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Ptown
@mmccarthy
On the Europiccola chat, finally got my new element (& pressurestat pipe) delivered. Fitted it this morning and all is well.
Reminder to all other Europiccola owners, if you're doing any servicing that requires emptying the boiler. Remember to fill it again afterwards or make it very clear that it's empty! The elements don't like running when dry funnily enough.
Fairly sure the element is salvageable as it still heats, it just the boiler chamber very quickly (much quicker than the water) before tripping the fuse. Think it's an issue with the sealing where the element goes through the base. Where the small white collars are in the attached photo.
Question for anyone who's worked on these machines, around the boiler base. What's your method for removing and reinstalling the boiler fixing ring? I replaced the gaskets on my boiler a few months back and it was easiest just to cut off the top one which allowed me to unscrew the fixing ring pretty easily. When reinstalling, I made use of the fact that I could tighten the allen bolts on the boiler base itself in a way that I'd be tightening the boiler ring also. I'm guessing this isn't the best method (not sure how much torque you'd need to apply before stripping the threads for the allen bolt). I've seen people using an oil filter removal tool (see here: https://www.home-barista.com/repairs/restoration-early-olympia-cremina-k-cremoni-t76355.html), and of course you could buy a pretty expensive tool for the job (https://www.espressocare.com/products/item/la-pavoni-boiler-flange-removal-tool).
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