Green Coffee Buying Club

Coffee Discussion boards => Hardware & Equipment => Topic started by: Alaroast on January 28, 2016, 11:00:58 AM

Title: Leaky steam valve
Post by: Alaroast on January 28, 2016, 11:00:58 AM
My machine is the Kitchen Aid Pro Line Espresso (KPES100). It's no longer made but is an excellent double boiler machine for home use. I've read somewhere where the guts to this machine are the same as the some Gaggia machines. Anyway, any thoughts on why my steam valve drips when I turn on the machine? There is also moisture in the grouphead/portafilter during warm up. This probably comes with age but are there some gaskets or O-rings that can be replaced to eliminate the drips?
Title: Re: Leaky steam valve
Post by: grinderz on January 29, 2016, 06:26:15 PM
How much dripping are we talking about? I just aim the wand down into the drip tray and just ignore the couple of drips I get every now and then.

Title: Re: Leaky steam valve
Post by: peter on January 29, 2016, 09:52:10 PM
I've read that on La Spaz Vivaldis (which may or may not correlate to your KA) when the water level sensor in the steam boiler gets crudded up it affects the amount of water vs. steam in the boiler and can be a cause of a dripping wand.
Title: Re: Leaky steam valve
Post by: Alaroast on January 30, 2016, 01:54:09 PM
There is a constant drip while the machine is turned on, just annoying and didn't always do that. Next time I descale, I'll open things up and compare with Gaggia on partsguru to see if its worth fixing.
Title: Re: Leaky steam valve
Post by: Joe on January 30, 2016, 04:22:49 PM
There is a constant drip while the machine is turned on, just annoying and didn't always do that. Next time I descale, I'll open things up and compare with Gaggia on partsguru to see if its worth fixing.
I am betting that a seal on your valve is starting to go south. however my Elektra valve had a thing where if you over tightened it, it actually depressed the valve allowing for leaks, so you had to hand tighten until there was no leaks but that when you moved the valve steam/water would come out..