With the backlash against globalization customs has gone from a rigid bureaucratic government agency to a PIA. I work in automotive and we have had techs turned back at the border on multi million dollar equipment installs because some guy didn't like the look of the paperwork, or the tech, or ... whatever.

Back to the Oscar. Sloooow progress. I took the grouphead to work, where I have access to pressurized air to blow out all the metal bits, and taped it for the flow restrictors. That has got to be the easiest mod to do on this machine. Brass cuts like butter.

Now that I understand why you need to use a locking sealant on the threads, I went ahead and ordered some. Two weeks delivery... Should have just ordered the stuff Elektros recommended in the first place.

In the mean time I can replace the insulation on the pump water line and the boiler and replace a short section of teflon tube that had blistered.

The tap I ordered from the US to clean up the threads on the safety valve hole on the grouphead never arrived, despite being ordered well before the stuff from Elektros. Go figure.

Eating at the table is highly over rated:

hoping to avoid an out of sequence reassembly error ....
your new boiler is set up to use a thermal fuse that's part of the the heating element
the original boiler had plate on the boiler that the reset able hi limit switch was attached
you might want to attach that plate before you get much more located on the boiler ...

HTH

Yup. That's on my list of things to do. That is just a dry fit you see in the picture above. No sealant applied yet. For now this is a convenient way to store all the bits and parts while I wait for my thread sealant and take care of other things on the machine.

Well I'll be... The tap I ordered from the US several months ago and had given up on, arrived in my mailbox today.

My sealant is in as well. Need to pick it up tomorrow and I can finally put this thing back together.

Well finally, some progress.




Time to fire this thing up.

I HAVE THE POWER! Click...
Hssssssssssss, drip, drip, drip. Oops, forgot to tighten the thremosyphon line.

It's funny how with all the new bits, it did not quite go together as easily as before. I had to jiggle and fiddle to get the steam wand line and thermosyphone line correctly aligned. In the end I cranked the thermosyphon connection at the group head a little tighter than I like, but it did finally seal.

I haven't had a lot of time lately, but I've been making a couple of cappuccinos a day to try to get this machine dialed in. Lets just say I have some work to do yet. At least I'm finally at the espresso making part of this journey.