Thanks for that, now the question is...what size circlip? OE has a kit for Pavonis that seems to have the clip, but don't need the rest of the kit.

Meanwhile, Just received most of the missing bits, including the lever/handle. So now have at least one all original machine, and just need the portafilter and plastic base for the other. Now I don't need to fab the adapter for the Microcimbali handle.

Waiting for the circlips to arrive, so thought I'd bring this mess up to date...

Got the elements cleaned up, and think they look pretty good. No shorts or opens. Do they look good enough to just glop some Glyptal on the ends?




No fiber washers under the upper nuts, good idea?

Here's the boiler after 2 days in 50/50 vinegar.


I made a copper tube sightglass blank to install during cleaning the boiler, to avoid breaking the real one taking it in and out. As shown, it's slightly shorter than the Pavoni replacement, so will have to have that cut down.


Here's where the sightglass and guard interface with the lower mount. There's an O ring in there, which will be fun to replace as I still haven't figured out how to get those off.


Lastly, here's where the upper sightglass mount attaches to the boiler. There's threads in there, but have no idea what's involved in removing the parts. Same with the steam valve.

Have picked up a La Gaziella in the meantime. Other than the drip tray and rubber bottom it's complete, very clean, and seems to work. Heats and steams, and lights function. Got it at a good price, mainly to access the parts missing from the Cara to facilitate testing. With the new goodies I picked up from OE, will have two good machines when all is said and done.

Here it is amidst the debris field from the Cara.

Nice cleanup work, including the copper sightglass stand-in.

In case this helps, the way a sightglass is fastened in place is there's a soft gasket that surrounds the glass. A copper washer sits on top of that and is pushed down by the sightglass nut as you screw it in. This slightly expands the soft o-ring or gasket that then creates a watertight seal. In a La Pavoni the soft gaskets are made of high temperature silicone. In a Cremina or Maximatic these are an o-ring of soft, high temperature rubber. Each would probably work in the other type of machine. The length of the sightglass itself may not be critical as long as it fits in place, since it only needs to be as long as where it mates with the soft gaskets, and this may not be the entire length of the sightglass channel.

Thanks Dr. Gary -

I've not been into a Pavoni yet and haven't found service illustrations that are large/detailed enough to see how the sightglass is assembled, but it seems the La Cara machines are a bit different. On the bottom there's a socket that the glass goes into, with an O ring for a seal around the glass. The top is the same, except the O ring seals the cap to the mount. No seal on the glass itself as far as I can see, but will look closer. The cap has holes to allow the water to get to the glass.

Seems the length of the glass is fairly critical. Too long, and the cap can't seat(or the pressure may break the glass), and too short and the glass may not seal.Took a bit of filing to get the copper tube the right length.

All this would be a bit easier if I could just get the furschluginer mounts off the boiler.

PS - If the cap is actually the same as the Pavoni, I could then use the manometer adaptor on the Graziella. I do want to put am gauge on it.

David:

This looks very similar to La Pavoni and Olympia Cremina and Elektra Microcasa a Leva. Some older Pavonis and MCALs have the metal protective sleeve as with your machine.



Have you picked out the copper washer on top? You would use a picking tool for that and it should expose the soft gasket below it. I don't think you'll need to turn out the sight glass mounts. They may be hard to turn because they may be fastened in there with something like Loctite thread locker. To illustrate what I mean about the sightglass seals, here's a photo of a sightglass with a Cremina seal at the top, fastened down with a copper washer. The missing part is the sightglass nuts that would push it into the mount in either direction. At the bottom is the Pavoni version of a sightglass seal with a compression washer.

Hi -

i think the major difference is that there is no nut at the top. The glass is captured and the assembly sealed by the top cap.

Here's a quick pic to give an idea. I see no other O ring than the one on the cap, nor washers. The inner shoulder captures the glass(might be a good idea to put an O ring there to eliminate a metal to glass interface).


Unfortunately this also makes it difficult to add a manometer, as the Pavoni adaptor doesn't work this way.

The sight glass is actually easier, simpler than La Pav. The same size O ring seals the top and bottom. You put in he bottom ring and start the nut. Put the cover in place. Slide he glass in from the top. There should be a brass washer that sits in a small rim at the bottom of the top housing. Push he second o ring down around the glass. Put the smaller black ring on the top housing nut. When you screw down the nut it expands the ring between the capturing washer, the glass and the housing and it is sealed.

BTW, the sight glass is actually longer tHan he standard Pavoni.

Thanks Doug -

Will pull the one apart on the Graziella to see how it compares, as it seem unmolested and the Cara looks like it's bee fiddled with over the years. When I fabbed the brass sight glass blank, it had to be shorter than the Pavoni glass I got from you in order to fit. There was also no washer and O ring around the top of the glass. When I installed the blank for descaling the boiler, there were no leaks. Then again, no heat was applied.

David