Wow! What a difference.

[cdh]

My dear old Gaggia Carezza has been around for nearly 5 years now, and over time it slowly degraded in performance. I finally got around to doing some invasive maintenence, disassembling the thing and cleaning out the boiler and replacing the gasket that seals the grounds into the filter handle. The machine is now totally revitalized, and making better coffee than it has in years.

So, if your espresso machine is disappointing you, look into getting new gaskets and giving it a good cleaning. You'll not regret it.

[melkor]

I changed my group gasket last week, it really does make a huge difference. I change it every 6-12 months, maybe I should buy more than one when I next need one...

[phaelon56]

How timely. I change the gaskets on the commercial machines at work every six months but just never got around to changing mine at home. Have had my Isomac for several years and only use it one weekends but the rubber dries out and hardens eventually even if you don't pull many shots.

I'm taking my rig to a Christmas dinner tomorrow and did a gasket swap-out and dispersion screen Purocaffe scrub today. Can't wait to taste the difference in results (but not until tomorrow - it's too late to drink espresso now if I intend to sleep tonight).