This will be a small thread documenting my quick fix-up of the Campeona Bambina I received last week.

It will just involve switching out three of the four gaskets (the portafilter gasket is actually very pliable and can be used still) and switching out the 220V heating element with the 125V one. I might replace the wiring as it does not have a ground.

The machine as I received it, it's really in great condition cosmetically.







Going down to the basement I took off the boiler from its frame. It is held in place by the portafilter holders and a small bolt in the rear of the machine. The wiring remains attached until the heating element terminals and wire brace are unscrewed but you can push the wiring through its grommet.


The portafilter gasket was really pliable and I could take it out without issue. The showerscreen was next so I could access the piston, and to my surprise the machine uses the o-ring seen on 2nd series machines rather than the two v-gaskets I was expecting. Taking it out I measured the o-ring to be 48mm OD and 5mm thickness. Essentially I would get this o ring to replace the brittle one that broke into two pieces during extraction. https://www.mcmaster.com/o-rings/width~5mm/od~48mm/




The heating element terminals came off easily, almost no effort needed. The element pops out from above and I took off the wiring. I have teflon gaskets on hand that will fit (it's the 1/4" one used for the flow valve on the Faema Zodiac groups).




And I am already at the point where I want to be with disassembly. I am not even touching the spring as it looks fine. Not much cleanup is needed outside of some rust on one of the portafilter supports and some light cleaning of the piston face.

Nice breakdown of the Campeona Bambina!

I've fixed up a v2, and it gets used pretty often. It was actually my travelling machine (pre-covid) since it could be easily disassembled into small pieces and packed within clothes for safe transport. With a level basket, it pulls fantastic shots.

To add on to your post: the shower screen on my Bambina had a hairline crack, which caused channeling and probably why it was abandoned by the previous owner. I was able to take a Pavoni Millenium showerscreen, dremel it to the correct height, and then replace the broken one. The fit was so tight that I had to freeze the bambina boiler before the modified showerscreen would go on!

Where were did you get the extra heating element? I managed to get a spare, but your stainless one seems to be a modern replacement?

Thanks for sharing your Bambina; there aren't a lot of these on the forum!

larrbo wrote: Where were did you get the extra heating element? I managed to get a spare, but your stainless one seems to be a modern replacement?

Thanks for sharing your Bambina; there aren't a lot of these on the forum!

I like to document everything, you are welcome!

My Bambina came with two original elements. At some point the prior owner switched out the 125V element that it was original to the machine with a 220V replacement. It was not really used much though from the lack of scale.

My o rings arrived while I was away earlier this week. I ordered two sizes, one for the elements and one for the piston and it was like $12 for everything with shipping. You can see the measured sizes in the order pic.




I popped the 125V element (which I measured to be about 35Ω, or roughly 446W at 125V) in along with the new piston gaskets. I wire brushed the portafilter ears on my little Omega bench grinder and scotch brite on the boiler body where rust accumulated a little bit. When I put the portafilter ears back in I kept the threads loose and inserted the portafilter so that the ears would align with the portafilter. Only when this happened did I tighten the acorn nuts. This really is a simple machine.




I went upstairs and tested the element. It does warm up without issue but I ran into a leaky showerscreen. There are three possibilities as to why it's leaking

1) The o-ring is too small and I measured the old o-ring after it shrunk a little.
2) The piston sleeve is damaged and allows water to work through the o-ring
3) I accidentally nicked the o-ring while inserting it into the piston.

Hopefully it's 1 or 3. I'll need to work the showerscreen back off to see if I can fix the issue.