The Bacchi is a very clever and simple design, and easily serviced.

One tip we have is to ensure that the piston continues to slide very freely inside the cylinder sleeve when you push up on the piston from underneath (if you own one you'll know exactly what we mean, if you don't it won't make any sense at all).  If you are washing the Bacchi in detergent, and I'm guessing most of you do, obviously you will fairly quickly strip the grease off all the moving surfaces.  In our experience the Bacchi needs the thinnest of coatings of 'food grade' approved grease to ensure that the piston seals do not bind or stick on the piston walls.  This smooth sliding of the piston is essential if the Bacchi is to operate correctly.  If you think about it, you have steam building up in the lower chamber as the Bacchi heats.  It is imperative that as the pressure in the lower chamber rises that the piston is able to be easily driven upwards as the steam pressure increases.  You don't need to coat it in grease like you would with shaving cream on your face; you only need the tiniest smear of grease, then work the piston up and down by hand and spiral it a little to ensure you work the grease right around the circumference of the seal.  It is easy to check if the Bacchi needs this kind of treatment; run your finger down the cylinder wall; if it is dry metal with no greasy feel it needs lubricating.  We would suggest you dont wash the cylinder and piston assembly of the Bacchi with detergent.  In fact it shouldn't really need to be washed at all.  Dose it in cold water after use if you are in a hurry to wash and clean it, disassemble once cool enough, the dry lightly being careful not to remove the grease from the cylinder wall.  This will ensure you only have to apply more food grade grease occasionally.

We think it goes without saying, but these days I always wonder, so here goes: DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES BE TEMPTED TO USE ANY LUBRICANT THAT IS NOT FOOD GRADE APPROVED.  Similarly, do not be tempted to use olive oil or similar unless you want your espresso to taste like olive oil.  If you are having trouble obtaining the correct lubricant please contact us.

Hope this helps if you suddenly think your Bacchi has stopped working because steam is hissing out of places it shouldn't, and it isn't making coffee anymore.  The Bacchi is a simple, easy to live with, durable machine that makes wonderful pure espresso.  We've tried an awful lot of machines in this class and everything that precedes the Bacchi is a pretender; the Bacchi makes real espresso, that's the difference.