1.2 bar has always worked fine in my Livia. It is not mounted in line with the heating element, just the relay, so amperage rating is no concern.

I feel a bit of a butcher at the moment. The pressure switch wouldn't come out and while holding it trying to unscrew it it broke. No big deal, if I manage to unscrew it but it would not move!

The way you unthread items like this, is to use 2 quality open end wrenches, in the correct metric or SAE/Imperial size (cheap wrenches are built to poor tolerances, and will round off the hex corners of the fittings). Both wrenches are placed at an angle to each other, and then pressure is applied to the wrenches, in opposite directions at the same time. This works the wrenches against each other, and sort of multiplies the force, without you having to apply a ton of force.

Regarding the rating on my pressure stat, it was newly installed by a shop that attempted to repair the machine for the previous owner. The shop couldn't figure out what was wrong with the machine, couldn't fix it, and gave it back to the owner. I purchased it in that "unable to be repaired" condition, back in January, and the folks here, like Hank, were kind enough to share their knowledge and help me repair it. I knew nothing about the machine when it arrived; didn't even know how it worked.

That pressure stat has been working fine, and I have the machine adjusted to click off the heating element at about 1.4bar, the gauge needle coasts up to the 12 o'clock position, and then coasts back down and then the heating element comes back on, probably at about 1.1-1.2bar. I wrapped my boiler with a 1/2" layer of ceramic wool to protect the controller and the pstat.

This forum has been super, I'm super grateful. I've learnt a lot already and lots I want to know.

I might need to take this part to someone who knows beetter. The tool I have are not thin enough to be sitting on the upper part where one of the wrenches should be holding (the bottom of what's left of the pressure stat).

I agree. I would have never been able to repair my Livia without all the guys helping me out. I'm very thankful!

If you have an automotive parts store near that sells tools or has tools as loaners, you might be able to get a pair of open end wrenches at a good price, or maybe they'll let you borrow them for a moment at the counter.

The new pressostat switch arrived, I installed it on the original pipe. It seems to work, beside the fact that the 1.5 bar pressure that it was calibrated on, looks in the lower red area on the pressure gauge, something like 1.6. It might be the gauge that is not working amazingly now, but it doesn't matter I think, I lowered it a little bit to be on the safe side.

It's a working machine Now I need to run a descaler through it, get a blanket for the boiler, and enjoy it. I'll pull an espresso tomorrow and let's see what comes out. I'll want to move to the fashionable naked portafilter and precision baskets, and find a good affordable espresso grinder (I already spent quite some money on another good grinder for filter coffee some months ago, before realising I was in business with repairing this machine)

Thanks for all your help austinado and everyone else!

Pressure stats need to be adjusted once installed, so rotate that adjustment screw anti-clockwise in small increments, until you have the machine switching off the orange light, at about 1.4bar.

I'm glad you've made such great progress. Be careful with descaler. My concern is always that, debris will travel and clog up the functions of the machine somewhere, and then I'm back to chasing issues. If you have good flow out of the group, and when you stop brewing there's a little blast of water from the 3-way valve out that little spigot on the lower right front, I'd just leave it as-is and enjoy making coffees..... but that's just my opinion.

Enjoy!

If you use Pavlis water (distilled plus a pinch of potassium bicarbonate) the scale will slowly dissolve by itself, with no plugging.
I did this with a LaPavoni for 10+ years and every time I checked it looked like new inside. Haven't opened my Livia for four years and I would expect the same.

That's really interesting to hear!! I guess I should look up his recipe, and learn something new.

I've been making relatively good espresso since I repaired the machine. Now I paired it with an Eureka Mignon Specialita, which I'm calibrating.

I got a new bottomless portafilter, which helps understanding what's going on. The baskets don't sit as smoothly as the original old portafilter, but I'll fix this somehow.

I noticed that from time to time there was leaking, above all when cleaning the machine. I changed the gasket in the group head with the silicone one. The leaking seems to have stopped, also this was a good advice.