Going crazy! Leaking steam valve on FAEMA DUE

[ozscott]

Hi guys my dues steam wand started to leak steam. I just replaced the inner valve seal. No good. Took it apart and cleaned. No good. Got in there with sand paper and cleaned. Marginal improvement. Still slight leak. Didnt replace small oring on plunger as it looked fine and any leak there comes out at handle not the wand....is it just a case of having to replace the entire valve block...does the brass get wear and cannot seal the black rubber seal any more?

Cheers

[ozscott]

Put 2 springs in it...seems to have done the trick!

[ozscott]

Nope...this morning it wasn't leaking till I used it...now worse than ever. Second spring could have gone sideways and mis-seated the seal. I wonder if after 20 years the steam and rubber just wear the brass enough for poor sealing? The seal is under a lot of pressure. Maybe time for a new body.

Cheers

[ozscott]

New design valve body on its way. The old circlip style is prone to not allowing the spring and seat to sit correctly according to Pedro at coffeeparts...good to know its not just me.

Cheers

[Paolo]

Great bit of info....Pedro knows his stuff. Hopefully your Faema will be right for another 20 years or so....let us know how the new valve body goes.

Cheers,
Paolo

[ozscott]

Yep Pedro is great - I have bought seals, pressurestat diaphragm and a rotary pump from him amongst other things. She is a beautiful machine.

Cheers

[ozscott]

Ok so steam valve is a cm longer than the old one. So I removed the right hand side steam pipe from the boiler and cut it to length and re-flared. All back together and works like a new one! Cheers

[Dimal]

Top job Oz...

Mal.

[ozscott]

Thanks Mal! Chugging back on some Eth Yrg Spcl Prep now....mmm!!

Cheers