bialetti safety valve leaking factory

If water is leaking from your safety valve, either before or during a brewing cycle, something is not quite right and it will need to be resolved before your machine is able to produce coffee again. The leak from the safety valve could be coming from one of three places:

If the leak is coming from the gold coloured safety ring, you simply need to replace it. Further details on how to do that, as well as how to prevent it happening again, can be found here. You will have received a spare safety ring with your machine.

If water is leaking from the head of the safety valve, it’s likely that the internal seal has become dislodged and damaged. Though this is a rare event, in this case the safety valve will need to be replaced. You can purchase a replacement safety valve here, and there are instructions showing how to replace the safety valve here.

A leak from this point suggests one of two things. The first is that the safety valve isn’t screwed on tight enough. Screw it in hand tight, then use a 13mm spanner to tighten it so that there is ‘metal on metal’ contact between the boiler and the safety ring. You won’t need to tighten it very hard, the thing to feel for is a sudden increase in resistance when screwing it in.

The second thing to check is whether the two red o-rings on either side of the safety ring are in good condition. Simply check that they’re well-seated either side of the safety ring and that they are clean and free of damage. Then screw the valve back onto the boiler. These o-rings form the seal between the safety valve and the boiler, so if they’re not in place the safety valve will leak. If you need some replacement seals, you can buy those here.

If your moka pot leaks around the joint between the top and bottom, meaning the ring-shaped gasket is leaking, then check three things: 1) Is the gasket clean of coffee grounds?; 2) Is the gasket "rubbery", meaning supple and has not hardened from age and heat? (Since your moka pot is new, I"d expect the gasket to be in good shape); 3) Finally - a trick to better seal the two sections of the pot - wet the ring-shaped gasket before assembly. A few drops of water on the gasket before screwing the top and bottom sections together reduces friction of metal on rubber and allows you to easily screw the two sections together tighter.

Obviously, if the safety valve is leaking steam, then pressure is in the bottom of the pot is too high and you need to go to a coarser coffee grind and/or less coffee dose in the filter basket. Make sure you have not tamped or settled the coffee in the basket in any way.

The most common reason for a leaking moka pot is that the top and bottom chambers are not tightly screwed together. Other causes are that the pieces are not threaded or aligned correctly, the rubber gasket is damaged, or the grind size is too fine.

Most people will experience a leaking moka pot at one point or another because they forget to tighten the chambers tightly enough. This probably won’t happen too often though.

A moka pot may also leak out of the pressure valve if the internal pressure rises above 3 bars. This will usually only happen if something is clogging the moka pot and preventing the steam to release upwards into the upper chamber.

In this case, a leaking moka pot is inevitable because it won’t matter how tight the moka pot is screwed together. A fault rubber gasket will prevent your moka pot from having a secure seal that is able to withstand the internal pressure cause by the brew.

Make sure your grind size is not too fine. It should be slightly more coarse than an espresso grind. This will reduce the internal pressure and prevent the pressure valve from going off.

The safety valve is an important safety feature of your Bialetti pot.  If steam or pressure is being regularly released from the safety valve, do not ignore as your pot may be blocked, or have a faulty safety valve.

To check for a blockage, disassemble your pot by removing the ring and filter, and cleaning inside the column of the upper chamber. Then check the funnel to ensure it is not bent nor restricting the flow of water. Finally, located in the middle of the safety valve is a small piston, move the small piston in a circular motion to remove any clogging within the valve potentially caused by lime scale or other sediment.

Should after these actions the safety valve continues to activate, cease using your pot immediately and return to your authorised Bialetti stockistfor checking/servicing.

The size of your Bialetti stovetop depends on how much coffee you like to drink in any one sitting, how strong you like it and how many people join you. When Bialetti says "2 cup", that is to say your stovetop will produce "two espresso cups" of coffee. An espresso cup of coffee generally amounts to approximately 30mls.

You must not underfill the water in the base or put too little coffee in the filter to try and achieve a lesser quantity of coffee output because this will affect the pressure and effectiveness of your stovetop. Therefore, when you purchase your Bialetti make sure you are buying the correct size for your typical use. In many Italian household"s, there are a couple of sizes in the cupboard to accommodate everyday use, versus when guests are around.

Often in New Zealand, people like to drink their coffee with milk and often quite strong (like a classic Flat White). If you were to make a Flat White with a Bialetti stovetop, it would take approximately "2 cups" of coffee, and added milk from a Tuttocrema.

The devil is in the details. It is often the smallest things, the particularities, that make all the difference. This is also the case in regards to the preparation of a good coffee, a ritual in which all the steps and every single component play a fundamental role. Among all, one of the most important elements is the Moka valve. Often ignored, it is vital not only for the quality of the coffee, but also for the safety of those who prepare it.

The valve was born with the invention of the Moka Express in 1933. It is a safety valve positioned on the bottom chamber. To better understand the importance of the valve and its use, we need to take a step back and illustrate step by step

This is where the valve of the Moka comes into play. It must open when the pressure is too high. By doing so, it allows the steam to escape regularly, without causing any damage. In short, the Moka’s safety valve provides security. Hence, it should only intervene when the coffee maker is used under abnormal operating conditions.

A long-standing and debated question: how far can you fill the bottom chamber for a state-of-the-art coffee? The Moka valve can come in handy to answer this dilemma. Another important role of the valve is that it acts as a "measuring cup". Its position on the bottom chamber is not accidental. Rather, it indicates to those who prepare the coffee the correct amount of water to use. The only exception is for some special coffee pots that are already equipped with a measuring cup. Ideally the water should reach just below the safety valve.

The Moka valve, therefore, is not a decoration or a mere design element. Rather, it is a very important component for the correct functioning of the coffee maker. It guarantees safety and plays a part in the making of an excellent coffee.

Consequently, it is necessary to keep it clean and maintain it regularly. For example, using tap water to make coffee brings with it the risk of limescale deposits obstructing the hole in the valve. The resulting danger is that it could get clogged.

We have seen that one can simply use hot water to clean the Moka valve. To avoid limescale obstructions, simply move the piston that comes out of the valve along its axis when washing it. To ensure the Moka functions correctly, it is recommended to repeat this checkup periodically.

The no tamping rule is also confusing as I fill it to the max but don’t necessarily tamp it because tamping can over pressurise the boiler and that’s no good to anyone as it can cause leakage at the seal or even worse cause the pressure valve to be released and scald someone next to it.

I bought a Bialetti Brikka (new-ish version with black bottom but still with the gravity valve) in 2020 for my Covid-Coffee and it was an okay quality. Still lots of aluminium chaff flying around everywhere, definitely needed more cleaning than Bialetti says is “permissible” because dish soap supposedly harms the metal (not true).

The valve is simply a rubber membrane that is not sold as a replacement part, have fun with that I guess. So much aluminium dust and shavings everywhere, even in the valve, where the consumer should never look I guess. The paint on the bottom is even worse than on my old brikka.

And to top it all off, I am not even sure if that valve rubber is silicone or not (confusion with old Bialetti descriptions since the gravity valve Brikkas all had a clear silicone nozzle to constrict flow against the valve). The new valve rubber is white like the main gasket (which is natural rubber IIRC), so have fun when that gets icky and there are no replacements (it’s a rather complex moulding with a tapered inside ending in a slit which gets compressed by the top part of the valve).

I will get my 45€ back and invest that in a cheap espresso machine (I didn’t want to make 4 cups with my old Bialetti all the time, so this should be worth it).

If water comes out of your pot"s safety valve, the good news is that it"s probably fixable. The bad news, though, is that it will take some time to fix it.

If there"s a jet shooting out of your pot"s pressure valve, it could be because of too much water. You"ll want to always pour water into the bottom edge of the safety valve.

The most common reasons for safety valve leaks are coffee residue and limescale buildup. This may be why the valve may be opening or closing incorrectly.

I. The easiest fix is to push the valve closed (or open). If there isn"t too much buildup or it"s not completely dry, this may push some of the buildup away and let the valve move freely.

Now, even this may not fix the leaks. If your Moka pot is old, the valve might have worn out. Inside there"s a small rubber ring that will harden and eventually break over time. If that happens, water may be leaking out of there.

For some high-end pots, you can simply buy a replacement pressure valve. You"ll have to make sure ordering the new part and paying for shipment is less expensive than getting a new pot, though.

It"s a good idea to check the pressure release valve of the pot works properly between brews. It"s there to release the excessive pressure out of the pot, and if it"s not working properly, your coffee maker might leak or even explode.

In any system where steam is generated, there is always a possibility that over-pressurization can cause a catastrophic failure of the pressure vessel. This could result in destruction of property, injury, and loss of life. This is a bad day no matter how you cut it, and it’s the reason that every pressure vessel in the UK requires an annual inspection and certification. To avoid these massive failures, several safety methods are put into place such that vessel failures are extraordinarily rare. One of these methods is to connect an over-pressure safety valve, or pressure relief valve, to the pressure vessel. In an espresso machine, this vessel is the steam boiler and sometimes the coffee boiler.

The pressure relief valve (PRV) is a simple, though precisely calibrated and tested, spring-operated valve. It is connected to the top of the steam boiler and will remain closed until a certain pressure level is reached. When that pressure is achieved the PRV will open, generally with an impressive sound and cloud of steam, to dump the excess pressure. Most are self-resetting, though many will tend to leak if activated more than a few times (and you probably have other problems if the PRV opens regularly). Regulations generally require these valves to be factory set and marked with the pressure at which they will activate.

The unit should be observed while heating to verify that steam pressure can reach the set pressure. Steam should not leak at the boiler set point (which will be below the set point of the PRV). Then the boiler set point is raised to above the normal boiler set point, but just below the “blow off” point marked on the PRV. No steam should escape. Then the boiler can be set to a point just above the set point marked on the PRV. As pressure reaches this point, steam can be seen to start to leek through the valve, then dump aggressively through the valve with lots of noise and vapor. After testing, the system should be reset according to manufacturer specifications and tested to ensure safety. This test is not frequently done but can be useful in diagnosing PRV failure.