ajpace wrote: The pump kicked on and continuously ran, but all I got was an ounce or two of water. Very little pressure.

So, yesterday morning I turned the machine on and the pump ran for about 15 minutes... then shut off for 5 minutes...then continuously ran until I turned it off. Some water would get into the boiler, as there was at least enough to flush the group head. But after that, the pressure would fall so low that water trickled out. It would gain back some pressure over the next few minutes, but the same result would occur.

Andy, the MAXIMUM amount of time the pump should normally run (other than shot pulling) is about 5-10 seconds - and I think I'm being quite generous with that. Filling your completely empty boiler should take maybe a minute. After that 15 minute run, the pump likely shut down on thermal overload.

The pump only runs under two conditions - (a) pressing the button to pull a shot and (b) filling the boiler to proper level after a steaming session or opening the hot water tap.

While you are testing the pump out as Jeff suggested, disconnect and tape over one of the leads to the heating element.

Skol,

Eric S.

Andy-

Eric is giving you some sound advice on preventing you from potentially damaging the heating element. I'm not sure on the Rancilio, but some commercial machines have a three position power switch, labeled 0-1-2. 0 is off, 1 is fill , and 2 is heat or full operation. If you have a similar switch, you can do your pump testing operations in the 1 or fill position. The pump and controls should work in the fill position and no heating will occur.

Finally! The problems are solved and my S26 is alive and steaming! In case anyone was wondering, the repair(s) went as such:
1) Installed a new Procon pump...purred like a kitten...still no pressure to speak of
2) Replaced the solenoid coil on the fill valve...thanks to espressoparts.com I found an exact match...but still, no pressure
3) Took apart the fill valve and found a small mineral deposit blockage but considering my track record so far, I didn't have much hope for success. Boy was I wrong
4) Put it all back together and flipped the switch......... whoo hooo.... SUCCESS

Just for kicks, I checked with a local Rancilio repair center and got a quote for $400 to install a new pump and another $500 to install a new solenoid fill valve. The last one really floored me, considering the solenoid coil by itself was only $30. Apparently, Rancilio only sells the fill valve along with the check valve in front of it because they are supposed to be put together with LocTite. Luckily, mine wasn't, so I could easilly get them apart. So, because of the help from this group, I was able to get my S26 up and running for $200 when a repair shop would have cost over $900.

Thanks again everyone. I'm now on my way to espresso nirvana!