Microcimbali Safety Valve

#1: Post by **cafetta.mini** » May 7th, 2021, 10:50 am

Hi there!
I need a bit of help. I just sold my Microcimbali on Ebay. Sadly, it doesn't seem to work for the person who bought it (hi Luke!), as it is leaking through the safety valve. This is a new issue and not one that I had when I used it on a daily basis. Upon his request, I now agreed that I would send him a replacement safety valve.

Here's what I need help with:
- What valve do I need?
- Do I also need a seal or a washer?

Thanks a lot!
Jurg

#2: Post by **drgary** » May 7th, 2021, 11:15 am

Jurg,

I don't know about the safety valve and hope someone else will answer. Your photo seems to show a crack at the top of the boiler, above the hole where there is a leak. Have you checked on that?

May 7th, 2021, 1:05 pm

Hi DrGary,
Thank you for your response. Yes, that's just a water stain.

I've got a couple pictures of the valve in the meantime.

#4: Post by **drgary** » May 7th, 2021, 1:42 pm

A valve like that is very rugged. It's spring-loaded and over time it may accumulate scale. I would start by having the buyer remove, it, disassemble it and descale it. Such valves are threaded and can be adjusted with a screwdriver or a hex key. Descaling could fix it, if it was working before, or if the spring is getting weak, tightening it a little should work. If he's not comfortable doing that he can send it to you with you paying for shipping and you can clean it up so it works again.

May 8th, 2021, 6:18 am

Thamks, Gary! He has now tried that and it didn't help. So I think I'll source the part for him.

Jurg

#6: Post by **drgary** » May 8th, 2021, 11:37 am

Where is the water leaking from here? Is there a crack above it?

May 8th, 2021, 12:59 pm

I think the hole is actually above the boiler from the area around the bottom of the safety valve. So the water is leaking out through the safety valve (I believe the boiler will have been over-filled in this picture).

#8: Post by **drgary** » May 8th, 2021, 2:03 pm

I think I see the dried flow of water. It had looked like a crack to me at first.

Those safety valves don't break. At the most they need to be cleaned or adjusted, or they may need a new gasket. Is there an old gasket where it screws into the boiler?

Usually the safety valve has an opening that is stopped by a metal ball or a cap that covers the opening. The ball or cap is tensioned in place by a spring. A lid just above is firmly held in place by a flat piece of metal that is threaded into the upper part of the safety valve. If the spring starts to lose its tension you can adjust the cap above it.

May 9th, 2021, 4:59 am

Thanks a lot for your expertise! That's extremely helpful. From what I understand, the person who bought it is concerned about the safety if they do adjustments themselves. As you can see, there's a bit of limescale built up running down from the whole, meaning the valve would have done its job at capping the pressure (it did have the right pressure for me to make good coffee). A new spring might also be an option, but they still would have to adjust it for the correct cutoff pressure.

#10: Post by **drgary** » May 9th, 2021, 12:11 pm

I don't know that the valve needs to be adjusted for pressure, because as a safety valve, it should release steam only when the machine is getting overheated. As long as the safety valve is tightened down enough for safety and is not venting before you reach brewing temperature, it's working right. I'm assuming your machine is a Microcimbali Liberty, which has a pressurestat and would not be constantly venting. If it is the older Microcimbali with a low and high switch, then it would be venting steam at a certain point. In either case, the adjust pressure with machines that that don't have a pressure gauge, you can fashion one that you can attach to the steam wand to measure and tune pressure. It just takes the appropriate gauge and a bit of radiator hose. I hope this helps.