The design of the 2.45 GHz, 0.1 T microwave discharge Proton Source for the European Spallation Source (PS-ESS) has required on-purpose solutions in order to maximize the beam brightness, keeping a very high reliability figure. The mitigation of maintenance issues has been the main guideline through the design phase to maximize the MTBF and minimize the MTTR. The mechanical design has been based on advanced solutions in order to reduce as much as possible the venting time for the plasma

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... to facilitate the replacement of extraction electrodes and/or plasma chamber, and to simplify any after-maintenance alignment procedure. The paper will describe the strategy which has driven the design phase, the solutions adopted to fulfil the project goals and the results of the assembly phase recently concluded at INFN-LNS with successful first plasma.