Tweet
Hi
This post is specific to the VBM Domobar Piccolo/Levetta/Vaschetta but could apply to other machines with E61 groupheads. After a few detergent backflushes, I noticed the brew lever seemed stiff which wasnt going away after the usual 3 or 4 shots . I felt there was metal-to-metal contact so I thought Id better attend to it sooner rather than later.
Dis-assembly was easy - you need an adjustable wrench (a small and medium sized) and an Allen key. The lower pic shows the components as they were removed from right to left.
1. Unscrew the nut holding the brew lever on using the small adjustable wrench, then the brew lever itself
2.Unscrew the larger hex nut (I used a bigger adjustable spanner) then the small push rod and spring.
3. Next, remove the two Allen screws - the first Allen key I found was from an Ikea kit (we all must have at least one of these lying around) and it surprisingly fit. Ah, a bit of Swedish-Italian collaboration there???
4. Remove the cover and then you can withdraw the brew arm rod. Notice the wear on the cam (upper pic)
5. Using a toothpick I smeared some Molykote 111 (Deb from Jetblack was kind enough to give me a small amount) on the areas indicated by the arrows in the lower pic. I used this website as a guide
6. I then re-assembled the brew arm assembly in reverse order.
All good now. Brew lever action is much smoother.
Molykote 111 is made by Dow Corning and can be purchased online (google it). Im not sure if you can buy in Bunnings. More likely from an engineering or plumber supply shop.
The guy who wrote the website I referred to suggests lubing the lever every second detergent backflush. But I thought I might post this as a bit of a warning if the brew-lever action seems stiff or you can detect metal-to-metal contact.
This post is specific to the VBM Domobar Piccolo/Levetta/Vaschetta but could apply to other machines with E61 groupheads. After a few detergent backflushes, I noticed the brew lever seemed stiff which wasnt going away after the usual 3 or 4 shots . I felt there was metal-to-metal contact so I thought Id better attend to it sooner rather than later.
Dis-assembly was easy - you need an adjustable wrench (a small and medium sized) and an Allen key. The lower pic shows the components as they were removed from right to left.
1. Unscrew the nut holding the brew lever on using the small adjustable wrench, then the brew lever itself
2.Unscrew the larger hex nut (I used a bigger adjustable spanner) then the small push rod and spring.
3. Next, remove the two Allen screws - the first Allen key I found was from an Ikea kit (we all must have at least one of these lying around) and it surprisingly fit. Ah, a bit of Swedish-Italian collaboration there???
4. Remove the cover and then you can withdraw the brew arm rod. Notice the wear on the cam (upper pic)
5. Using a toothpick I smeared some Molykote 111 (Deb from Jetblack was kind enough to give me a small amount) on the areas indicated by the arrows in the lower pic. I used this website as a guide
6. I then re-assembled the brew arm assembly in reverse order.
All good now. Brew lever action is much smoother.
Molykote 111 is made by Dow Corning and can be purchased online (google it). Im not sure if you can buy in Bunnings. More likely from an engineering or plumber supply shop.
The guy who wrote the website I referred to suggests lubing the lever every second detergent backflush. But I thought I might post this as a bit of a warning if the brew-lever action seems stiff or you can detect metal-to-metal contact.
Comment