Upgrading La Pavoni Worn Lever Pins and Insertions - Page 4

#31: Post by **roadman** » November 25th, 2015, 4:41 am

OldNuc wrote:If you want sticky try ISO 1000 steam cylinder oil or worm drive oil, same thing mostly. They are H-1 and everyone should go look up what exactly H-1 certification means.

Here's a short explanation about H1 lube -- H1 lubricants are intended for use in areas where the lubricant may come in contact with food during processing. In other words it's approved for use where there is the possibility of incidental contact with food.

Speaking of which, any thoughts on this H1 certified bearing grease from Dow for the front pin?

Molykote G-0050 FM WHITE EP BEARING GREASE

November 25th, 2015, 9:21 am

Incidental contact implies you stop the line and get the blob of lube out of the product. The pin requires so little lube it is near impossible to get into anything. H-1 is for high speed processing machines that sometimes fail and dump lubricants into the product batch. What it does tell you is the lubricant is not toxic in small quantities. That grease you linked is going to rapidly hammer out of the contact area.

#33: Post by **roadman** » January 3rd, 2016, 1:42 am

Rich, a belated thanks for that info.
Jon

#34: Post by **drgary** » January 30th, 2016, 12:50 am

I've completed the ball bearing and brass lever pin with acorn nut solution discussed earlier and have documented it here, in my thread on building the ultimate Europiccola. It feels smooth, not very different than a new machine except without the slop. The difference, though, is this should hold up well and avoid any wear on the new piston rod.

Building the Ultimate La Pavoni Europiccola

If you look closely you'll see a shim on top of the upper bearing on the left. My end width slightly exceeded the old roller on the right.

And here it is installed. I'm happy I replaced those old, worn pins.

February 22nd, 2016, 10:05 am

You can get a cheaper Grease at Petro-Florida Inc.
http://www.petro-florida.com/product-category/grease/

#36: Post by **jbenson4** » March 23rd, 2016, 9:29 pm

I'm not sure this matters but I figured I'd ask anyway: Is any brass alloy good for this? I'm thinking 360 is what I need, but there's also 330, 353, 464, etc. I'm not a machinist or metallurgist so it's kind of over my head.

March 23rd, 2016, 9:45 pm

The brass is sacrificial so get whatever you want to use. 360 or 353 will function well. If you can find rod in 1/4" diameter and turn it down for a snug fit in the yoke pin holes. You can get rod in 6mm metric but odds are it will be a bit loose.

#38: Post by **drgary** » March 23rd, 2016, 10:19 pm

I turned down my 1/4" rod with a drill and a file. It was a bit tedious, but it is snug. Perhaps someone can try the 6mm rod. I'd be interested to learn if it's loose or whether La Pavoni has purposely made the holes to fit pins that size reasonably well.

#39: Post by **jbenson4** » March 23rd, 2016, 11:17 pm

Thanks, I am going to buy a 1/4" rod from Amazon and do the drill/file method that Gary used.

March 23rd, 2016, 11:38 pm

The fit of a 6mm pin is a function of the accumulated wear in the yoke. In my case with a 96 vintage machine 6mm was rather loose. With most machines a 6mm may be OK but measuring is the only way to know.