So you bought a used LP, what’s next!

by Steven Ornish & Bruce Colglazier Pappas

Summary of tips. The various pages on this site are packed with tips and detailed explanations. Links are for your convenience, but there are many sources.

1. Descale your LP with citric acid or sulfamic acid.

   • Dezcal (citric acid)
   • Durgol (sulfamic acid)
   • Tips = COMING SOON!

2. Buy a gasket kit (depends on the year of your machine).

   • Gen2 - PreMillennium
   • Gen3a - Millennium I
   • Gen3b & Gen4 - Millennium II & Stadivari

3. Buy food-grade lubricant and apply to the gaskets and piston cylinder.

   • Dupont Molykote 111

4. Tools needed to replace the gaskets include a snap ring pliers and a pick set.

   • Snap-ring pliers
   • Pick set
   • Complete list of tools = COMING SOON!

5. Watch these good rebuild instructional videos by Orphan Espresso.

   • Part 1
   • Part 2

6. Apply temperature strips to the grouphead (both 60-90C and 90-120C).

   • 60-90°C strip
   • 90-120°C strip
   • Flair combo strip
   • See this tip sheet about the importance of controlling grouphead temperature.

7. Buy a quality, high-end grinder, key for pulling quality, consistent shots. Here are two:

   • Baratza Vario
   • Niche Zero

8. Find a local roaster or good mail-order source for whole beans. Here are three:

   • Pannikin
   • Peets
   • Intelligentsia

9. Check out this Beginner’s Guide.

10. Visit Avicenna's Solution for advice on maintaining and restoring an LP.

Created 18-MAR-2018 | updated 30-AUG-2022 | BCP