Damage to Olympia Cremina Boiler Cap

#1: Post by **pcdawson** » March 19th, 2023, 10:18 am

I stupidly let my Cremina run out of water yesterday - luckily I caught it fairly quickly. The heating element and pstat both work but the boiler knob does not appear to be sealing when heating up. I suspect I have cooked this blue gasket and will need to replace it. Does that sound right to you folks?

March 19th, 2023, 10:32 am

I would suggest first confirming that it is the gasket that is leaking and not the vacuum breaker in the cap.

For the gasket, perhaps try removing the gasket and cleaning up the gasket surface a bit, and flipping the gasket around?

March 19th, 2023, 10:43 am

Thanks for the reply - I tried removing the gasket but some sections broke off - it's hard to remove. I tried using a pick but that's where the damage occurred. The vacuum breaker is the ball bearing and spring in the cap correct? I do hear it seal when the machine heats up. However once it gets to .5 bar and higher I get intermittent hissing from around the base of the cap. How do you remove the gasket? Do you need
To disassemble the knob to do it?

#4: Post by **coffeedog** » March 19th, 2023, 11:20 am

I did pretty much the same thing. The blue gasket worked for a short while then started hissing. As I removed it - same thing as you, it broke apart way too easily. Got a new one from Cerini and all good.

March 19th, 2023, 11:28 am

Thanks Steve - I'll order me first thing tomorrow. Time to blow the dust off my robot I guess!

March 19th, 2023, 11:30 am

pcdawson wrote:Thanks for the reply - I tried removing the gasket but some sections broke off - it's hard to remove. I tried using a pick but that's where the damage occurred. The vacuum breaker is the ball bearing and spring in the cap correct? I do hear it seal when the machine heats up. However once it gets to .5 bar and higher I get intermittent hissing from around the base of the cap. How do you remove the gasket? Do you need
To disassemble the knob to do it?

This sounds kinda wierd, but the only way I can describe it is one has to unscrew the gasket. My gasket broke when I got a bit impatient with the unscrewing process and forced the issue.

Your vacuum breaker sounds good.

Sounds like you have to get a new seal now anyhow.

I remain a bit mystified as to why the gasket would fail.

March 19th, 2023, 11:43 am

I'm trying to imagine how you would unscrew that gasket. I think if you had a tool that would grab it from the inside edges you could do this - what tool did you use to do this?

Any tips for installing the new gasket? Do you need to put any Dow on it? Wondering if the brass threads will cause any issues when inserting it.

March 19th, 2023, 11:51 am

While I'm feeling grumpy I'll add that I've always struggled with that damn sight glass. Most times I have to use the flashlight on my iPhone to check the water level. Wish they'd put some kind of light in there. My old eyes..........

#9: Post by **coffeedog** » March 19th, 2023, 12:19 pm

pcdawson wrote:Wish they'd put some kind of light in there. My old eyes..........

Check out the light mod in this article: https://thelevermag.com/blogs/articles/ ... emina-mods

It's not something I would undertake but very cool.