Hi All,
Long time watcher but registered so I could share this.
My Mokita Combi purchased from AF in Melbourne about 12 years ago sprung a leak from the boiler joint. Apart from the power switch imploding a few years back it's the first problem I've had from this beauty whose job has been to make 3-4 coffees a day, so not too taxing.
I figured that while I had it apart it might be worth a few maintenance items being done and an upgrade or two.
So, I ordered my parts from a certain store in Cremorne and two days later they arrived. Good start.
On the agenda;
Replace heating element - makes sense while it's all apart.
Clean boiler - likely plenty of gunk in there after 12 years,
Replace boiler seal,
Upgrade boiler bolts and nuts to stainless
Upgrade steam thermostat to 140deg version
Clean up steam tap and replace o-rings
Upgrade to ball jointed steam wand
Upgrade to newer model shower screen
So, I soon had it open and started pulling electrical connectors (photos continually thru disassembly...iPhone memory!!)
My first clue of the trouble ahead was when the boiler bolts started shearing off instead of undoing. Fortunately three of them were able to be unwound, once the boiler was out, with some vice-grips but the fourth required drilling and an ezy-out.
The other issue was this model (Mokita labeled) was pre the quick release PTFE tubes and having not ordered any replacements I quickly gave up removing the one from the pump to the boiler, and all further maintenance was done with the pump and boiler connected by a PTFE umbilical cord!
Other than that there were no real issues and to my surprise, once the boiler split apart, I found only a few small lumps of scale and no gunk at all inside. Guess my fanatical purging after each brew paid off. Lesson to newbies there....purge purge purge!
Next, replaced the o-rings on the steam tap and gave the needle point a touch up.
On to the rebuild. New element fitted with new o-rings (need to be ordered separately). Boiler reassembled with the nice new stainless bolts (after running them through a couple of times with WD40 to clean the threads) and the new steam thermostat (old one was 125deg) gently screwed into the boiler.
Next job was to enlarge the hole for the new steam wand. To do this I could have used one of those step drills but that's $70 and I'm trying to do this cheaply....and where's the fun if it's not a challenge. So, hole saw it was using a plug in the existing hole drilled out to the hole saw's guide size.
Next, attached the steam wand adapter to the steam valve using pink plumbers teflon tape and dropped the boiler etc into the case to check the fit.
All good so a new group gasket went on, secured the boiler and then screwed on the steam wand. Using the photos for verification I then re-attached all the connectors, pushed the pump holder rivets into place and double checked everything.
Lastly the shower screen upgrade. Now I couldn't confirm this but I'm pretty certain the newer boiler bottom has a finer thread for the shower screen distribution nut so a full upgrade isn't possible (love to know if this is true?).
Instead I simply used a couple of clamps to hold the new screen to a piece of dense foam and carefully drilled out the centre hole to 13mm to fit the old distribution nut. Popped it onto the group and tightened the nut hand tight as usual.
Job done.
Now the test, switched on, no bang and all good.
I'm not sure the shower screen achieves anything more than looking nicer but I'm hoping it'll be easier to keep the group clean without the mesh going up the sides.
As for the steam now......WOW....i mean W-O-W
It's like a different machine, dare I say it is actually equal to the Rancilio Sylvia at work. The steam output has improved massively and the steam pressure from the new wand is incredible. From struggling to get a swirl and a lot of effort for micro-foam it's now like a tornado in a jug and the micro foam almost makes itself!
I love my new old machine!!
So, anyone out there with a Mokita or early Lelit who is thinking of an upgrade....do the overhaul upgrade. It's well worthwhile!
Here's the parts I ordered;
MC029:Lelit Boiler Element $59
MC031/140:Steam Thermostat 140 $18.50
MC045:Lelit Boiler Element O Ring x 2 $2.20ea
MC046:Lelit Boiler O Ring $7.70
MC047:Lelit Group Head Seal $9.50
MC068:Lelit Washer 5X10X0.5 x4 $1.80ea
MC069/I:Lelit Boiler Screw Ss x4 $2.70ea
MC070:Nut 5M x4 $1.20ea
MC085:Lelit Steam Tap O Ring 4.4X1.78 x2 $2.20ea
MC137:Lelit Shower Screen $16
MC742:Lelit Ball Jointed Steam Wand $67.10
Total price for a like-new upgraded lelit...$226.30.
Hopefully I'm good for another 10 years now, barring a likely pump overhaul at some stage.
Hope this inspires or helps a few,
Cheers
Pete
Long time watcher but registered so I could share this.
