Sheesh, I feel like I'm monopolizing this forum today...sorry about that. My steam wand had started dribbling a few months ago, to the point it would empty my reservoir every day or so. I ordered the internal threaded rod for the valve (the part your star know is attached to), and received that with the PID and rotary kits.
After replacing the part, I was bummed to find that it still leaked, even when I cranked the knob all the way down to its hard stop. I disassembled again, and looked closely with a flashlight inside the housing. The teflon portion of the threaded rod seats against a metal circle/flare, and on the edges of that flare, I could see scale/buildup. Using the end of a heavy paperclip that I bent open, I spent about ten minutes scraping away all that I could. It looked pretty clean, so I reassembled and pressurized. By yarding on the knob, I had dented the teflon face of the new threaded rod as deeply as the old one, so I wasn't optimistic, but it sealed with very little pressure on the knob. For kicks, I depressurized and replaced the old threaded rod, then repressurized. It also sealed, with little pressure on the knob. So I guess I now have a spare... Moral of the story--mineral scale is bad. Clean is good. I am always amazed at how much havoc mineral deposits wreak on these machines. Ah, for the days of soft water when I lived in Colorado. Anyway, hope this helps some of you out there. best, bmc -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Brewtus" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/brewtus?hl=en.
