I bought new seals/gaskets for my La Pavoni Professional Millenium, and although I don't have any food-grade lubricant yet, I did something stoopid and *test fit* the screen gasket. Of course, it got stuck and took some finagling to get it back out without damaging it. Here's the bad part: The original o-ring is completely rotted. Not crispy, but flat and annealed to the screen basket. I tried to force it out by rubber-hammering on the pushrod for the piston. I saw a YT video that seemed to make it easy to just push the piston and the screen out at the same time. Nope. It's glued in. So I've scraped at the remnants of the seal but I can't remove it easily. Other than destroying the screen to pull it out, is there any magic to getting that old gasket out of there? I suspect that this will extremely labor intensive.

The unit is just 4 years old and used twice a day. Is it normal for the seals and gaskets to become this bad so soon?

You ABSOLUTELY need a lubricant. Not only will it make it next to impossible to push the water through, you're also risking serious damage to the new seals.

You can get dow corning Molykote 111 on Amazon
Molykote Valve Lubricant and Sealant 5.3 oz. Tube https://a.co/d/aG7Etvw

Small or big tubes available.

For the group gasket and shower screen... after 4 years, that rubber seal was for sure baked. It had to be destroyed in order to be removed anyways. Make sure all the bits are out before pushing the shower screen out of the group.

You can soak the group and shower screen in coffee detergent like Cafiza for 30 mins then have a go at it.

If you remove the top acorn and hex nut, you can tap the piston shaft with a mallet until it pops out. You can also use a wood plank and hammer. Make sure to put a dish towel under the group to protect the chrome.

This technique has worked on machines in bad condition that have not been used for 20+ years. I'm confident it'll work.

Good luck!

You can soak the group and shower screen in coffee detergent like Cafiza for 30 mins then have a go at it.

If you remove the top acorn and hex nut, you can tap the piston shaft with a mallet until it pops out. You can also use a wood plank and hammer. Make sure to put a dish towel under the group to protect the chrome.

I'll try the soak. I did, however, use a rubber mallet and a 2X4 and nothing happened. My workbench might have too much 'give'. I'll try the floor after the soak. And, yeah, I ordered PetroGel. I'll have that on Wednesday.

I took the grouphead to a harder surface and whacked it a few times with a piece of wood and a real (not rubber) mallet. After a few whacks, out it came. Should I soak everything in Cafiza anyway to loosen things up?

Good!

Yeah you can put the piston and even the group in Cafiza no problem. You can use a soft brush or an old tooth brush to clean whatever residue is left.

A few things: Careful not damaging the top seal when inserting. You wanna make sure the edge of the seals are inside the bore before pushing. Especially if you have silicone seals.

Avoid putting any lubricant on the shower screen.

This video shows how to adjust the piston throw, which is often overlooked by owners when servicing the group: Don't worry, it does get simpler

lmolter wrote:... The unit is just 4 years old and used twice a day. Is it normal for the seals and gaskets to become this bad so soon?

On domestic levers, I drop the shower screen and group gasket and clean and re-lubricate every 50 shots, so about once a month in your usage. I used to do it every 100 shots, but I didn't like how the top(inside) of the screen had coffee accumulated after 100 shots.

Mind you - and I am not kidding - some folks like the subtle taste note that a not-clean screen gives.

If every 100 shots seems excessive, then twice a year or annually, but have a new group gasket handy along with appropriate colourful metaphors if you wait that long.

I got it all apart and the old seals removed. The only surprise was when I removed the screen (finally), there *seemed* to be a gasket under it as well, like this: grouphead body + flat ring gasket + screen + flat-bottomed o-ring gasket. The one under the screen doesn't show on any exploded diagrams, yet the gasket kit I bought appears to have an o-ring the correct size. of course, with everything dried up and flattened, I'm not sure if it's not just a remnant of the flat-bottomed seal that goes in after the screen is put in. Not having done this before, I have no idea.

baldheadracing wrote:
Mind you - and I am not kidding - some folks like the subtle taste note that a not-clean screen gives.
.

I have met a few who never cleaned their cups or coffee maker. Just rinsed. One claimed that the coffee oils left behind "seasoned" the cup and "protected against bitter." Old fashioned dark roasts in a junk drip maker was his style. It worked for him, but I always turned down coffee when visiting.

I've answered my own question: There is only one seal on the screen. The residue I found under the screen must have been due to age and deformity of the seal.

Kaffee Bitte wrote:I have met a few who never cleaned their cups or coffee maker. Just rinsed. One claimed that the coffee oils left behind "seasoned" the cup and "protected against bitter." Old fashioned dark roasts in a junk drip maker was his style. It worked for him, but I always turned down coffee when visiting.

Many Italians have the same view of caring for their mokka pots, but here is what Bialetti has to say: https://www.bialetti.com/it_en/inspirat ... e-remedies