My Mokita Combi purchased from AF in Melbourne about 12 years ago sprung a leak from the boiler joint. Apart from the power switch imploding a few years back it's the first problem I've had from this beauty whose job has been to make 3-4 coffees a day, so not too taxing.
I figured that while I had it apart it might be worth a few maintenance items being done and an upgrade or two.
So, I ordered my parts from a certain store in Cremorne and two days later they arrived. Good start.
On the agenda;
Replace heating element - makes sense while it's all apart.
Clean boiler - likely plenty of gunk in there after 12 years,
Replace boiler seal,
Upgrade boiler bolts and nuts to stainless
Upgrade steam thermostat to 140deg version
Clean up steam tap and replace o-rings
Upgrade to ball jointed steam wand
Upgrade to newer model shower screen
So, I soon had it open and started pulling electrical connectors (photos continually thru disassembly...iPhone memory!!)
My first clue of the trouble ahead was when the boiler bolts started shearing off instead of undoing. Fortunately three of them were able to be unwound, once the boiler was out, with some vice-grips but the fourth required drilling and an ezy-out.
The other issue was this model (Mokita labeled) was pre the quick release PTFE tubes and having not ordered any replacements I quickly gave up removing the one from the pump to the boiler, and all further maintenance was done with the pump and boiler connected by a PTFE umbilical cord!
Other than that there were no real issues and to my surprise, once the boiler split apart, I found only a few small lumps of scale and no gunk at all inside. Guess my fanatical purging after each brew paid off. Lesson to newbies there....purge purge purge!
Next, replaced the o-rings on the steam tap and gave the needle point a touch up.
On to the rebuild. New element fitted with new o-rings (need to be ordered separately). Boiler reassembled with the nice new stainless bolts (after running them through a couple of times with WD40 to clean the threads) and the new steam thermostat (old one was 125deg) gently screwed into the boiler.
Next job was to enlarge the hole for the new steam wand. To do this I could have used one of those step drills but that's $70 and I'm trying to do this cheaply....and where's the fun if it's not a challenge. So, hole saw it was using a plug in the existing hole drilled out to the hole saw's guide size.
Next, attached the steam wand adapter to the steam valve using pink plumbers teflon tape and dropped the boiler etc into the case to check the fit.
All good so a new group gasket went on, secured the boiler and then screwed on the steam wand. Using the photos for verification I then re-attached all the connectors, pushed the pump holder rivets into place and double checked everything.
Lastly the shower screen upgrade. Now I couldn't confirm this but I'm pretty certain the newer boiler bottom has a finer thread for the shower screen distribution nut so a full upgrade isn't possible (love to know if this is true?).
Instead I simply used a couple of clamps to hold the new screen to a piece of dense foam and carefully drilled out the centre hole to 13mm to fit the old distribution nut. Popped it onto the group and tightened the nut hand tight as usual.
Job done.
Now the test, switched on, no bang and all good.
I'm not sure the shower screen achieves anything more than looking nicer but I'm hoping it'll be easier to keep the group clean without the mesh going up the sides.
As for the steam now......WOW....i mean W-O-W
It's like a different machine, dare I say it is actually equal to the Rancilio Sylvia at work. The steam output has improved massively and the steam pressure from the new wand is incredible. From struggling to get a swirl and a lot of effort for micro-foam it's now like a tornado in a jug and the micro foam almost makes itself!
I love my new old machine!!
So, anyone out there with a Mokita or early Lelit who is thinking of an upgrade....do the overhaul upgrade. It's well worthwhile!
Here's the parts I ordered;
MC029:Lelit Boiler Element $59
MC031/140:Steam Thermostat 140 $18.50
MC045:Lelit Boiler Element O Ring x 2 $2.20ea
MC046:Lelit Boiler O Ring $7.70
MC047:Lelit Group Head Seal $9.50
MC068:Lelit Washer 5X10X0.5 x4 $1.80ea
MC069/I:Lelit Boiler Screw Ss x4 $2.70ea
MC070:Nut 5M x4 $1.20ea
MC085:Lelit Steam Tap O Ring 4.4X1.78 x2 $2.20ea
MC137:Lelit Shower Screen $16
MC742:Lelit Ball Jointed Steam Wand $67.10
Total price for a like-new upgraded lelit...$226.30.
Hopefully I'm good for another 10 years now, barring a likely pump overhaul at some stage.
Hope this inspires or helps a few,
Cheers
Pete

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