JimCoddington Senior Member Joined: 23 Sep 2002 Posts: 13 Location: Eastchester, NY Expertise: Professional
Espresso: Silvia Grinder: Rocky
Posted Sun Jun 29, 2003, 12:21pm Subject: cleaning Silvia grouphead
I am currently having great trouble getting the screw out of the Silvia grouphead. I have removed several times in the 9 months or so that i have owned the machine but now it seems to be really stuck. Does anybody have any tricks for this?
Posted Sun Jun 29, 2003, 1:24pm Subject: Re: cleaning Silvia grouphead
Hi Jim,
Use a short stubby screwdriver that is properly sized for the diameter of the screw slot & slot width thickness & it shouldn't chew up the screw during removal. I never use a screwdriver, & tighten thumb & index finger tight only with a cloth held up against the screw.I do the portafilter "wiggle" & backflush with water after every shot,& never have a problem.
Ian Moderator Joined: 21 Jan 2003 Posts: 1,402 Location: England
Espresso: Euro2000,Rancilio Grinder: Mazzer,La Cimbali Vac Pot: Cona-->CraigA Drip: Belgique for emergencies Roaster: Primas with variac
Posted Sun Jun 29, 2003, 3:41pm Subject: Re: cleaning Silvia grouphead
Jim,
Heat is generally good for loosening screws- get the machine up to working temperature, get a stubby screwdriver and wrap the handle with a tea towel for better grip, (you might get a better purchase if you lay the machine on its' side) this may work. If not, email me for lots of other screw removal techniques.
When replacing the screw, you do not need to graunch it up really tight.
I wanted to remove the spout from the stock portafilter and it was tight, tight, tight. I dunked the spout of the PF in boiling water, keeping the bowel as cool as possible. It worked and I'd expect the same technique would work for the grouphead screw (i.e., put some ice against the screw so it contracts relative to the grouphead). I only retighten it finger tight using an extra screwdriver bit.
Posted Sun Jun 29, 2003, 8:10pm Subject: Re: cleaning Silvia grouphead
Heat is generally good for loosening screws- get the machine up to working temperature, get a stubby screwdriver and wrap the handle with a tea towel for better grip, (you might get a better purchase if you lay the machine on its' side) this may work. If not, email me for lots of other screw removal techniques.
I would actually try cold rather than heat. Shrinking the metal would be more effective than letting it expand. A lot of heat is good for breaking a seize but that's likely not what is happening here.
It is important to get a good fitting screwdriver so you don't wreck the screwhead. Try icing the screw area of the grouphead. Also, try to use a firm steady pressure and a little patience. I've had them get stuck and usually all it takes is a little sustained pressure.
If all else fails, you could try a little penetrating oil but that will obviously need to be cleaned off before reassembly.
Hi all, Have not posted for ages but this is a problem that I have experienced. Right from new the screw holding the screen was a real SOB, leave it for more than a few days and it was locked solid, tried every thing, only done up finger tight same result, stubby screw driver no good, Machine upside down with new screw driver nice clean angles still no good., finished up drilling a hole through the base so I could get a long screw driver on to it, worked but still super tight. By the way I posted a cry for help else where and was politely told it was my imagination, the problem did not exist, well I can assure you it did, in the space of about 12 months I butchered around 6 screws, any way on to the solution, I located a small stainless (set screw/stud) right thread and length with an allen key head and that was the end of the problem,still gets tight but is a piece of cake to remove, the head leaves a small round dimple in the puck but has no effect on the espresso, the slot head screw used to leave an imprint as well. Hope this helps. Santa. P.S. I still lurk but am seldom moved to respond.
Sorry I probably didn't make the explanation clear - ideally the the group needs to be heated so it expands and the screw needs to be cooled so that it contracts. In practice it is easier to heat the machine, even if they are heated to exactly the same temperature the female part will axpand a fraction more than the male. I have used this method probably thousands of times over the years admittedly mainly using oxy-acetylene or a hot air paint stripper on more delicate items.
*I am not advocating use of a gas torch on a Silvia!
Ian
PS I have found that swearing at it seems to help in approximately 5% of cases, beware though, some may take offence and get tighter.
Gentlemen, and I say gentlemen as it seems no ladies have taken an interest in my plight, thank you all. The current status, other than a lot of frustration on my part, is little changed. The gist of the problem for me seems to be that there is just not enough room to get a good pressure against the buggered screw. I had already tried the stubby screwdriver and the idea of chilling the whole head (which does seem to make sense to me as it would shrink the threads on both sides). On the off chance that heat, carefully applied, was the ticket I broke out the goofy little creme brulee torch someone gave me and heated the screw only. No joy. Bought myself some nifty twisty little drive extenders for the drill and then tried a highly recommended Sears device called a "Screw Out". It ostensibly bites into the screw while twisting in reverse and backs the sucker out. I could feel this thing begin to bite but the twisty drive could not maintain that sort of torque and/or I could not maintain sufficient pressure to make it work. So I, and the screw, are pretty much stuck. It is frustrating in that I had done this operation a number of times before so I seriously doubt I overtightened this thing. The one thing i did change in my technique recently was loading the basket more which then required a bit more of a crank to set the portafilter in. But I don't think I could have frozen the damn thing this way. Any of you guys clever with precision explosive devices?
For anyone still interested or listening to this the final result was I took it to a pro, Rudy's L&R Expresso Repair in Manhattan. There was no other way to get this off and he did it relatively easily and without buggering up the rest of the machine. I am hoping that CoolandMellow will post a series of suggestions on how one might overcome this problem without the help of a pro, some of which appeared in various posts here plus a few others.
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