# Sage DB inner Shower Screen cracked.



## markthorpw (Jan 21, 2014)

The plastic internal shower screen has cracked on my DB again.

Sage spare shop are out of stock. Are there any alternatives anyone is aware of ?

http:// https://sageappliances.co.uk/collections/bes920uk-parts/products/shower-screen-inner?variant=51392604868

Cheers in advance.


----------



## joey24dirt (Jan 28, 2017)

markthorpw said:


> The plastic internal shower screen has cracked on my DB again.
> 
> Sage spare shop are out of stock. Are there any alternatives anyone is aware of ?
> 
> ...


Make one from brass. Problem solved


----------



## markthorpw (Jan 21, 2014)

joey24dirt said:


> Make one from brass. Problem solved










do you do commissions


----------



## joey24dirt (Jan 28, 2017)

markthorpw said:


> do you do commissions


Erm maybe lol. I'm not the quickest due to work and kids but yeah I could make that


----------



## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

Is this a known problem? it is new to me but there again, lots of things are! If it is, then perhaps Joey can have another line of things to make!


----------



## Greydad (Feb 25, 2018)

I've seen this before somewhere else as well, it might be a thing in which case I'd like to join the queue


----------



## Craig-R872 (Apr 4, 2016)

Give Coffee Classics a call they are the repair guys for Sage. They may have one they can send out for you.


----------



## ajohn (Sep 23, 2017)

If it's made of brass it will probably be something of a problem to prevent it from taking a lot of heat out of the coffee.

John

-


----------



## ashcroc (Oct 28, 2016)

ajohn said:


> If it's made of brass it will probably be something of a problem to prevent it from taking a lot of heat out of the coffee.
> 
> John
> 
> -


Lots of machines hace brass dispersion blocks. All it's likely to do is add to the warmup time.


----------



## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

Looks like you can replace with a NS Brass one. Save Joey a job.

https://coffeeforums.co.uk/showthread.php?14613-The-Sage-DB-receives-it-s-1st-mod


----------



## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

If anyone finds a link to a suitable brass replacement can they post it please. Brass may take a little longer to heat up but will also retain heat for longer


----------



## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

Not sure but Charlie was getting all the bits from IMS, try their site.


----------



## espressotechno (Apr 11, 2011)

I can supply the Simonelli shower holder in brass: SN part no. 07300183, 57.5mmD x 7mmH 6.5mm hole. Delivered price £12.00. Allow 3-4 days from order.

(I may also be able to supply other metal shower holders, but will need exact dimensions of your original one.)


----------



## markthorpw (Jan 21, 2014)

espressotechno said:


> I can supply the Simonelli shower holder in brass: SN part no. 07300183, 57.5mmD x 7mmH 6.5mm hole. Delivered price £12.00. Allow 3-4 days from order.
> 
> (I may also be able to supply other metal shower holders, but will need exact dimensions of your original one.)


Do you know if this is compatible with the original sage screen ?

Also the other tread appeared to suggest 9mm not 7mm ?


----------



## espressotechno (Apr 11, 2011)

I don't know the dimensions of the Sage shower holder or the shower screen.

The Simonelli shower screen is 57 x 3.7mm.

Simonelli also do a 57.5 x 9mm deep holder. Price would be the same, but delivery would be longer (ex-Italy)


----------



## ajohn (Sep 23, 2017)

ashcroc said:


> Lots of machines hace brass dispersion blocks. All it's likely to do is add to the warmup time.


Sage as usual are a bit different - the plastic part clamps down onto the grouphead seal not onto the heated bit. Not sure why they do this as it doesn't need that much of a pressure seal. Maybe that's why people are breaking them - doing them up too tight. All they need to do really is a little more than hold the seal in place.

John

-


----------



## ashcroc (Oct 28, 2016)

ajohn said:


> Sage as usual are a bit different - the plastic part clamps down onto the grouphead seal not onto the heated bit. Not sure why they do this as it doesn't need that much of a pressure seal. Maybe that's why people are breaking them - doing them up too tight. All they need to do really is a little more than hold the seal in place.
> 
> John
> 
> -


Then it's definately gonna add to the heatup time. Thanks for confirming. 

It's possible they do it because the plastic part doesn't need heating & I suspect you're correct in your assumption.


