Well, never mind. The new rod/old body held pressure for about a week, then started dribbling again, even when cranked to a hard stop. So, I have a new body assembly on order, i.e. no star knob or wand. I'm sure that will set it right again. b
On Mar 13, 2011, at 2:51 PM, Benjamin McCafferty wrote: > 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.
