ACS Vesuvius Evo Leva

danielpugh

I suspect this is all of a bit of a red herring.

I have 3 marks lower down. At first I thought they were scratching, but they are deliberate.
As Paolo pointed out - the inner tube can be replaced (if not easily).
Not seeing twisting as a thing in that video.
Mine is working again for over a month (not been keeping exact time to be honest - however long since I posted as fixed).
I had 4 “bad” seals - one originally fitted that was fine for 4 months, and one spare from Paolo. 2 from Ferrari. One thereafter from Paolo that is now working fine.

So the question is/are;

how long does the new seal last?

Is it a matter of maintenance e.g grease X times per year?

Is the cause manufacturing defect e.g. extra gap or badly fitting gasket?

How many people does it affect (if a problem/defect) - as currently seems to be minority Vs is this the norm (I.e. new servicing regime/standard for this group (i.e. we all have this problem give time if we don’t grease up monthly).

Either way worst case scenario is either finding a good source of gaskets (last one from Paolo seems good so far) or greasing more often than once every 5 years.

The only other wildcard is the other rubber band gasket higher up which I also changed last so which could be a factor. Either way good currently and getting ready to add a bit of grease in the next few weeks..

LMSC

danielpugh I have 3 marks lower down. At first I thought they were scratching, but they are deliberate.

You may be referring to tiny needle sized hole - in 3 places like a triangle. They are for letting water into the chamber.

Good. Yours is working fine now.

It’s very usual to change 5 seals. Ours are still doing ok for 9 months Touch wood. I am greasing every months. Only you and another person had this issue. The other person never reported directly here.

I do not think the upper gasket is caused the leak - as you had a leak when the lever pulled down.

SimonBarker

In the video of the piston it looks like it moves slightly to one side in the raised position, is it so hard to imagine that when that happens (in either direction) one of those 4 holes could come into contact with the bore?

If the position of the 4 holes can be changed depending on how tightly it’s screwed in that would also explain the inconsistency, i.e. on some machines one of those holes is closer to the side the piston is tilting worsening the problem slightly.

Norvin

SimonBarker

When the possibility of scratching was first raised it was thought that the piston was made of stainless. So contact of the stainless piston with the stainless liner made scratching of the liner a possibility. Now that it has been found that the piston is made of brass, scratching is unlikely as brass is much softer than stainless.

I found a small amount of scuffing at the bottom of my liner, below where the seal bears, nothing to cause any concern. Perhaps that may be due to grounds being sucked up through the screen on the piston upstroke, then being trapped between the piston and liner?

Cuprajake

I know londinium had a bad batch of seals, a friend had some, they lasted a month, i had the caflet seals for my l1 and they were rubbish, too tight. Actually pulled the bore out with the lever

Londinium are working on new seals now too.

Id guess at a change in product by the seal manufacturers, either a raw material change or retool.

Easy done as we’re talking thousands of mm

Cuprajake

When i cleaned mine first time i thought there were marks but it was just blackend grease which cleaned off

My springs how ever are still noisy, ive yet to buy the silicon grease, i will have to

Ive noticed though when the lever is on return mid extraction if i push from the right opening to the left, the noise stops, make of that what you will.

I know @DavecUK said there is set length to the threads on the piston, how is this set? Is it by pressure of spring or just by length? Im tempted to try and shock the bolt off as its super tight

DavecUK

Cuprajake I’d recommend checking with ACS first, and before you try.

danielpugh

@Cuprajake - I took apart the whole piston including the springs using a vice (cloth or electrical tape to protect recommended where the vice grips- I scuffed a bit). I wasn’t particularly scientific about reassembly. It was all super tight to get apart. On reassembly the bit holding the spring was tightened till it reached the end of travel, but not tightened crazily. The piston head as the last bit I did hand tight.

Cuprajake

Yeah, that’s why im hesitant to do it, when i greased the leva i tried, but super tight and dont fancy a vice.

Im wondering if a buzz gun would shock it off, ive emailed acs just to ask, and ive caved and bought the silicone grease haha

I would like to try the v lever but with it being both black and £100 plus i think i will leave it for now

danielpugh

Apart from needing to align the left joystick (touch wood) all working very well. Even getting used to the chug of the osmosis pump. Not broken so no more fixing for a while…

That said I have an odyssey argos on backorder which I am sure will fill time when it arrives…

Hugonl37

Question: is there any reason to go for the Vostok style over the Vesuvius style steam wand? I chose the Vesuvius style because I like it more aesthetically, but everyone I see online seems to have chosen the Vostok style.. is it better? Other than it being higher of course and giving more space for the pitcher, I mean actual steaming quality?

Hugonl37

Subtle bump..

DenisS

Just to make things clear, my friends machine that leaks had the rod nut that compresses the springs all the way tightened and that is how the machine came out of the factory, the nut was all the way to the end of the thread, so no way you can move it more/compress the springs more to change the position of the gaskets upwards.

He did not took it apart, he did not use it excessive, it was used for 2 shots a day in 8 months. His water is RO (40 ppm). So even if my theory is not right about the spring twisting and moving the piston away on one side from the bore (there is a video up by someone and you can see the piston is not in the center when it comes back) the machines should not leak or need new gaskets after 8 months. The idea of this machine was to have less gaskets that are prone to failure and to not need replacements every 6-12 months, so please dont make me mad and fix it.

DavecUK

DenisS Hopefully he is in contact with ACS.

LMSC

DenisS there is a video up by someone and you can see the piston is not in the center when it comes back

That was my video. The piston is at the centre; as I wrote above, it was the angle at which the clip was filmed with my iPhone selfie camera!
The affected users should check this out, actually. 😊

DenisS e machines should not leak or need new gaskets after 8 months. The idea of this machine was to have less gaskets that are prone to failure and to not need replacements every 6-12 months

This is bizzare and strange. I agree, the lower gasket should last longer.

Cuprajake

@LMSC the basket came in from blue cafe

It fits the pf fine and locks into the group, its a tiny bit different from stock

My stock basket has a slight convex bottom and rocks while the new sits flat

Also hole patterns different.

Here are some pics side by side

Tamper fits the same in both, mines 54mm

LMSC

Cuprajake Another imitation. Let’s know how the shots are. Did you ask the previous owner to check? he would have also got a double spoiled portafilter with a basket.

Cuprajake

Stock on the left

Cuprajake

Yeah i asked adam, but he’s moving atm so i didn’t want to pester.

I will try it tomorrow, the stock basket is well made.

Its hard to find a correct one

LMSC

All of them are imitations. ACS can help source the original stock double.

Stevebee

Hugonl37 I’ve got the Vesuvius style wand, on my Vesuvius, and the Vostok style on the Leva. No real difference in performance. The Vostok is way better for larger jugs with more room to work. It can be a bit tight on the V. Ghost steaming is easier on the Vostok also as it’s easier to set the height you want as it’s flexible. For home use though either is fine.

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