The thread sealant did the trick and now no more 'cold' leaks. I did a bit of a systems test this morning.... Plugged in the power, switched it on and......... Silence. A bit unnerving as no hum, no lights or anything to let you know it's running. Anyway, it heats up well, the combo safety / anti vac works fine, and I spent a while adjusting the Sirai so it runs from about 0.85 to 1.05. The click from the Siria pstat is also much quieter than the tractor like thunk I used to get out of the Cimbali two group. I found a couple more minor leaks that only showed up when warm, so fixed those and also spray painted the rear of the pressure guage back to it's original cream colour. The heat transfer to the group seems about as slow as the old Cimbali - I think I'll be waiting about 1/2 hr for the 5kgs of brass to warm up which is pretty much the same wait time as I had before. I had the pre-infusion adjuster rod wound way too far out, and water literally gushed out with the lever down, so it's been wound about 90% of the way back in and we'll see how that goes. I also discovered the correct size for the group seal is 9mm, and it needed a couple of spacers as well. (I ordered a range of sizes as I had no idea which one would fit) Just waiting now an hour or two for some sealed joints to dry and then I might finally be able to get a shot out of it..... 😉
