and with that info I just brought my old gasket and found a close enough match. The last time I bought two sizes that I thought were close. I haven't ever had a problem with them working, although they tend to be a stiffer material, and not as smooth to lock in the PF.

So, the poor measurements I have are: 61mm O.D. 5.5mm height, 5mm width.

The o-ring I used is 61mm O.D, and 5.5mm round material.

hopefully that helps a little.

TheEspressoShop.co.uk is where I get my La Pavoni parts outside of the USA, and they have the dimensions for the o-rings listed there:
http://www.theespressoshop.co.uk/en/La- ... -2260.aspx
361028 - Pavoni Filter Holder Gasket (New Group) 60x50x5.5mm

+1 for The Espresso Shop UK. I bought a bunch of parts for my machine a couple of weeks ago, and a lot of La Pavoni parts are on sale right now. The price with shipping was still very good.

I'm just covering this because it wasn't addressed: Is the gasket oriented in the right direction? There's a flat surface and a rounded surface to this particular gasket. The rounded edge locks into the shower screen lip or in the "up" position. The flat part of the gasket makes contact with the portafilter (in the "down" position). It is a detail often missed and will result in the shower screen dropping out of the grouphead if it is reversed. Use a rounded tool to get the gasket seated, then with a empty filter basket inserted into the portafilter, "lock" the gasket into place.

Thank you all for your help.

The first o-rings I ordered were a little too large, and way too hard.

The second set I ordered are just right. Round, PTFE coated, and 60.4mm x 5.7mm x 49 mm (outer x thickness x inner). 5 of them cost me 80 RMB delivered, so about , 10 Euros, USD$12, AUD$16. I have a few spares

All working well now and after 2 weeks using French press and pourover I am very very happy to be back to what I think of as real coffee, latte, small latte, piccolo latte and espressos, lungi, normale and ristretto!

T