Migg tells me Grog's element suggestion will exactly fit the Club. I contacted Ascaso, who said it isn't their heating element, it is made by La Spaziale. I looked for the element at Chris Coffee and 1st-line, both passed me to LS, USA.

I've started the order process for the heating element through LaSpaziale. Its LS part number is 1949.

I explained to the fellow at La Spaziale there may be more orders for this element after I get it installed and verify it works. The only downside the price on this looks to be breath-taking.

So 1st Line doesn't have them in stock - and LS's price is significantly higher?

This element is not overly complicated and can be easily duplicated by a tubular heater manufacturer.
The biggest issue here would be providing the machined threaded bases.
It all comes down to what "breath-taking" prices La Spaziale is asking for vs having an element made.
Cheaper by the dozen btw.

You might also be able to use a standard tubular array if it's within the parameters.

It will be under $200 and over $150 - I will have the firm price tomorrow, as weird as this sounds for a part that is on order.

The nice thing about this one is that it's very similar to the stock one Olympia used, so your minimum fill level is the same. I'm sure there are other stock elements withe similar A and B dimensions but perhaps with a coil at the end of the two rods, which of course would mean you always need the boiler to be at least half full, since it's a horizontal boiler. Like this one has similar wattage and might work, but will require a higher boiler fill level.

https://www.1st-line.com/buy/la-spazial ... e-vivaldi/

grog wrote:Like this one has similar wattage and might work, but will require a higher boiler fill level.

https://www.1st-line.com/buy/la-spazial ... e-vivaldi/

I found a $65 element here http://www.cafeparts.com/Heating-Elemen ... duct/11835 that will fit from an immersed length perspective, but I didn't proceed for exactly what you've said. And the coils would be very tight at the bottom of the boiler.

From what I saw digging into this for several weeks, the coil type elements seem to be used in the bottom of standing boilers, like the Cremina. That also made me nervous.

If going with a third party element, be sure to confirm threaded fitting that screws into boiler. If they don't match your coil won't fit or seal.

While I'm hopeful to be able to procure the La Spaziale element, I decided to proceed with the next closest element I could find. Swapping out an element now would take me 15 minutes.

I ordered a different element, cost $59.99 at Cafeparts.com - the La Spaziale element is going to be over $160. Here is the part number and what it goes into.



For sake of reference, I took a picture with my spare Cremina element. One probably the only key measurement is the distance I marked A. The hot water pipe fits inside the coils in the approximate area I marked. I did a lot of measuring to make sure the hot water pipe from the boiler didn't hit the element. The coiled element isn't all that large and it isn't close to the bottom of the boiler.

The boiler tube, unless bent from it's original shape will collide with the smaller Cremina element, and you're missing 200W output. I would not use a Cremina element in the Club with this option.

Disassembly of the boiler was ridiculously easy. Someone made a superb replacement cover when they restored the boiler. The plate holes are about 1-2mm oversized to stainless posts. The Club has never dripped a drop of water, and I was astonished to find each flange bolt was slightly past finger tight. Just enough to compress the gasket.

However, removal of the element was a different story. It was so tight I had to mount the element & end-plate into a vise. Despite using a deep dish 19mm socket, the ceramic insulator was broken in the process. I really tried to avoid this, but mother of pearl the element was really tight. Amazingly tight actually. I have no idea how someone got it that tight. I was thinking about one of Doug Garret's Cremina videos where he observed that there is a phenomena that causes people to over tighten everything on an espresso machine. The Olympia machines fit so nicely that very little torque is needed.

For the 110v power cable I bought a Coleman in 6' and trimmed it down to my counter length. This is an outdoor rated cable, and is very pliable. It was priced at $9.35 is a very nice value.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001OOMN88/

I bought a strain relief boot on Amazon, but did not like how it fit. I bought a different one in the espresso machine parts section at the local farm store. It's serviceable, but I'm looking for other options. In my view I the strain relief on the cord should be strong enough that I can swing the machine around like I was doing the hammer throw with it at a track meet. It's not quite that good.

The Club I have uses a modern XP110 Pstat, and the label shows 110/220V. So, I didn't need a 110V Pstat. Migg told me the part the switch is the same between 110/220V, so the only thing needed to be replaced was the element.


Here is the old ground - it used a tiny Philips screw.

Instead I used a 14 gauge to #10 loop end terminal I bought and mounted on the bracket. The #10 fits the 5mm bolt used to hold the bracket. I feel the ground this is now rock solid.

I took this pre-replacement photo of the old power cord connected to the power switch. Then my big yellow lab went ballistic over a moose that set foot in the yard. I'm thinking his would be the quintessential definition of an unplanned interruption. When I finally got back to task, which wire did the blue go to? Just happened to have the photo I needed.


These machines are so simple, it might not matter at if blue and brown were swapped, but I'll let someone else tell me if it does.



Before I replaced the element, the original 220v heated the machine to 1 bar in 11 minutes. The 1200W element took 12 minutes 30 seconds. But best of all, no more power converter and it cost me about $85 including shipping and a trip to the farm store.

I don't think it's worth starting a new thread, so I'll just pile on here.

I too recently bought a Club, and am in the process of restoring it (it was working fine; I just need to tinker). This particular Club is unlike any I've seen: Instead of a filler spout on top, it hooks up to your home water supply or a Flo-Jet. It incorporates a float in the boiler, a magnetic switch, and a solenoid. When the water gets low, the float drops and the attached magnet triggers the magnetic switch. This in turn (a) shuts off the heating element and (b) opens the solenoid to allow water into the boiler. The switch is in a brass tube that sits in a groove on the boiler end plate; it can slide up and down to adjust the water level at which the refill starts. Pretty darned ingenious if you ask me. The photos below show the parts.

(1) the solenoid


(2) the float in its high position


(3) the float in its low position


(4) the magnetic switch on the outside of the boiler.

It is an adaptation of a Magnetrol level switch. I wonder who made it.