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Permalink Reply by Isaiah Hekhuis on November 4, 2010 at 12:18pm

I've got a cheapo braun espresso machine (under $300) that does this, but it still seals well. As long as it's sealing and as long as it doesn't become increasingly loose, I doubt it's a problem. I'm not established yet though, so I'd get some other opinions.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Sabol on November 4, 2010 at 4:20pm

Hi Spidey - You can get those head gaskets in various thicknesses. 8mm, 8.5mm, and 9mm for example. As your machine gets more use the ears on the portafilter and the bayonett ring on the machine wear down. You can use different sized gaskets to compensate for this. You can also look at the ears of your portafilters and see how worn they are. You should be able to get the different thickness gaskets from whoever you get your gaskets from. They're very common.

As a side note, generally the biggest culprit for causing the coffee to come into contact with the group screens is overdosing your basket. Load your portafilter like normal, put it in the machine, and then take it back out again. Look for the imprint of the screen. If you see it, put in less coffee.

But... if your portafilter ears are too worn or your gaskets are too thin you will excacerbate the problem.

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Permalink Reply by Brady on November 4, 2010 at 6:18pm

Agreed with Mike, with a couple of additions.

If you are indeed using the incorrect thickness gasket your headspace (gap between screen and top of puck) will be reduced. If your situation is due to ear wear or bayonet ring wear, this headspace won't be affected.

Astoria machines tend to have lower headspace anyway.

If by some chance your parts supplier doesn't have the thicker gasket, you might have to use a paper shim or two under the gasket... something like this.

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Permalink Reply by spidey on November 5, 2010 at 11:49am

Thank you! I think i'll order 9mm gaskets, see if that helps. The paper shim is also a great suggestion. I have a feeling I'll be spending a bit of time on these forums. Great stuff.

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Permalink Reply by ryan mcdougall on December 7, 2010 at 8:20am

paper shims rule.

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Permalink Reply by Chris on December 10, 2010 at 11:33am

Mike Sabol said:

But... if your portafilter ears are too worn or your gaskets are too thin you will excacerbate the problem.

Technically, the former wont affect headspace, but the latter definitely will.  If the ears are worn, the distance between the bottom of the ear and the top of the dispersion screen remains the same.  What changes is where the edge of the basket mates with the gasket.  Over-worn ears will combine with an over-worn gasket to start leaking.  If either are over-worn, it's not too bad, only when both show signs of wear are you in trouble.

If any case, the 8.8mm is what works well for my Astoria on the stock PF's.  And the gaskets should be replaced about every 6 mo.s in a hoping shop.  And, the PF shouldn't be cranked.  As they get older, they start to get stiff and small, and it takes more and more energy to seal the basket.  When gaskets are replaced, it's a good idea to remind everyone that they've been cranking too far and too hard on too old gaskets for too long, and that they should relax a bit and be more gentle on the new gaskets.  Cranking on new gaskets 'ages' them faster than any other wear factor.

 

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