Gasket and shower screen
Undo the screw, drop the screen
Do this about once a year, or sooner if water leaks around the portafilter or the handle swings well past straight ahead before it seals.
One screw holds everything: an M5 × 12 countersunk screw with a hex socket. It is not slotted and not a cross-head. Three parts sit under it, in this order from the top: the thin seal of the shower plate, the brass shower holder, which spreads the water, and the stainless shower screen.
- Switch off, unplug and wait until the group is cold. Allow at least 30 minutes.
- Clean the coffee out of the screw's socket with the pick.
- Undo the screw with a 3 mm hex key. Turn it anticlockwise as you look up at it.
- Keep a finger on the screen as the screw comes free, or the stack drops into the drip tray.
- Take down the screen, the holder and the seal. They come away easily. If the holder sticks, lock the empty portafilter in and wiggle it.
Profitec's manual suggests taking off the loose parts and turning the machine over. You don't have to: there is about 120 mm under the group, and the short arm of an L-shaped hex key fits. Lift the drip tray out for more room.
Prise out the old gasket, then clean
The gasket is the black rubber ring in the groove around the group. Old ones go hard and stay put. The manual has you prise it out with a thin screwdriver; the straight pick does the same with less risk.
- Push the tip into the rubber, at its inner edge.
- Lever down a little, move a few centimetres round, and repeat. It will be destroyed coming out. That is expected.
- Soak the screw, holder and screen in the jug with hot water and half a teaspoon of detergent for 20 to 30 minutes. Rinse well.
- Clean the gasket groove completely, then wipe with a damp cloth.
- Hold the screen to the light. If holes stay blocked after soaking, fit the new one.
New gasket, reassemble and test
- Find the bevelled side of the new gasket. It goes up into the machine, so you can no longer see it.
- Press the gasket into the groove a little at a time, working round the ring. Clamp the portafilter in without a basket to seat it evenly.
- Refit the seal first, then the holder, then the screen.
- Screw in with the 3 mm key until it is snug, not tight. It is threaded into brass.
- Lock the portafilter in. With a new gasket the handle stops a little left of straight ahead and beds in over a week.
- Switch on, run water through the group for 10 seconds and check for drips at the rim.
A thin smear of food-safe grease on the outside of the gasket makes the next change easier. It is optional.