Hello friends, I was wondering if anyone has run into this issue we are having in my shop. We have a La Marzocco GB 5 and recently replaced one of the portafilters that was getting a bit old. Our replacement doesn't seem to fit well though. We aren't sure why exactly but we can see it's pulling much worse than the other portafilter, even when we swap which group head they are on. I also noticed that the handle barely makes it to the center of the group head so I'm wondering if it's making a good seal for the pressure? Anyway if anyone has run into this I'd love some insight on what we can do to fix this, ideally without having to buy a new new portafilter. Thank you!
by Ayra_Kane
2 Comments
New portafilters aren’t worn down from use so they will rotate less in the grouphead than one that is older. With used equipment that has worn down over time, techs will sometimes add a thin spacer under the gasket so that there is a proper seal with the portafilter basket rim and the gasket. You can pull the gasket out and see if there is such a spacer. If not, gaskets come in differing thicknesses. So you could try a thinner gasket.
But with only “worse” as a description for how it’s pulling, hard to diagnose exactly what the issue is.
When you say it is pulling worse, what do you mean by that? Does the pressure on the dial go up to 9 bars when the portafilter has coffee in and the pump is engaged? Have you changed the gaskets too?