Last Saturday morning the group gasket failed on my L'ANNA making for a rather dull weekend in the coffee department.
Anyway I jumped on the computer and ordered some replacements from Happy Donkey (where else). While I was there I also ordered up a new shower plate thinking I might as well renew both parts.
The service from Happy Donkey all went smoothly and new bits and bobs arrived to recommission L'ANNA.
After ripping open the packaging (I needed a decent coffee fix), I was deeply disappointed with the quality of the shower plate. So much so I felt the need mention it here. My assumption was that the part would be a direct replacement for the old part. The old rule that assumption is the mother of all **** ups proved to be true.
Just to be clear I'm not having a go at happy donkey - although I think it would be useful if they stated the parts are after market parts, and not genuine articles or words to that effect. My failure in due diligence is the primary cause - if I had observed the small image I would probably have spotted the difference...although it's not obvious at a glance.
I took some pictures in order to demonstrate the issues, I have with this replacement part.
This is the image presented on the product page.
The one in the foreground is the new part
In this shot the old part is in the foreground
Sorry for the poor images I'm no David Bailey! I'm not sure how obvious it is, but hopefully you can see that the new part is of a spot weld design, where as the original is of a pressed design with a built in ridge.
My first thought was how inferior the design of the new part is compared to the old one...less ridged in general construction, increased hole size in the mesh and plate, places to trap old grounds and minimal spot welds on such a light gauge material. The major concern was how easy would it be to extract it from the group especially with a new tight fitting seal.
These images may give a better idea of what I'm prattling on about...
Internal of new part
Internal of old part
Close up new part in foreground
In the image above you may notice the distortion in the top plate of the new part. Although some distortion is present due to the method of construction, the image above is worse as a result of my meddling. I was curious to know how easy it would be to extract it from the group head, as there is no ridge allowing for a good purchase point.
I thought I would fit it anyway and see (I had no intention of using it in anger) if it would come out easily, especially as it would need regular cleaning - due to the grounds traps inherent in the design. I never even drove the seal fully home because it was already obvious that it wasn't going to be easy to remove afterwards. At this point I started to extract the shower screen...hummm I was starting to regret the experiment. I knew the welds and gauge of metal were not adequate enough to take any leverage, certainly not the degree required to remove it with a tight new seal. So I applied pressure higher up the side wall, already anticipating the inevitable slippage of the metal tool I was using. Sure enough the tool slipped and caught the lower ring holding the mesh. The result can be seen in the above image. The tiny spot weld failed instantly and without a great deal of force! Humm I thought I was going to need a bradawl...after taking a couple more goes it loosened enough to get it free. If I had seated it fully I think a bradawl would be the only thing that would shift it.
Personally I don't think this product is of a commercial standard, to be completely honest, I don't thing it would be good in a domestic environment which is my situation.
This image clearly demonstrates the difference in the business end of the two designs. Note the larger holes in the replacement part on the right. You can also see how much finer the hole spacing is on the mesh of the original part. I also wasn't happy with the central rivet on the replacement part.
Hopefully one of the pros on here can correct any errors in my conclusions.
Which brings me to my questions...
When ordering a replacement Shower Screen/Plate is there a particular brand name I should specify?
Where is a good source to purchase the genuine article, or an equivalent unit of a seamless pressed construction, with built in ridge?
I hope this hasn't come across as a rant, as that is not my intention. It's a low cost item which can be chalked up to experience. I hope Scott and all at HD don't take offence. The point I'm trying to make is that all shower plates are not created equal! With a bit of luck this will save someone from the same disappointment. The good news is L'ANNA is back on form.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.