Cleaning and drying

With the removal of a single screw-pin all parts can be taken out and cleaned.

The two arms are connected to the piston at the top by a single screw-pin*. Taking this out will allow the piston(1), cylinder(2), and dispersion screen to be taken out and cleaned.

This will also allow all parts to dry completely, which would not happen otherwise.

* Keep this loose. It is not necessary to tighten it completely.

(1) Take care to position the piston correctly (aligned with arms) when replacing it.

(2) The cylinder can be removed by twisting it counter-clockwise and lifting. Reverse to replace.

NOTE: the cylinder can be difficult to remove until everything cools down.

Broken! (fixed)

My Presso broke. I was very upset. It is fixed now but our relationship has changed . . .

I would suggest that anyone who uses the Presso for espresso to prepare for this eventuality. Find someone who can weld aluminum and add more material at the weak spot, get a set of back-up arms, buy another Presso . . .

I learned the hard way (when welding the arms for the second time) that it is VERY important to align correctly the parts to be welded together. I had to trim both the plastic chamber and the piston 'rod' to get the two arms to attach correctly. In spite of being very unattractive it works well.

Pictures at modifiedpresso.blogspot.com


UPDATE: (apr03/06) Another part broke, this time the head of the piston where it meets the vertical plate connecting to the arms. I couldn't get a good picture unfortunately. I knew it was coming, as I could see little cracks developing over the weeks. Well, time for a real modification, replace the whole piston! (hmph...or buy a different machine! no, no, I didn't say that . . .)