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Piston seal replacement
Does anybody have any guidlelines on how long the LR piston seals are supposed to
last? Is it normal to need to change them every five to six monts?
About five months of use after fitting new seals (machine is on 9-10hrs a day, pulling 6 to 8 shots)
the lever is starting to move up "stutteringly" (if that's an english word)
Exactly like in this clip
Re-greasing with loxeal usually helps for a few days, but soon the problem returns and replacing the seals
is the only option left.
In addition to this question: What is the shelf-life of the Londinium piston seals?
Can I order them in bulk or they get brittle when stored?
last? Is it normal to need to change them every five to six monts?
About five months of use after fitting new seals (machine is on 9-10hrs a day, pulling 6 to 8 shots)
the lever is starting to move up "stutteringly" (if that's an english word)
Exactly like in this clip
Re-greasing with loxeal usually helps for a few days, but soon the problem returns and replacing the seals
is the only option left.
In addition to this question: What is the shelf-life of the Londinium piston seals?
Can I order them in bulk or they get brittle when stored?
Comments
These seals, saved in a tool box, keep fresh and flexible for ages. If left in the hot summer sun that might be different but any regular storage will do fine.
Certainly, replacement of the seals fixes the issue just fine. My question
is about how often this is expected to be needed. At the current rate my piston seals seem to be wearing out faster than the
group ring does.
Is two piston seal replacements a year unusual? or am I doing something wrong that detoriates the lifespan of my piston seals?
By 'ages' you mean years I guess? I any case it is good to know that I can stock up on seals to keep my machine running smoothly.
I would say about 15 months
The trick is to follow my installation video here;
https://londiniumespresso.com/forum/permanent-file/743-video-changing-the-piston-and-portafilter-seals
In particular the amount of grease I use, and placing it primarily on the bore rather than the seals
Using this method I never need to take the group top out to regrease; when it starts giving trouble the seals are stuffed and about 15 months have gone by
If you don’t use the amount of grease shown in the video the seals fail prematurely: you are not the first owner to experience the phenomenon you report
If you don’t use enough grease on initial install you can’t rectify it after the fact; the working edge of the seal goes hard and is then ruined
Pump the excess grease out the bottom of the group before refitting the screen, as shown in the video
Kind regards
Reiss.
That would more than triple the intervals between disassembling the group and the risk of breaking things
(Maybe difficult to realise for the pros, but breaking my LR would mean and end to this hobby :dry: )
From the topic of the installation videos:
That is what I was trying to do. So you are suggesting that the advice is back to the old one of using a larger amount and then working the excess out of the group?
I know it is not an exact science, but I was hoping *not* to mess things up by following the most recent advice...
Back to ordering new seals again I guess.
you won't experience any issue with a high grabbing lever with the LR as until this month it came set to 3 bar pre-infusion pressure, hence my comments that you quote above about not needing to worry about using a lot of grease
however if i join the dots on the customers that have reported premature failure of the seals they have one thing in common; they all put very little grease on the piston seals
all i can report is that i use a generous amount of grease, pump out the excess prior to refitting the shower screen, and have never had an issue with seal life
kind regards
reiss.
I don't understand what preinfusion pressure and grab angle have to do with the amount of grease needed and/or the lifetime of the piston seals.
As I understand now I just have to use more grease and ignore certain statements from the permanent file :huh: