Saeco mould adjustment

[faraim]

Hello, I have a 4 cavity Saeco mould that is sticky when opening and closing. The alignment balls protrude a bit more than the ones on my 2 cavity Saeco mould. Can these be tapped back in to allow the opening and closing to be smoother and less ratchet-ey?

[762sultan]

I had a Saeco mold that had that problem and tried several things to make it open and close properly. First I relieved the hole that the mold pin fits into with my de-burring tool...just a little. I made sure the handles were properly installed on the mold. And as the last thing I lightly tapped on the alignment pins to make it smoother to close and line up securely. It may take several times that you have to take the handles off and on to get it where you want it. Saceo's are a little expensive and don't normally need much adjustment. Are you using Saeco handles? Not all brands of handles will fit all brands of molds.

[fredj338]

Try simple first, just lightly lube the pins with some 2 stroke.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

when I have "sticky" alignment pins, I will remove the handles and try each pin/socket connection separate, to see if it's just one pin that's problematic.
Then I clean the pins and sockets well and lube them.
Look at them close, look for a burr, I use a loupe, or you can use a magnifying glass or a good digital camera image enlarged on a computer screen can show things that the naked eye can't see. also a Q-tip rubbed in there can sometimes identify a burr.
If at this point, if I think it's time to try to push a pin back into the mold, be sure to do that, when the mold block is fully heated to operating temperature, and gap gently with a brass hammer.