Correction--in my second paragraph below--I meant "...ruin your steam line." In other words, the copper line that comes to the back of the assembly. b
Sent from my apple IIe On Jun 26, 2014, at 9:07, Benjamin McCafferty <[email protected]> wrote: > Depending on where it's leaking...you have five possible connections. > > In all cases, you must support the valve assembly with one wrench while > tightening something else with another wrench. Otherwise you will twist the > valve assembly and ruin your water line. > > Also, do this with the machine COLD, unless you like steam burns! > > 1--The valve assembly attaches inside the machine to the water line. If > memory serves, this is a flare fitting, meaning it has no gasket and seals > via compression. The line is copper (soft) and so it shouldn't take much. > > 2--The chrome nut/thread that the water line attaches to is screwed to the > valve housing, also with a flare fitting. This is not normally removed for > service, etc. and I'd be surprised if it's leaking. If you can't get this > one to seal, you could add teflon tape to the threads. > > 3--The valve stem itself (i.e. the part that the black star knob is attached > to) has two o-rings on its shaft, as well as a white nylon seat at its end. > The white nylon seal commonly fails due to overtightening. You can carefully > pry the white nylon seal out and turn it over to extend its life. The > o-rings don't fail often in my experience, but they should be easily found at > the local hardware store and/or online at Chris Coffee, WLL, Espresso Parts, > etc. If possible, put a little food-grade silicon grease on the o-rings > before reassembly. > > 4--the chrome threaded cap that goes over/around the valve stem does not seal > anything--it just acts to complete the assembly and to keep the valve stem > from being able to screw out all the way (giving the user a straight jet of > steam in the face). > > 5--The wand itself has a white nylon gasket between the big nut that holds > the wand in place, and the valve assembly. Again, a pretty rare failure, but > it has happened to me once in 6 years or so. > > For me, the most likely culprits would be #3 above. A failed nylon seal > shows up as water dribbling out of the end of the wand all the time. Failed > o-rings show up as water dribbling out from behind the star knob. Also check > #5, it is another easy check/fix that doesn't require the assembly to be > removed from the machine. In both cases, look for cracks/chips/etc. on the > seals and replace as needed. One charming thing about the white nylon > seal--I have never been able to find it by itself; I've had to order the > valve stem and/or the whole valve assembly instead. So I have an extra > assembly or two. If you need the white nylon wand seal, let me know, I have > extra and can send you one. > > Anyone know what type of plastic the wand/valve seal is? We should set up a > collective to make the seals for the $0.10 they actually cost, instead of > buying extra parts we don't need. > > best, > bmc > > p.s. I can send you a picture of all this if it would help. > > Sent from my apple IIe > > On Jun 26, 2014, at 6:30, brian <[email protected]> wrote: > >> I've got a two year old IV-R and it's dripping a little water around the >> steam wand attachments. I assume there are O rings to be replaced but >> thought I'd ask here before taking it apart. I assume I could use high >> pressure thread goop as well. >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Brewtus" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/brewtus. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Brewtus" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/brewtus. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Brewtus" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/brewtus. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
