Positioning lever on spline - help please. - Page 2

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kitt
Posts: 837
Joined: 17 years ago

#11: Post by kitt »

No worries, good luck sorting it out. It can be hard finding parts for this group, not helped by the confusion between the Italian Gaggia lever group and the Spanish Gaggia lever group . A possible source for parts in the UK is Fracino , they have a lot of old Gaggia parts , supposedly for both Italian and Spanish . Did you put a new spring in yours? i'm still trying to find a spring for mine

LeverFever (original poster)
Posts: 53
Joined: 6 years ago

#12: Post by LeverFever (original poster) »

I just emailed Fracino funnily enough.

My spring seems ok from what i can gather, good resistance and no corrosion.

Where did you end up getting your seals from?

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kitt
Posts: 837
Joined: 17 years ago

#13: Post by kitt »

I still have the Faema seals in there at the moment, works well with the spacer, but eventually when my Gaggia seals turn up, i'll fit them . I got some Gaggia seals pecial ordered from TSE in Austria . I did Email Fracino, but got no reply, maybe better to try calling them?

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Paul_Pratt
Posts: 1467
Joined: 19 years ago

#14: Post by Paul_Pratt »

Looking at the photos of the main lever position at rest, I would set it up so that it is further past the vertical - if possible. That way you can get more travel on the piston. Have a look at 2 gaggias I set up fairly recently and the position of the levers at rest.


LeverFever (original poster)
Posts: 53
Joined: 6 years ago

#15: Post by LeverFever (original poster) »

Thank you Paul!

Interesting, but when i moved them back a spline, it caused the spring steel C shaped pieces to foul on the rear catch. Therefore i couldn't screw them down without leaving a large gap..

Am i missing something..? As yours is clearly working!

LeverFever (original poster)
Posts: 53
Joined: 6 years ago

#16: Post by LeverFever (original poster) »

Thought id update this.

I managed to get the correct seals from Jaguar Espresso here in he UK.

Unfortunately this hasn't solved the problem (Water not coming out when lever in the down position - unless pressed another 1/4 inch or so)

I've noticed on this group the lever has a lot more play than the other group which works fine, so im going to try rotating the shaft to get some new teeth in the game.

Im struggling to remove the bearings/shaft though. Should i give the shaft a tap from the left?




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Paul_Pratt
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#17: Post by Paul_Pratt »

I just noticed you only have 1 nut on the top of the shaft. There should be 2, it seems a normal hex nut is missing on yours, it sits under that chrome acorn nut. That will raise the piston by around 8mm I think and add some extra support.

The pinion gear taps out from the left side (if making coffee). Undo the blind bearing cap and you will see where to tap. But obviously you will need to remove the lever arm and the other bearing cap.

However before tapping the pinion gear out you will need to reduce the tension a wee bit on the rack and pinion gear. To do so you will turn the top acorn nut say 1/4 turn in either direction just to relieve the tension, when you relieved the tension you will see the pinion gear can wobble just a bit.

See if you can find some hex nuts for the top though. To be honest there are a few types of racks and they have different thread pitches on the end.

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kitt
Posts: 837
Joined: 17 years ago

#18: Post by kitt replying to Paul_Pratt »

Please pay attention Paul :D , Maybe you were too busy building my Robot (thanks alot) - This is the Spanish GX lever group, and only has one top nut

LeverFever (original poster)
Posts: 53
Joined: 6 years ago

#19: Post by LeverFever (original poster) »

I got it sorted yesterday., but thanks.

As i thought, it was worn teeth. So i rotated the shaft 180 degrees and it now feels great.

One thing that i though strange - when reassembled, the lever wouldn't line up with the other lever. It was was either further back or forward when slid on its spline.
Id have thought the shaft was symmetrical in relation to its teeth...
Either way, it feels great, so will probably do the other one to match.

Interesting to see thirty years of wear on the teeth..



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