A few months back Miss Silvia suffered a broken part called the dispersion thread or water jet breaker. This stainless steel part goes between the dispersion screen and the big heavy brass disk. It cracked and since I had no replacement I soldered it up with silver solder. It held up for a week or so until I ordered a new one. Rancilio must have had complaints about this because the new part is machined very differently.
Old is on top, and new is on bottom. The difference is the post has much more material where it meets the larger flat area.
Here’s an image from a posting I made on Home-Barista a while back:
Hi,
In a way I am glad I found another guy who is having the same problem I have been experiencing in the last 2 years (well since I bought the Silvia). You could imagine that I was to be blamed for this by the supplier. They would tell me I was putting pressure, over dosing, over tightening what not. Since the first time I noticed that, I knew this was a design flaw of that Jet Breaker because it would crack on its own by being exposed to heat from the group head and would eventually break under the pressure every 4 months or so. I am now replacing my 5th part in an 18 month time period!
Do you know how and where I can get the newer design that looks sturdier?
Did it happen again with the newer part?
Thanks very much
I ordered it from http://www.chriscoffee.com It cost $7.06
They didn’t show it on the site, but I emailed, and they said to add the part to “Additional Comments
Please add one group dispersion thread (Jet Breaker) for Miss Silvia. $7.06”
I’ve been using the same part now for about six months and it’s holding up. There is much more metal on the new one.
I think Rancilio should replace them for free.
Steve