ACS Vostok

dfk41

Do you patent the concept or the application though?

Elcarajillo

Anyone dashing out to buy one?

Raja123

Adrianmsmith It’s certainly sleek. I would never do 58mm again, though.

Patrick

Cuprajake think you’d be hard pushed to say any of that is copying,

It is, because I came up with the whole concept of autorelease by time or pressure and Paolo copyrighted it.

Cuprajake

has to be very specific to levers then, as my decent does it, even the bianca works off pressure to an extent.

ps if i has the money and house to fit it the kees would be on my counter

HarveyMushman

They briefly had a Kees Spirit in a cafe I used to go in Hoxton called Friends of Ours in about 2016 on my way to work each morning. Incredible craftsmanship. They’re crazy money but yeah, beautiful machines.

Mjl

What do you do to service the machine? I’ve had my Vostok for exactly two years now, and apart from occasional backflushing and using filtered water, I haven’t done much.

I’m slowly getting the feeling that the hand lever needs to be lubricated, and the steam switch squeaks when I flip it.

Adrianmsmith

Mjl can you be more specific about the steam lever or make a video

As for the main lever, you will need to remove the piston and grease the seals etc. use a 10 mm spanner to remove the four 6 mm domed nuts that hold the piston assembly in place and lift it out.

For grease use molykote 111 its very “sticky” lasts a long time and is food safe.

Where are you located

Watch Patrick’s video. It’s very good. Note that the procedure is exactly the same as it is for the Evo…..

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DOfmvgBvM2DM&ved=2ahUKEwiG9fu817ORAxWWTkEAHTEALqUQwqsBegQIFhAB&usg=AOvVaw2MEw47Le2nlwp0upRWtmJL

Mjl

Adrianmsmith thank you ade for your advice, I just ordered the molykote and will follow the video once I received it.

Conerning the steam lever, I made a short video, there you’ll see, that it sticks and squetches.

Adrianmsmith

Mjl

I will completely delete this line when I have finished adding my initial comments later!!

I’m just going to dump some pictures in here for now and we’ll add comments this evening so probably don’t bother commenting until tomorrow!!

I will edit I was necessary

Note the comment below. From @Amberale Which is a great little trick to do approximately every 3 months to keep the joystick fluid.

From your video. I think you will need slightly more than this so I will add photos and comments which will hopefully help you decide how far to go as well as lubricating your piston

And I’m sure people like @Amberale Will jump in and correct me if some of my comments do not 100% transfer to the vostok as I obviously have the Evo 2.

This shows the three sections of the valve the body has the valve face that the valve plug seals up against on the machine side of the valve. The actual joystick only pushes an actuator rod to move the valve plug away from the valve face allowing flow.

It is possible. Therefore, you only need to remove the large knot around the joystick and take the front of the valve away and that should free up the valve

If you have any buildup around the valve plug then you will need to also remove the valve body but I will try just the front first depending on how confident you are

This large spanner must be held in place at all times so I’ve not allowing the reducer to move whilst you are removing any of the other external parts of this valve. It is likely you will only need to move the joystick side of the valve for your current issue but still hold it in place.

Technically, If you are only removing the joystick part then it would be best to remove the steam arm and add the fitting as shown in the pictures above and hold that in position as opposed to using the spanner so you do not accidentally undo the back part of the valve. In real life though you will most likely find that the thread locker holds the back part of the valve in place and the front part of the valve comes away easily, but this is not guaranteed. If you are not getting any steam leaks from the back part of the valve then it is 99.999% guaranteed 😎🤓

The reason you need the spanner on the back of the valve assembly up to the body of the machine is that that note is the back of this reducer and you do not want it to move. Otherwise you will have the threat of causing an internal leak

Piston

Amberale

DaveC always advised lubing the ball valves for the water and steam controls with some M111 on a toothpick.

I should get around to pulling the group on my Vostok this Summer.

Mjl

Adrianmsmith Thank you very much, I’ve only just gotten around to working on the machine again. I haven’t used the machine anymore for fear of causing potential damage, which made for some tired mornings.

Removing the piston was surprisingly easy, even for someone like me  without any mechanical skills. It was definitely time to clean the whole thing.

Since I don’t have much time at the moment (new baby at home), I decided to just oil the ball joints with a toothpick as recommended for now. This helped already. As soon as I have more time, I’ll tackle this task. Thank you very much for your detailed instructions; the whole thing looks a little more challenging than removing the piston.

Thanks again for your help and tips! Have a wonderful Christmas!

Adrianmsmith

Mjl

Its good to hear things are improving

Working on the valve is not actually that difficult.

The one thing you need to take from all of what I said is to ensure if you are working on the valve externally, the spanner holding the thread adaptor must not move where the green arrow is.

If that moves then you’ll disturb the fitting on the inside of the machine so it’s best to have the correct spanner available. A nice Chrome plated one is good as it is less likely to do any cosmetic damage to the machine body or the valve which tends to upset people!!

If you are not used to working on this kind of kit and do not feel comfortable doing so, the one thing you do not really want to be doing is disturb the pipe work on the back of the valve as it can be tricky to sort out if this is not your thing.

That really is the end of the warnings!!

🎄🤓

https://amzn.eu/d/a3kgAPf

The above is one tool that I cannot recommend highly enough when working on the coffee machine in general. Please note this is not a pipe pier you need to search for the term. “Knipex pliers wrench”.

The above link is for Amazon. I have to admit when I looked I was expecting the price to be lower!!

Even so they are invaluable as the jaws are parallel acting and as you use them, they tighten up on to the nut giving actually a much better fit than a standard spanner and giving less chance of causing any damage.

But again, do not confuse with pipe pliers or alligator pliers or any other type of pliers for that matter!! And definitely not mole grips 🥰🤦🏼‍♂️😎

Blackbirdman

Adrianmsmith question about these pliers. I think I’ve seen them with plastic protection inserts (maybe even on this forum). Would that help protect the chrome or would it not be of Much help?

Something like this:

Adrianmsmith

Blackbirdman

You can try it, but…..

I also have the slightly different ones with silicone protectors for undoing hose nuts etc

I find the silicone too soft and slippery .

I’ve not tried the silicone protectors for the pliers wrench but suspect the same.

Someone must like them or they wouldn’t make them but i prefer the positive feedback / feel of the plain ones.

I’ve also had no issue using them “plain”

“BUT” that’s not me saying to you that’s how you must use them!!

The design of the pliers wrench is such that the more pressure the less they can slip and therefore mark the chrome by slipping as a standard spanner / wrench would.

@Norvin @Cuprajake have you maybe had any experience?…..

nufc1

I’ve got the Knipex pliers that were linked above by @Adrianmsmith with these protectors for maintenance on my Bianca. Not had any issues with slipping or scratching so far:

https://amzn.eu/d/bGKPCR5

Blackbirdman

@nufc1 @Adrianmsmith thanks!

Norvin

Being old school I would wrap a few turns of insulating tape around the nut and use an adjustable spanner to loosen it. If I had a pair of knipex pliers I would use those as they look to be a much better option.

Cuprajake

I just have a adjustable spanner with plastic covers for the tips

Dusk

I just tend to add a layer of electrical tape to whatever I’m opening when using my Knipex. As @Adrianmsmith says, if used correctly then they shouldn’t slip

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