# KitchenAid KES100 Overhaul



## DeniaBert (Jan 13, 2014)

Hi

I have a KitchenAid Artisan/Proline KES100 which I bought, used, a little while ago off a well known auction site.

The machine was purchased as a back-up to my La Pavoni Europiccola. Mainly to cope with the demands of a houseful of friends/relatives when they come to stay over Summer, and to give me the odd day off from coffee duties.

Anyway, after a few tweaks to the OPV and replacing the buttons with switches, I quite like the KitchenAid and am planning on putting the Pavoni in my office and using the KitchenAid as our day-to-day machine.

Before I do this I really want to strip it down and give it a bit of a service. This has probably never been done before, and I really should have done it when I bought it but just never got around to it.

I have a few questions I hope some members might be able to help with:


I am finding it damn hard to get the "Shower Disc Assembly" out. I have removed the shower screen and the two allen screws which appear to be the only things holding it in and it will not budge. *Can anyone recommend a good way to remove it without breaking anything.*
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KitchenAid service are completely useless, and I can not find anyone who has the gasket sets in the UK (I found 1 on Amazon but I need 2 and they are quite pricey). *Can I just use a set of gaskets for a Gaggia Classic? * They seem similar but one of the O-rings looks a different size. Any ideas?

I don't know how old the machine is. I have had it for a bit more than two years but hardly used it. It must be at least 5 years old I guess... Anyway, the insides look like someone has poured a bag of salt into it. I have read that the aluminium boilers can corrode (and they do look a bit corroded). I can't see any obvious leaks but the steam boiler in particular looks a bit ropey. I'm thinking I might be better off replacing the boiler at the same time. *Do you know what the normal life expectancy of these boilers is, should they last a lot longer than this, and can I just pop 2 new Gaggia Classic boilers in?*


Any and all help greatly appreciated.

Bert.


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## Charliej (Feb 25, 2012)

To remove the dispersion plate the easiest way is to get a bolt around 2 inches long and the same size as the shower screen holding screw and then with the allen bolts removed screw this longer screw gently into the centre hole and it should jack the plate off nice and easily without resorting to brute force and hammers.


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## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

Sounds as if it's pretty scaled up so needs a thorough clean out with something like Puly descaler. Looking at the portafilter, it looks as if it's a Gaggia stock one but that doesn't mean the seals will be the same. However, this link might shed some light on that: http://www.sweetmariascoffee.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1246. If the thread comments are correct and the internals are stock Gaggia, you might be in luck. Might be an idea to contact gaggiamanualservice.com and see if he can help/advise.


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## DeniaBert (Jan 13, 2014)

Charliej said:


> To remove the dispersion plate the easiest way is to get a bolt around 2 inches long and the same size as the shower screen holding screw and then with the allen bolts removed screw this longer screw gently into the centre hole and it should jack the plate off nice and easily without resorting to brute force and hammers.


Thanks. Horrific state of affairs going on in there! Cleaned up OK but I wonder if I should consider replacing with a brass one... Hope they are the same size as the ones on the Gaggia thread.


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## coffeechap (Apr 5, 2012)

They are exactly the same, the kitchen aid is basically two gaggia boilers in a different shell


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## DeniaBert (Jan 13, 2014)

Thanks coffeechap. I have managed to find some pictures of the package contents of the KitchenAid gasket set and the Gaggia Classic gasket set and they appear to be very similar with the exception of one of the O-Rings. The main gasket looks the same as do the solenoid gaskets, but one of the other two appears to be much smaller. Do you have any experience of the two?

Also can you comment on the life expectancy of the boilers? Should they last a while (decades) ? I'm just not sure whether to try cleaning them up or just pop some new ones in if I am going to strip the machine down. I suppose I could just try cleaning them but I'm not sure I would really know if they were on the way out.


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## DeniaBert (Jan 13, 2014)

Thanks Systemic Kid. I am going to send an email later. The gasket sets look similar for 5 out of the 6 gaskets but one appears different. Can't tell which it is so you could be right, maybe I can get by with this set (and a bit of scavenging in the local ironmongers). Do you have any comments on the longevity of the Gaggia boilers? They are maybe 5-6 years old... Try a clean or just replace?


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