I've had my Pro 800 for about a year now and overall it's been a great machine, however there is a minor issue with what appears to be the casting of the lever yoke or the body where it mounts on the bearings, such that some rubbing occurs inside the yoke. This has resulted in not only in a blemish on the chrome, but fairly regular metallic particles annoyingly collecting on the surface. These particles risk falling into and contaminating my coffee.



I reached out to the distributor from which I purchased the machine, and they apparently contacted Profitec regarding the issue. The feedback I received is that Profitec thinks this is normal wear and tear, and I should apply food grade lubricant to reduce the grinding.

In my opinion, there is clearly poor tolerances in the mechanical system, and no grinding should possibly occur at this location.

Wondering if any Profitec owners or owners of machines with this type of group have experienced the same thing?

Couple more images:

Something ain't right there for sure. Mine is absolutely pristine after two years of daily driving. Not sure if your problem is a casting problem though, maybe more like it needs a readjustment laterally....or is it longitudinally. Left to right.

What do the cylinder walls look like when you remove the piston to change seals??? If the piston is not going up and down straight then it will put more pressure to one side or the other of that connecting rod.

That's not normal! Try to take it apart wipe it clean then lubricate the whole thing (that if you didn't find something missing or broken). Tell us how it goes please

I believe it actually is normal for some Pro 800 machines and others using this style of group. I owned a Pro 800 for 5 years and noticed the same thing. I even posted to the lever forum about it. On my machine, the gap separating the lever from the group was closer on one side than the other. I noticed that this caused some rubbing and abrasion of the chrome on the end of the lever arm. I also spoke to Profitec about this via my vendor. They ended up sending me a new group. While the gap/rubbing problem was solved the new one groaned like my grandad getting out of his favourite chair. So I pulled the new group and replaced it with the old one which was silent. The Pro 800 is a beautiful well built machine. But like all espresso machines, they are never perfect. I never found any issues with the lever binding. There was no audible "grinding" noise, and no jerky lever movement, so Im sure it wasn't binding the lever when pulling shots. If yours is the same then enjoy the machine. One thing you can try is adjusting the two bolts on either side of the lever arm. By tightening one and loosening the other you might be able to center the arm in its cradle and eliminate any rubbing.

After 10 years of use the group on my Bosco Sorrento shows no signs of rubbing.

If I look at it square from the front the difference in the gaps is visibly smaller on one side than the other.

I have seen a fair bit of variation in the brass group parts. In addition, the brass ring loop can be deformed by rough handling. I have needed to tap and file the ring to eliminate rubbing.

I had the the exact same issue on my then 2 or 3 year old pro800. I contacted the vendor who contacted profitec. They sent a new group, but after a year I saw the same marks appearing on the new one also! I ended up selling the machine, but this had no impact on the shots themselves. Luckily I also sold the original group separately:)

Does this happen to Londinium owners?