jtrops Senior Member Joined: 25 Dec 2008 Posts: 118 Location: Colorado, USA Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Gaggia Factory Grinder: Zass Turkish/Kitchenaid pro... Drip: Vietnamese pour over Roaster: Heat Gun/DB
Posted Thu Apr 19, 2012, 3:25pm Subject: La Pavoni Piston Lever loose, any ideas?
My machine has play between the lever rod, and the yoke that attaches to the piston pins. I've just noticed it in the last couple of days, but I'm sure it's been working itself loose for a couple of years. The problem I'm having seems to be a likely development due to the design, so I was wondering if anyone has come up with a good repair. It would be easy enough to buy a new La Pavoni piston lever, but it seems a bit like a bandaid for the problem. It really doesn't look like the design was very well thought out when you think about how force is applied to the joint between the rod and the yoke on the piston lever.
What I've come up with is to sweat some silver solder into the joint where the rod is pressed and hammered into the yoke. If it works it seems like it would potentially be a better repair than replacing the part. I suppose it might be a good idea to tap the riveted end tight before soldering to snug everything up a bit.
It's working for now, but this weekend I would like to try to fix it. If anyone has other suggestions I'm open to ideas.
Posted Thu Apr 19, 2012, 9:59pm Subject: Re: La Pavoni Piston Lever loose, any ideas?
What vintage is your LP? There are certainly models that I have yet to work on, but I have never seen an LP lever arm that isn't threaded into the yoke (save for the Stradivari, which is one piece), and have yet to find one with any amount of play between the two.
I think I'm grokking your write up...but maybe not...
jtrops Senior Member Joined: 25 Dec 2008 Posts: 118 Location: Colorado, USA Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Gaggia Factory Grinder: Zass Turkish/Kitchenaid pro... Drip: Vietnamese pour over Roaster: Heat Gun/DB
Posted Fri Apr 20, 2012, 5:32am Subject: Re: La Pavoni Piston Lever loose, any ideas?
It's a Millennium. It would be much nicer if it was threaded into the yoke. I found the part on Espressoparts.com, and the one review said that he gets about a year out of these before they loosen, so I guess I'm doing pretty well with a few years on this one. Anyway I'm probably going to try the silver solder this weekend to see if I can get some more mileage out of it. I hope I can get it hot enough without messing up the chrome too much.
jtrops Senior Member Joined: 25 Dec 2008 Posts: 118 Location: Colorado, USA Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Gaggia Factory Grinder: Zass Turkish/Kitchenaid pro... Drip: Vietnamese pour over Roaster: Heat Gun/DB
Posted Sat Apr 21, 2012, 2:42pm Subject: Re: La Pavoni Piston Lever loose, any ideas?
I had a welder friend look at it today, and he agreed that it seemed like a poor design. He suggested that it was much cheaper than threading the parts, and so it's probably a cost cutting measure that was brought in with the ME machines. Anyway, he welded a bead around the rod where it goes into the yoke, and it's as solid as ever. It's not the prettiest, but it should work over the long haul. If I ever want my machine to look pretty I can always lay down the $60 for a replacement part.
Posted Mon Apr 23, 2012, 7:28pm Subject: Re: La Pavoni Piston Lever loose, any ideas?
OK, well, glad that you had it fixed. Would you be willing to post a picture of it and maybe you machine. I have yet to encounter anything other than the regular threaded arm on the millenium that has passed through my hands (but maybe I wasn't paying attention). It would be a disappointing cost cutting measure, although the LP arm has never been a particularly carefully considered part.
If you are looking to replace it with a threaded one I have at least one extra in my parts bin.
Posted Tue Apr 24, 2012, 12:49pm Subject: Re: La Pavoni Piston Lever loose, any ideas?
OK...I have to eat my own words. I guess I have just been working with a lot of Olympias lately and got mental images crossed. I dug out some old LP lever arms and you are totally correct, the shaft is not threaded to the yoke. I was wrong. I am sorry about that.
+1 to Olympia for quality engineering (at a hefty price naturally). +0.25 to the LP Stradivari models for using a single piece lever arm.
jtrops Senior Member Joined: 25 Dec 2008 Posts: 118 Location: Colorado, USA Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Gaggia Factory Grinder: Zass Turkish/Kitchenaid pro... Drip: Vietnamese pour over Roaster: Heat Gun/DB
Posted Tue Apr 24, 2012, 3:10pm Subject: Re: La Pavoni Piston Lever loose, any ideas?
russel Said:
OK...I have to eat my own words. I guess I have just been working with a lot of Olympias lately and got mental images crossed. I dug out some old LP lever arms and you are totally correct, the shaft is not threaded to the yoke. I was wrong. I am sorry about that.
+1 to Olympia for quality engineering (at a hefty price naturally). +0.25 to the LP Stradivari models for using a single piece lever arm.
No need to be sorry about anything. It's great that we have a forum where we can turn for help when the need arises. My machine is a Gaggia Factory 106 which is pretty much the same machine as the millennium professional with some cosmetic differences.
I'll try to get some photos this evening. My weld isn't pretty, but it works.
hankbates Senior Member Joined: 2 Feb 2012 Posts: 30 Location: Yarmouth Port, Cape Cod, Massachusetts Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: La Pavoni Professional... Grinder: LaPavoni Jolly Roaster: Hottop
Posted Tue May 1, 2012, 8:05am Subject: Re: La Pavoni Piston Lever loose, any ideas?
I guess this is a little late, but I just found this link Click Here (www.francescoceccarelli.eu) Go to la pavoni, DIY, Repairing Lever if the link doesn't take you all the way. It says it is a new post, but I don't really know how new...
jtrops Senior Member Joined: 25 Dec 2008 Posts: 118 Location: Colorado, USA Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Gaggia Factory Grinder: Zass Turkish/Kitchenaid pro... Drip: Vietnamese pour over Roaster: Heat Gun/DB
Posted Tue May 1, 2012, 9:17pm Subject: Re: La Pavoni Piston Lever loose, any ideas?
hankbates Said:
I guess this is a little late, but I just found this link Click Here (www.francescoceccarelli.eu) Go to la pavoni, DIY, Repairing Lever if the link doesn't take you all the way. It says it is a new post, but I don't really know how new...
I did that first. It's definitely worth a shot, but in my case I didn't get much improvement. You have to hit it very hard to get it to set. The weld is ugly, but it's much more reliable. I suspect that in a shop setup for it they could do a nicer bead than what I got. The chrome wasn't too affected.
Symbols: = New Posts since your last visit = No New Posts since last visit = Newest post
Forum Rules: No profanity, illegal acts or personal attacks will be tolerated in these discussion boards. No commercial posting of any nature will be tolerated; only private sales by private individuals, in the "Buy and Sell" forum. No cross posting allowed - do not post your topic to more than one forum, nor repost a topic to the same forum. Who Can Read The Forum? Anyone can read posts in these discussion boards. Who Can Post New Topics? Any registered CoffeeGeek member can post new topics. Who Can Post Replies? Any registered CoffeeGeek member can post replies. Can Photos be posted? Anyone can post photos in their new topics or replies. Who can change or delete posts? Any CoffeeGeek member can edit their own posts. Only moderators can delete posts. Probationary Period: If you are a new signup for CoffeeGeek, you cannot promote, endorse, criticise or otherwise post an unsolicited endorsement for any company, product or service in your first five postings.
= No New Posts since last visit 