Espresso machine maintenance grease
Espresso machine maintenance grease
There are 3 products.When you want to rebuild a steam/water valve and it has a type of “rubber” like gasket installed, then it might be handy to use some sort of lubrication for it. In most cases you would use silicone grease for this, mainly because of their good thermal properties. Silicone grease has a service temperature of -40 degree Celsius and a max temperature of 200 degree Celsius. So well within the temperature range of the functioning of a espresso machine. But to be absolutely sure that the silicone you use is suitable for your application, seen not all silicone greases are the same.
There are a variety of silicone and grease manufacturers/brands available which you can use on your espresso machine. You need think of brands such as Kluber, OKS, Molykote, Artur Glöckler and Nils. These brands make a variety of oils and greases, so make sure that you have the
Below you will find a overview of the manufactures products and specifications. Seen not all make food safe/suitable silicone greases. So they can also be other types of greases.
Molykote
This might be one of the most well known greases which are used on espresso machines. This grease is made by Dupont. The specific grease used on espresso machines is the O ring version. which is Melkote 111 silicone grease. This grease is transparent colour and can be used as low as -40 degree Celsius and as high as 204 degree. This grease is food safe and has FDA and NSF approval.
Kluber
this is one of the oldest manufacturers of greases and it is from Germany. The company Kluber produces a variety of oils and greases for a variety of applications. They have various types such as Klubersynth which is a food safe grease ideal for steam and water valves. The operating temperature go from -45 degree Celsius all the way up to 120 degree Celsius. This grease has been NSF h1 certified.
Artur Glöckler
This company is also a supplier of a variety of greases and oils, located in Germany. The company Artur Glöckler has a variety of greases which are suitable for in steam and water valves. For instance their Silicone grease type 2. This work ideally with a variety of rubber gaskets/o rings. The temperature reach of this silicone grease is -40 degree c all the way up to 200 degree Celsius.
Nils
This manufacturer comes from Italy and sells a variety of oils and greases for food and non food related products. This specific grease is not a silicone grease. It is a light yellow grease which is odourless, tasteless and developed for the use with foodstuff. The temperature range for this product is -20 degree and a maximum temperature of 140 degree Celsius and has a NSF certification