So, I bought a Faema enova 1Group for € 200 from a friend who didn't use it anymore. It was not the most clean machine so I had the plan to dismantle the whole thing. So I did, took like a million photo's and video's so I was able to re-assemble it. I absolutely had no clue what all the pipes, and other hardware was about. Nevertheless, I figured, worst case scenario it is € 200 down the drain or I need to get professional assistance from a Faema repair service.

So, after cleaning all individual bits, pipes, valves, casing, electronics down to the last tiny screws and removing the limescale of the boiler with hydrochloric acid ( I did quite some research/lookup on this) it was time to rebuild the entire machine. Weeks and months past as I worked on it after working hours. I enjoyed it thoroughly and learned a lot, studied machine repair plans etc.

Now, when connecting the water I expected some leaks and there is one so far. So I made a video about it (rambling in Dutch to myself) where I have an issue with one specific connection. Here's the video of this specific connection: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Wph2R2RLUMXQo8na9. On the one pipes end, the connection is conical. on the female side, it is straight. I tried to polish the conical head to avoid any cracks. I also tried to insert an o-ring into the female side, it wasn't a perfect fit of the o-ring, though no success either. Does anyone have some tips for me here? much appreciated.

Here's a collection of photos and videos of the project: https://photos.app.goo.gl/dcsHumpJfS5RV29S7
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Update, added some inline photo's, easier to read and view the story here

That doesn't look correct. You sure that's not the wrong pipe or fitting? If you have to make that work, I'd assume a thin, 1mm thick, Teflon washer might work the best.

Looking through all the photos, that looks like the correct pipe to me. The only thing I'd do to try and seal that is to loosen the fitting on the other side where it threads into the group head so you can close the gap. There is usually a slight taper on the male threaded fitting that the conical fitting seats against, but you need to allow the fitting to rest against it, rather than pulling the fitting into place with the tube nut. I see the photo with both the thermosyphon pipes fitted to the group, did you tighten them before fitting the boiler? Best practice is to fit them loosely and get both sides seated finger tight before tightening either side.

I'd give that a try and see if it doesn't seal up.

No washer, O-ring, thread tape, nor sealant goop is necessary, but some loxeal on the threads won't hurt anything and will work as a thread lubricant to aid in assembly (and future disassembly).

Cheers!

- Jake

Perhaps I'm missing what your point is, but that's a normal fitting for that heat exchange return connection. Don't put crap on the threads, don't stick washers or o-rings in your holes, WTF? If that compression fitting has been too badly damaged to seal properly, replace the tube, bend it properly so that it fits unstrained and tighten the fittings in place. Don't mess with the heat exchanger injector, if it doesn't leak, leave it alone and just bend the tubing properly to center on the fitting.

I'm with John.

I think the issue is that it isn't close enough to seal properly. Hence my comment to loosen the fitting on the group and ensure that the tube is properly seated prior to tightening the tube nut on the bottom of the HX.

Hey, thank you all for the feedback. the other ends of the tubes (attached to the group head) are not budging any way. I suspect that these connections are glued of some sort.

It's good to hear that I wasn't missing out on any kind of sealing. To be honest I actually forgot when disassembling if there was any.

I'll try to place the tubes exactly on the place where they fit naturally and unstrained.

thank you very much already for this insight

grts

Erik

It must have fit properly before, no? If the source component cannot be moved so that the pipe fits properly and it was attached before you started working on it, then the tube needs to be reformed to properly meet at both ends when not forced into place. It probably had some internal stresses when first assembled at the factory and years of heating/cooling has caused it to try to get straight again.

I would take the tube out an anneal it- heat it to a very low red color and allow it to slowly cool. That should increase it ductility (ability to bend) sufficiently to allow you to reform it enough through its various bends to properly fit. But do not try to have it attached at one end and just force the other. Form it into the correct shape along its length. You will need to measure how far it needs to move and in what direction. Maybe make some sort of measuring jig, then anneal it and use the jig to bend it into shape, moving it the determined amount in the correct direction.

When I disassembled the machine I tried to unlock the pipes on the grouphead's end without success. Probably by doing that I must have re-positioned the pipes.

Going with the advice here I figured to set the grouphead back in place tightening the 4 screws by hand, that would give me some final wiggling room. I took some photo's here is the pipe on the top, that seems to be a good position:



The bottom pipe has a gap between the male & female side, both ends also are not centred anymore:








My brother mentioned he has a specific heater that can work very 'local', gonna give that a try and get that bottom pipe in place

thank you all for this great advice. It is so pleasant to do this project. (Good thing is that I'm not stuck coffee-wise and I'm fortunate to have a decent DE1Xl )