If you’re anything like me you will be annoyed when people who drive your vehicles pull on the handbrake so hard you can only assume they prefer it to doing their dead lifts in the gym
That’s right, the harder you pull on it the more the cable stretches and next time you can pull it a little higher with the same force, and in no time at all you need to take it to the mechanic to have the handbrake cable tightened
All of this is justified by the offender on the grounds that its better than the car rolling away as a result of the handbrake not being on tight enough
Its true, but only serves to underline a lack of feeling, finesse and appreciation that the offender has for how a handbrake mechanism works
Well, its much the same with the portafilter seal, only in compression, rather than extension
Its true, you don’t want to turn the portafilter handle on so lightly that the force of the water during extraction can blow the portafilter handle off and spray hot water and coffee grinds over everything in a 2 metre radius, but at the same time, if you develop a feeling, and appreciation for the machine and how it works you will know what is too tight, what is too loose, and what it just right
With the LONDINIUM I, out of the box, with new seals you insert the PF handle into the group at approx 45 degrees to the left of the ‘6 O’clock’ position of the lever on the group
Twisting the PF handle to the right so it lies directly under the lever in the 6 o’clock position when viewed from above is enough for the PF handle to be secure and not get blown off during extraction
When the machine is on i leave the PF handle on the group, but only lightly held there so the seal is not under compression – just, and only just touching. In this situation i would only twist the PF handle about half the distance from the point at which it enters the group to the lever, i.e. about 20 degrees
When the machine is turned off remove the PF handle from the group entirely, again, to let the seal fully relax
If you are wrenching the PF beyond the 6 o’clock position when the seals are new at least, you are over-tightening the handbrake
Yes, i don’t doubt there are people on youtube forcing the PF handle past the 6 o’clock position – they may be acting in ignorance, they may have old tired seals that have been compressed and therefore you do need to turn the PF handle past the 6 o’clock position, or finally the lugs on their machine may be in a different position to the L1 – for example the PF handle may fit into the group at the 6 o’clock position and turn to the right from there
Hope this helps you get a long and full life out of your PF seal – they should give years & years of use in a domestic environment
Id recommend cleaning up under the group on a weekly basis and you can apply the thinest film imaginable of a food safe silicone grease like LONDINIUM lube or Molykote to the group seal to keep it in good health
Finally, always remember to wipe every last coffee grind off the lip of the portafilter basket before fitting it into the group – coffee grinds are highly abrasive under compression and will drastically shorten the life of your PF seal
Remember, you just want to feel the portafilter make a snug grip against the seal – you are not trying to wrench the PF as far to the right as you can go with brute strength; remember the handbrake.