Thanks. Regarding Astoria, I looked at the gaskets for it and they seemed larger than the Robot's. Where would one purchase the gaskets for the Robot outside of Cafelat or does not having the exact match in gasket size not matter so much?

The Robot seal is the same as the modern lever, 100% the same. Although I have never tested it, a lever seal from say Astoria, Quickmill, NS, etc...would be the same, but different material.

If you had any doubt that I would stop producing the Robot, or the seal I would suggest you bulk up. I see you did buy several seals form us and I would hope those would last you decades under normal use.

It is also worth mentioning that I have been on a silicone crusade the past several years, we supply lever seals to many companies that use that group, and make the OEM group seals for a number of brands. Unlike rubber, the silicone is much more pleasing to use, it does not have any odour or taste, never bakes hard and is easy to remove.

Hi Paul. I did recently purchase six gaskets, but decades--wow! The reason I asked is I see some articles online that say to change your gasket every six months or a year. So if a gasket can last much longer than that, that's great news. Thank you.

LewBK wrote:I see some articles online that say to change your gasket every six months or a year.

In a commercial environment, gaskets and seals wear out pretty quickly due to friction since hundreds of drinks can be made in a single day. In a home environment, the main enemy is the heating/cooling cycle that will eventually make some rubber products prematurely old and stiff. But the expected temporal lifetime of those bits in a home will still be many, many times that in a shop.

Thanks. Good to know these gaskets will last--probably too long. I'll keep them in a dry cupboard. One other question I have. I've been testing a Kinu m47 with the Robot. But I haven't found the appropriate grind setting yet and my shots have been coming out bitter. I wonder if anyone has any recommendations with Kinu as to what setting is optimal for the Robot. I am at about 2.1 revolutions on the grinder. Ironically, my much less precise Comandante has produced better shots so far.

Is there a recommended way to store extra gaskets to ensure they last as long as possible (possibly vacuum sealing)?

I think you can't do better beyond keeping it away from sunlight, at room temperature and proper humidity level. Vacuum sealing might do more harm than helps.

Yeah, you're probably right.

Just got a "new" robot from a fellow HB member here.

Very interesting machine. My first experience with levers in general. I was very surprised by the amount of pressure needed. I was going pretty gentle the first time and I'm like "wow I'm only at 4 bar and my cup is half full already." Next shot I tried to push harder and felt that when I was adding enough pressure to get 5.5-6 bar the levers are coming down quite fast & it's over. Can't decline the pressure over the course of the shot. I ground a lot finer and the pressure was actually tough and the shot was slow but had a lot of channeling and dead spots on the BPF. I do RDT before I tamp though.