My Take On Cremina - From Start To...

[OCD]

I bought mine from Orphan Espresso.

[Barry O'Speedwagon]

there's a place on etsy called something like CreativeWork that sells them.

[ovonate]

Where can one buy these OCee? I don't find the circlip setup inspiring. Kinda wobbly.

[Barry O'Speedwagon]

For the sake of a benchmark, you can get 5 pairs of OEM piston gaskets from one of the US coffee places delivered to Aus for about AUD265 ($52 per set).

[OCD]

The uppermost seal (piston rod seal) should last a long time. It can be lubricated from above - a couple of drops of oil, now and then, should do the trick. The piston seals, on the other hand, end up "metal on rubber" once the initial grease has washed out. Pays to use grease that tastes good - after all, you are going to be drinking it. Unnecessary piston strokes should also be avoided.

P.S. Would be nice to source the piston seals economically in bulk (from the manufacturer) and change them often. I'm sure that would be possible - if we asked nicely.

[Barry O'Speedwagon]

Yeh, just looking at mine (purchased for CoffeeParts, also as part of the full gasket set). The same lettering appears on the piston seals, with the same apparent attempts to obscure the lettering. Maybe they've always made seals for Olympia? Though I can't see the lettering on any other photos of OEM seals.

[OCD]

Piston seals bought from "Talk Coffee" as part of a full gasket set.

[Barry O'Speedwagon]

Yeh, I have no intention of removing the top o-ring until it shows symptoms of a problem. Mine does not have circlip on it either. Where did you buy the piston seals from? I have some sitting around in a bag that I bought from CoffeeParts soon after I purchased the Cremina.

[OCD]

[OCD]

Does Size Really Matter

Just serviced Cremina's group head. Found out why she wasn't fitted with a washer and circlip.



[OCD]

Hi snowytec, I bought the "Knurled Thumb Bolts/Screws" off of EBay. The ones I have are stainless steel but can be had in brass or even anodized aluminium/ss combo, in a variety of colours.

[Barry O'Speedwagon]

The replacement lever pins are from a place on Etsy (CreativeWork?). They are not quite as cute as OCDs.....very similar to the ones in his first photo that he took from the web....they've just 'upgraded' them somehow. At the moment I'm using the silicon gel grease that Gabor sent with the pressure gauge (and which he uses in his video demos). I also have some Inox MX6. Will pick up some Molykote next time I head to Bunnings.

[snowytec]

You're welcome, Mollykote 111 is the only lube to use and the one "Cremina" use, I've tried the stuff they put in Kenwood mixers - but it's useless for this application, (maybe the heat and pressure combined).
Where did you source your replacement lever pins ?
(and are they as cute as OCD's)

[Barry O'Speedwagon]

Thanks snowy. I used the plastic funnel thing to line up the piston, but followed Gabor's video for the purpose of installing the new gasket (he just pushes it in with the back of a gasket hook), but I'll try that next time. I ordered 4 more gaskets from Gabor last night. I'm going to need to pull things apart again as I have a slow drip from the bottom of the group (through the shower head). The piston seals seemed to be in excellent condition...I was careful not to over-lube them..maybe I went a little too far in the other direction. I've asked Gabor for advice on anything else that might cause this before acting (got to wait for more gaskets anyway). I've also got some replace lever pins on order so I don't have to deal with the remaining circlips again.

[snowytec]

Gabor provides a special plastic funnel for installing that head seal.
Still the only hard part of any maintenance.
The original Cremina head seals are much better than Orphan's but you should still buy three at a time, (in case you tear one).
Gabor has those as well.
It will be interesting to find out the extraction pressures you use, ( it's really a 6 bar or lower machine according to our gauge),
Doesn't matter about the numbers use them for control only, (Cremina coffees fantastic) - that's all that matters.
(and I'm a crap roaster).