# Pressurestat Choices



## viveur (Oct 22, 2017)

What are people's opinions on the various models of pressurestat that are available? Most of them seem to be fairly similar: on the electrical side mostly an SPDT switch (although a few are SPST) - meaning the only other thing you need to watch out for is the connection on the steam side (which is mostly 1/4 ") - and of course, sizing, since some models are a bit bigger and might not fit.

I'm looking to replace my pressurestat soon - and the obvious choice would be to get a 1:1 replacement - but I figured I might as well evaluate alternatives while I'm at it - do people here have recommendations or preferences?

(I have an Expobar Leva DB, which is fitted with a so-called Piris Pressurestat, example here - although I've also seen a few places call it a "La Pavoni" pressurestat, although of course there are multiple Pavoni pressurestats. After 3 years it seems to be showing signs of age - I've now had two overpressure incidents - hence I'm looking at replacements. My machine happens to route all 2kW of steam boiler power via the pressurestat switch - which is around 9A.)

The common choices seem to be:

*Most expensive:*

- Sirai: most expensive, bigger than most, and potentially loud - but more maintainable - it should fit in my machine, but I'd rather not risk it. 20A.

- Not many mentions: parker models, haven't looked into these.

- Not many mentions: Jaeger models.

*Medium:*

- Campini: multiple models, most common are TY-85-B or TY-98, sometimes sold under Nuova Simonelli name, all the ones I've seen being sold are SPST hence unsuitable for my machine (The TY-95-B is SPDT, but I don't see any shops selling it.) 16A rating, up to 8 bar. Slightly bigger than the Maters.

- CEME: multiple models, seem to have 15A rating, up to 6 bar, slightly bigger than the Maters but not much.

*Cheapest/all with similar pricing:*

- Mater (XP110? ) - it's small, otherwise unremarkable? 16A rating. Some of these are rated up to 1.2 bar, some are up to 1.5 bar.

- Another Mater: possibly T125 (that might just be the temp rating though), has "mod Echo" printed on the side and is a bit slimmer than the XP110. All of these seem to be SPST, hence not suitable for my machine. 16A rating, up to 1.2 bar.

- The Piris that I have, often sold under Expobar name. Has a plastic mounting on the steam side (!), 16A rating. Possibly 1.2 bar rating (I'll have another look when i remove mine).

I'm currently debating between the Mater XP 110 (1.5 bar variant) vs CEME. The CEME is a touch more expensive, but it sounds like people have had slightly better experiences with reliability. I'm not super keen on sticking with the Piris because of the plastic mounting, and 1.2 bar max (if confirmed) would explain why mine was acting up (since my steam was 1.1-1.3 bar for a long time - I'm happy enough with 1.1 these days though). Am I crazy, or are those sensible choices?

(Regarding SPST vs SPDT: my machine happens to require an SPDT because it has steam priority, in other words the pressurestat: keeps the steam boiler on until pressure is reached, otherwise routes power to the brew boiler relay allowing the brew boiler to turn on if needed.)


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## Jonba (Aug 28, 2016)

Ask Dave


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## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

Jonba said:


> Ask Dave


 If you are referring to DaveCUK, you could, but, sadly, not on this forum. Dave would, I am sure, be happy to help but you would have to take up your tech queries on the ****************.


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## Jonba (Aug 28, 2016)

Yep seen that, well what's done is done . OP was Friday and no replies. Forum has lost a wealth of knowledge/experience in this area.


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## viveur (Oct 22, 2017)

In case it's of any use, here's a quick comparison of at least the Piris (which I had), and ceme (which I fitted). Short version: I do prefer the CEME, but it's not really impacting my coffee making .

- Piris: has a plastic attachment/thread, I really don't like that. It was a complete pain to remove (after 3 years), because I couldn't get a good grip on the plastic bolt with my wrench - I ended up using pliers higher up on the pressurestat, causing some damage (which I didn't care about). After 3 years of use (2x daily), it had a deadband of around 0.25 bar, and had failed on two occasions (didn't turn off steam boiler - requiring manual intervention - but it worked again soon after). Adjustment mechanism is OK, but can be a bit annoying (plastic twiddly wheel). No markings on the switch regarding which contact does what.

- CEME: I got the PN 5612/VAP-DR: adjustable pressure, adjustable hysteresis (apparently other models come without the hysteresis screw). Slightly more expensive than the Piris. Metal attachment and metal bolt head. As delivered, it was set to something more than 1.5 bar (as in: after installation I turned off the machine once I saw it reach 1.5 bar - meaning the delivery pressure was higher). For some reason, there is a red cap fitted over the adjustment screws, popping it off results in permanent loss of two plastic pips - so I popped that off and set the pressure to around 1.25 bar at the top limit. Deadband was originally around 0.25 bar, I've gotten it down to about 0.1 bar (plus 0.05 due to boiler lag) by adjusting the hysteresis screw. Adjustment is via two metal screws on the top - quite easy. (There are some reviews where a CEME that had been used for a few years had failed after trying to adjust the pressure - so I'm going to avoid adjusting pressure from now on.) Has nice markings for In/NC/NO making it easy to connect.

The odd thing was: the next morning after installation, my steam boiler was going up to 1.4 bar top limit - this could be down to temperature differences: when I first fitted the CEME, the machine was cold, I only heated it up to test temperatures, and the machine casing was missing. In the morning: machine casing is fitted, machine was on for an hour before I looked at it, hence the pressurestat itself will have been warmer than during testing yesterday. Will continue observing closely for the coming week.


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