----------



## Greydad (Feb 25, 2018)

I measured the plastic part tonight when I took the shower head out for cleaning and it's 58mm dia x 10.7mm thick


----------



## Greydad (Feb 25, 2018)

ajohn said:


> Sage as usual are a bit different - the plastic part clamps down onto the grouphead seal not onto the heated bit. Not sure why they do this as it doesn't need that much of a pressure seal. Maybe that's why people are breaking them - doing them up too tight. All they need to do really is a little more than hold the seal in place.
> 
> John
> 
> -


Yes I can see how this might happen - overtighten when it's cold putting it in compression and the when it heats and cools over many cycles it could cause a stress fracture right across the diameter.


----------



## ajohn (Sep 23, 2017)

I know mine had been done up so tight it was difficult to get off again. Also the tank drain screws. I just took it off for cleaning and didn't look at the "detail". My recollection is 2 radiused annular grooves. One for the plastic bit and one for the rim on the portafilter. Not exactly a modern idea of how seals should work.







Some might say dated and misguided but there might be a reason they have done it this way.

John

-


----------



## ajohn (Sep 23, 2017)

Here's the bits









It would be a bit difficult to measure to be sure but it looks like that as soon as the screw firms up when it's tightened the boss in the middle of the plastic spreader is up against the metal work in the head. So all it is doing really is keeping the seal in place. There would be no point in overtightening the screw. That would just be trying to crush the plastic.

John

-


----------



## Greydad (Feb 25, 2018)

Yep, that's what I found and thought it doesn't need much tightening, you can feel it 'squish' (engineering term) and compress everything as it tightens. I did mine up tightish and then backed off a fraction, seems ok


----------



## ajohn (Sep 23, 2017)

The term for me is nip it up - very slight further tightening when it goes solid.. Easy to do with the hex key the way round shown in the photo. I had to use a full sized hex key to get mine out.

:act-up:They might still crack but overtightening can't be a good idea.

John

-


----------



## markthorpw (Jan 21, 2014)

Update - still shows out of stock but Sage support have dispatched me one today.

Fingers crossed


----------



## fluffles (Sep 4, 2012)

I played around with a brass plate and an IMS shower screen a while back. It gave a nicer "looking" stream out of the group, but somehow more coffee seems to find its way behind the screen and it was harder to keep clean. Seem to remember @garydyke1 found the same before?


----------



## ajohn (Sep 23, 2017)

fluffles said:


> I played around with a brass plate and an IMS shower screen a while back. It gave a nicer "looking" stream out of the group, but somehow more coffee seems to find its way behind the screen and it was harder to keep clean. Seem to remember @garydyke1 found the same before?


The Sage screen seems to use the same perforations as the filter baskets - pretty fine in other words. I tried an IMS 55mm Gaggia competition shower screen on my DB. If anything the shower was worse. Suppose I will have to post it in the for sale section as no point in using it. I wanted to try one as the Sage seems to tend to produce a ring. That seems to be very very consistent though.

The web doesn't seem to be full of complaints about this part cracking. My DB is a refurb so has had another owner. I had to use a full sized extended hex key to remove it. Also a decent sized screwdriver to undo the tank drain valves.

It would be interesting to see a photo of the cracked one to see if it looks like it might be down to pointless over tightening.

John

-


----------



## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

fluffles said:


> I played around with a brass plate and an IMS shower screen a while back. It gave a nicer "looking" stream out of the group, but somehow more coffee seems to find its way behind the screen and it was harder to keep clean. Seem to remember @garydyke1 found the same before?


yeah , I get best results with the IMS screen on the Sage plastic plate ....it needs a bit of fiddling to get it to fit on properly tho


----------



## fluffles (Sep 4, 2012)

garydyke1 said:


> yeah , I get best results with the IMS screen on the Sage plastic plate ....it needs a bit of fiddling to get it to fit on properly tho


I didn't try that combo... I'm guessing the shower screen sits a bit lower like that, do you have to reduce your dose a little?


----------



## ajohn (Sep 23, 2017)

The 55mm Gaggia version fits in more or less the same space as the Sage one. I tried the IMS 200um version and concluded no point in using it really. The fixing screw isn't a perfect fit but does locate it well - seems there is a difference in the size and maybe angle of the Gaggia screw head. Actual thread seems to be M5 just like Sage.

John

-


----------

