Olympia Cremina - Need portafilter gasket insertion tips

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TheCastanza
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#1: Post by TheCastanza »

Hi All - I've had a new cremina for almost a year now. Finally got around to installing my pressure kit. Only issue is that I cannot for the life of me get the portafilter gasket back into the group head without destroying it. I've gone through two now. I see a bunch of post about how to remove the gasket, which I'm clear on. But what is the secret to get the gasket back in the groove between the piston sleeve and the outer group head. Seems to be a rather tight fit. FWIW i've tried both the OEM gasket and the OE silicone one. Any advice for a new owner?

RockyIII
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#2: Post by RockyIII »

I've never been able to remove a portafilter gasket from my Cremina without destroying it, but I use a Dremel sanding attachment to remove a little material from the OD and ID of a new gasket to make it go in easily.

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HB
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#3: Post by HB »

TheCastanza wrote:But what is the secret to get the gasket back in the groove between the piston sleeve and the outer group head.
Are you referring to the grouphead gasket between the grouphead and portafilter? If so, I've reinstalled them without issue on various espresso machines with the same technique:
  1. Remove the basket from the portafilter,
  2. Loosely insert the gasket in the grouphead,
  3. Use the portafilter to seat the gasket by pulling up/moving back and forth until it's partially seated,
  4. Put the basket back into the portafilter,
  5. Using the same pulling up/moving back and forth technique, seat the gasket enough that the portafilter lugs can engage in the grouphead slots,
  6. Tighten the portafilter as usual; this should seat the gasket the rest of the way.
If a gasket is really stubborn, you can skip step 4 and go to step 5 (i.e., sans basket). But be careful, as the edge of the portafilter can cut/groove the gasket if you're too aggressive, especially on espresso machines like the Elektra Semiautomatica/Microcasa a Leva that simply have an O-ring gasket versus a flat-sided one.

On the other hand, if you're referring to reinstalling the piston into the grouphead and having trouble getting the flared piston gasket over the brew chamber's top edge, I've found that using a plastic spoon to ease the edge of the gasket inside the chamber's edge works (think of the spoon as a miniature shoehorn). Don't use a metal tool as it risks damaging the piston gasket or scratching the inner walls of the brew chamber.
Dan Kehn
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TheCastanza (original poster)
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#4: Post by TheCastanza (original poster) »

Thanks Dan. I meant the portafilter gasket. Have a tool for the piston seal so that was easy. I'll give this a try. My main issue is the seal seems to be slightly wider than the channel it must go into, so there is necessarily some squeezing involved (and sharp edges on either side).

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coffeedog
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#5: Post by coffeedog »

This little tool from Orphan comes in super handy. With the 90 degree end, you can apply focused pressure and work your way around the gasket to get it most of the way there. And then as Dan suggests, use the PF to get it all the way in.

https://www.orphanespresso.com/O-ring-I ... _4667.html
Steve
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TheCastanza (original poster)
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#6: Post by TheCastanza (original poster) »

Thanks all. I still am unable to do this unfortunately, even with OE pick tool and lubing the gasket before hand. I'm not really surprised that I am having difficulty, but I am surprised it is this hard. Like, I am not even close. I can get the gasket in ~70% of the way, and then the last part I cant even remotely get the gasket started down into the channel it is supposed to go in. Even just to see if it would conceivably fit, after breaking my third gasket, I am trying to get the remaining piece of gasket down in the channel will all the the force i can muster, and cannot get the gasket piece starting to go down in the channel to even close to being able to use the PF to lock in the rest of the way. Does anyone ever need to shave down their gaskets? What would the tool for this be?

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drgary
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#7: Post by drgary »

Something's wrong there. Your piston may be coming unscrewed from the piston rod, pushing the shower screen out of position. Maybe you can post photos of your group without a gasket installed. Be careful with a picking tool, because it can tear a gasket. I try to avoid using that tool unless I'm removing a gasket I intend to discard. Also, FWIW, I use a stubby flat head screwdriver or a chopstick to initially seat the portafilter gasket. Then my technique is similar to Dan's.
Gary
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mrgnomer
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#8: Post by mrgnomer »

I replaced a portafilter gasket on a 1974 Cremina 67 a while ago and kind of remember it was a pain. If I remember correctly if I tried to start at one end and keep pressing all the way around by the time I got to the other end the starting end popped out. Eventually I greased it good and played a wack a mole press in, keeping down the popping out spots until the gasket loosely but uniformly was sitting in the groove. Then I used the portafilter without a basket to push it in some more and finished with a vengence basket in the portafilter lock in.

I'm thinking you might be stretching the gasket as you push it into the channel and when you get to the finish where you started the gasket is compressed and too thick for the channel. If that is the case the pressed in parts of the stretched gasket need to slide back to come back to their start circumference and thickness for the last bit of the gasket to press in.

Pressing in north south east west might help if the gasket stretches and doesn't slide back but I think it's the start of a wack a mole gasket game.
Kirk
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drgary
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#9: Post by drgary »

To add to the above, be sure not to lube the part of the portafilter gasket that engages the portafilter. This reduces the hazard of the portafilter falling out during a shot.
Gary
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naked-portafilter
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#10: Post by naked-portafilter »


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