I had my SL group serviced last week. Only 3 piston seals and a grouphead gasket are required. There was rust on the spring, as a tiny bit of water started coming out via the shaft at the top, only a few days before I took it in. There is no gasket around the shaft at the top of the grouphead, like on regular Creminas and Pavonis. So the top piston seal had failed.

The tech did nice work as the group now feels and performs like brand new. I think I'll keep to a seal replacement/lubrication every 9-12 months from here on out. Apparently the spring compression tool is about 12 weeks away from being available.

Orphan espresso has an affordable silicon kit for the Club, which has 3 piston seals and a grouped gasket. Does anyone have any insight if this would work for the SL?

https://www.orphanespresso.com/Olympia- ... _5722.html

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PavoniMaster wrote:The tech did nice work as the group now feels and performs like brand new. I think I'll keep to a seal replacement/lubrication every 9-12 months from here on out. Apparently the spring compression tool is about 12 weeks away from being available.?

PavoniMaster: Have you heard any further updates regarding the availability of the 'Spring Compression Tool' being available any time soon.
It's disappointing to keep on applying small quantities of lube to the gaskets without removing the piston and spring for servicing.
I'm not willing to use a C-clamp without being sure that I won't cause damage. I hope Olympia Express will make available a spring removal tool for the Cremina SL. Sooner than Later.

Shakespeare wrote:.

PavoniMaster: Have you heard any further updates regarding the availability of the 'Spring Compression Tool' being available any time soon.
It's disappointing to keep on applying small quantities of lube to the gaskets without removing the piston and spring for servicing.
I'm not willing to use a C-clamp without being sure that I won't cause damage. I hope Olympia Express will make available a spring removal tool for the Cremina SL. Sooner than Later.

I heard about the tool from Johnny at Cerinni. I would call them up. Haven't looked into it since

Cerini has the Cremina SL piston group head service tool up for pre-order now. A nice to have if you own a SL and want to be self sufficient. Placed my order and added a few consumables... Tool looks to be well made and, I hope, straightforward to use. With this tool and the info posted earlier in this thread service ought to be nearly idiot proof.

PavoniMaster wrote:
Orphan espresso has an affordable silicon kit for the Club, which has 3 piston seals and a grouped gasket. Does anyone have any insight if this would work for the SL?

https://www.orphanespresso.com/Olympia- ... _5722.html

Yes, I have had the OE kit installed on my SL for several months and it works perfectly

Received some parts and a Cremina SL piston group head service tool from Cerini Coffee today. Did a little test fitting and this tool will make servicing the SL ultra easy and risk free. It is built like a tank and fits with precision. Properly cleaning and greasing the piston seals twice will pay for the tool by covering the costs I would have incurred in shipping and labour not to mention any inconvenience and down time. A good acquisition in my opinion.

Pictures?

Well there are various shots of the tool on the Cerini site but here is one from my home... complete with all the spares to do a full restore or two.
Unlike some of the approaches taken in this thread you must remove the shower screen and gasket for the tool to be installed on the grouphead. The black plastic funnel like attachment slips onto the top of the tool and allows the piston seals to enter the tool catch free. Once the tool is back on the grouphead things ought to slip up into place with ease. More photos will follow when I do a service.

Having to remove the shower screen means likely destroying the group head gasket - as per OE's video where Doug says there's little one can do to avoid this. As most people would be replacing the piston seals and group gasket at the same time this is no biggie. However you'd also have to replace the group head gasket every time you re-grease the piston sleeve too - making it a PITA. The C-Clamp does not require you to remove the shower screen and group gasket........but it's a wicked problem getting those piston seals aligned to avoid tearing them.

This design looks similar to one for the Ponte Vecchio machines. I would suggest putting a rubber tip of some sort on the threaded rod where it contacts the piston. Do you plan to remove the grouphead to perform the service?

U2u wrote:Well there are various shots of the tool on the Cerini site but here is one from my home... complete with all the spares to do a full restore or two.
Unlike some of the approaches taken in this thread you must remove the shower screen and gasket for the tool to be installed on the grouphead. The black plastic funnel like attachment slips onto the top of the tool and allows the piston seals to enter the tool catch free. Once the tool is back on the grouphead things ought to slip up into place with ease. More photos will follow when I do a service.
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