Apologies if this is in the incorrect place - this is my first post after lurking for some time! I have a LP Esperto Abile which is only 2/3 months old. I am experiencing very poor and uneven water flow out of the shower screen when I lift the lever, as if there is a blockage. I do feel that it is too early for the machine to require descaling however I might be wrong and was hoping someone could help me diagnose the problem?

Hi Kunal,

Descaling isn't a solution for this issue.
It's likely your shower screen that's blocked with lubricant. You're going to want to remove it and clean it the best you can with a food safe degreaser.

I use a D-Limonene (orange oil) based degreaser.

You may wanna take the opportunity to clean the piston and group and reapply lubricant on your piston seals while being careful not to put any on the shower screen.

That should do it.

Welcome to the forum!

Cheers!

Hello Kunal,

Thanks for posting the video, I've had the same issue with my Millennium Europiccola too! I've never pulled the piston sleeve on my machine and was wondering if something was plugged on my machine? I'll try pulling the screen on my machine and test it tomorrow to see if this fixes mine too?

-Eric

This looks like the classic loose piston problem. I know that people say the plastic pistons had this problem, but it never happened to me until I switched to the brass piston.

When you have the shower screen off try to turn the piston on the rod, and see if it turns at all. If you can screw it onto the rod a bit that will confirm that this is the issue.

To fix it you will need to pull the piston, and rod assembly out of the group. Hold the piston firmly, and tighten it very hard onto the rod. On the standard piston rods with a hole that goes through you can put a small screwdriver in the hole to use as a T-handle. On the Esperto I'm not sure the best way to get a good grip on the rod.

Thanks for the replies - much appreciated... Looks like I'll have to give the shower screen removal a go. There is plenty of guidance on how to do so with a europiccola however I feel it may be different on the esperto with the pressure gauge sitting in the top of the group housing . Does anyone have any ideas? I am reluctant to mess this up!

You can unscrew the pressure gage and parts.
And than use the LPP/LPE guidance to dismantle the showerscreen and the piston rod.

Welcome onboard btw.

@kunykappy

Hey, I received your DM in my inbox and I am replying here so that others can also view as well.
You asked me how to remove the shower screen from the La Pavoni Esperto Abile (LP EA).
The process is pretty simple, but the actual task is quite challenging depending on the gasket fitment (stock vs. after-market) at the grouphead.

The best bet is to have at least a spare grouphead/showerscreen gasket at hand so you are able to remove the gasket with a sharp, angular probe and just switch the gasket to a new one. For LA EA (or most other post 2008 millenium), you need the MPN-55 which is a bit larger and has a groove.
If you don't have a spare, good luck trying to push the piston out with bare force so that the gasket becomes loose and the shower screen pops out (it's a freakin workout... I don't recommend it. Just get a couple of spare gaskets - you may need them in the future anyway)

With a lot said, here's the process:

1. remove the lever from the group head
2. remove the group gasket from the boiler (this is optional, but much easier if you have taken the grouphead out)
3. turn the group head upside down on a soft rag and push down on the piston screw mount until gasket comes loose and shower screen pops out
OR
remove the gasket holding the shower screen with a probe (you'll probably end up damaging it) and remove the shower screen (much easier this way)

I found the following videos on youtube very helpful:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwLkxOpXSOg
1:16 - 2:55
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=710BRFiVzQw
4:00 - 5:02


The first video suggests you can use a rubber mallet to hammer on the piston screw to pop the gasket out, but I had no luck with this.

I would HIGHLY suggest that you order spare MPN-55 gaskets before you work on it so that you at least have an option to just pull the gasket out with a sharp probe and replace it with a new one.
I ordered my parts from https://www.espressocare.com/ and while shipping costs a bit, parts come relatively quickly and you can order other possibly needed spare parts so that you don't have to pay for shipping on another imminent order.

Thanks @kurito and @guijan12 very much for the detailed reply! Guess I'll give it a go with some spare gaskets.

I was concerned about the pressure gauge on top of the group as I couldn't seem to remove it when I tried (it just kept spinning) but I think I need to use more than one wrench or try and loosen it BEFORE taking off the lever..?

Ha ha, Yes and yes!

kurito wrote: The first video suggests you can use a rubber mallet to hammer on the piston screw to pop the gasket out, but I had no luck with this.
.

That's my normal way of working.
And it works well if done in a sensitive way.