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Before you open the machine

Every Ripresso guide starts with the same assumption: the machine is unplugged, cold and empty. An espresso machine is a 230 V heater wrapped around a small pressure vessel. Nothing in it is complicated, and nothing in it forgives carelessness. Read this once, properly.

Mains power

Pull the plug. The power switch is not enough: on most machines the heating element, thermostats and pressure switch stay live with the switch off.
Never work with wet hands, on a wet counter, or with water in the drip tray.
Heating elements, thermostats and the solenoid coil are wired to 230 V. Photograph every connector before you pull it, and put each one back exactly where it came from.
A damaged mains cable is replaced, not repaired: same type, same cross-section, same strain relief.

Heat and pressure

The boiler holds water between 100 and 130 °C, under pressure. Switch off and wait at least an hour before touching any fitting.
Before opening a boiler fitting, open the steam valve over a jug until nothing comes out. That releases the pressure.
Never loosen a nut, union or valve while the machine is hot or pressurised. If you are not sure it is cold, wait.
Lever machines (La Pavoni and similar) store pressure in the boiler even after the heater is off. Vent them first, always.

Steam

Steam burns deeper than hot water and you do not see it coming. Close the steam valve fully before you put a hand near the wand.
Point the wand into the drip tray or a jug, never towards yourself, when you open the valve.

Water and electricity

Dry everything before you plug the machine back in: the base, the terminals, the inside of the case. Use a cloth and, if you have it, compressed air.
Switch on for the first time with the top cover off and watch for drips. A drip inside a running machine is a reason to switch off, not to wait and see.
Never run the pump with an empty tank: it damages the pump and can overheat the element.

Nuts, springs and torque

Brass fittings seal on the gasket, not on the thread. Hand-tight plus a quarter turn is the rule; more cracks the fitting.
Use the right spanner size. A worn or wrong spanner rounds the hex and turns a 20-minute job into a new part.
Do not use PTFE tape on fittings that have a gasket. It does not seal and it ends up in the water.
Never stretch, cut or bend a spring to change its pressure. Buy the spring made for the machine.
Hold the fitting on the boiler with a second spanner when you undo a valve. If the fitting turns with the valve, stop: the boiler gasket behind it is now a bigger job.

Food contact

Every part that touches water must be rated for food contact: O-rings in food-grade silicone, gaskets for espresso machines, not generic plumbing parts.
No general-purpose grease on threads or seals that see water. Use food-grade silicone grease, and very little of it.
Descale with a product made for espresso machines, at the dose on the label, and rinse until the water tastes of nothing.

When to stop

A fitting that turns together with the nut you are undoing.
A wire with brown or melted insulation, a scorched connector, a burnt smell.
Scale so thick that a part will not move: force here breaks brass.
A heating element that trips the breaker, or a boiler that leaks from the body rather than from a fitting.
In all of these, close the machine and take it to a technician. The guide is finished for you at that point, and that is fine.

What this site is. Ripresso describes the way trained technicians do these jobs, written so that a careful home user can follow. We check every guide, but we cannot see your machine, your tools or your hands. You work on your own machine at your own risk. If a step feels wrong, it probably is: stop and ask, or let a technician do it.