Hello,

I recently purchased a 1994 Elektra Deliziosa T1 after reading the Elektra A3 Buyer's Guide here. The guy I bought it from services and rebuilds espresso machines as his job, so I believe that overall it is in pretty good shape, as far as function is concerned.

I have installed it on a 20 amp circuit with a timer, and plumbed in the water and drain. I have a pressure regulator set to 25 psi in the water line and water filter/softener on the way which I will install once it arrives.

Overall it seems to be working well, but this is my first HX machine, so pulling good shots is a work in progress. I have owned a superautomatic and a La Pavoni lever. I never got the hang of the La Pavoni, and decided to move on to something a bit less technique sensitive.

I've been playing with the T1 for a few days and results have been steadily improving after reading a lot of articles here. At first I was getting a lot of blonde gushers with spritzes spraying all over the kitchen. I played with the grind a lot and started getting better results, with well timed, but uneven shots. I have a Mazzer Mini, so the grind is easy to tweek, and I think I'm in the right neighborhood now. Using the Weiss Distribution Method, I managed to pull some very nice looking, even shots, but they were pretty bitter. I'm using home roasted beans from Sweet Maria's which give a nice result through the superautomatic, better than Starbucks, with no bitterness but a little light on flavor too. Now I'm trying to decide what is causing the bitterness by examining what other factors may not be ideal, and I have some questions I was hoping some of you might be able to answer.

First of all, is this machine essentially the same as the newer T1s and the A3, or have there been significant changes to something important like the group head, HX design, etc that would make the A3 article not applicable to this machine or require significant modification? For example, the cooling flush on my machine takes about 15 seconds before the steaming and spluttering stops, and I got the impression that on the A3 it is shorter than that, although all the links to videos in the articles here are dead, so I couldn't watch to see for sure. If it is longer, what does that signify, and how might it affect my necessary technique? Do I need to flush longer after the water becomes calm?

Second, how can I check the group pressure? This machine only has a boiler gauge, which fluxuates between slightly under and slightly over 1 bar. The guy who refurbished it said that he installed a new pump and set it at exactly 9 bar, but he also said that I didn't really need a pressure regulator in the water line, so I have no idea what his inlet pressure was and if that might affect the setting.

Anything I'm overlooking so far that might be causing problems?

And then some other questions:
This machine has a green light near the pressure gauge that seems to come on when the boiler is adding water. Is this correct, or should it come on any other time? What is the purpose of an indicator to tell me when the boiler is filling? Seems extraneous.

After I pull a shot, steam, or draw hot water, flush, etc, the machine makes a squeeking noise. It is a periodic squeek, lasting maybe 1/2 a second and repeating every 10 - 20 seconds for a few minutes. Any ideas what this is?

I noticed that when I inadvertently touch the side of the machine with the back of my hand I get a slightly electric sensation in my hand. I tested the side of the machine with a multimeter (other probe to ground on a nearby outlet) and noticed that there is an electric potential between the two. At first it is about 20V, but it quickly drops to a constant 2V. If I remove the probe wait, and try again, same thing: 20V, drops to 2V, stays stable. Any idea what's going on here, or if not does anyone have a schematic of this machine so I might be able to figure it out.

And finally, the steam handle is not smooth, squeeks a bit when activated, and takes some effort to move. How can I greas this and what with?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Alec

Getting voltage through the body of the machine is bad. Take it back to the service guy that worked on it. Also, rotary pump machines are sensitive to the input pressure. If you increase it, your brew pressure will increase unless you have a balanced bypass pump. The only way to set the brew pressure is with a portafilter pressure gauge. There are multiple thread on how to build your own portafilter pressure gauge unless you want to drop the cash on a Scace II. look in the FAQ's or do a search on the subject and you will get pages of information on them.

Getting voltage through the body of the machine is bad. Take it back to the service guy that worked on it.

A huge "ditto". This needs to be addressed pronto before someone gets hurt badly. If this machine were connected to a GFCI outlet (which it should be), it would trip instantaneously.

Taking it back isn't really an option, as it was shipped to me by freight. I'll just have to figure out what's wrong and fix it myself. It may be a few days before I have a chance to start, but I'll post more info if I get anywhere. If anyone has suggestions, I'd welcome them, if not, we'll see if I get anywhere.

Thanks for the info on a portafilter pressure gauge; I'll have to build one soon so I can dial in the group pressure.

Alec

Well, a real quickie would be the heating element(s) themselves. Electrically disconnect those and see if the voltage potential to ground still exists.

As regards your other questions:

Flush a gallon or two of water through your filter arrangement into the sink prior to hooking it up to the machine.

I do not believe that the basic design of these Elektra models has changed other than the fact that the newest models set their boiler pressure by means of a temperature sensor vice the typical Sirai pressurestat.

Set your MAXIMUM boiler pressure to 1.00 bar . . . that may reduce the cooling flush a bit. This machine is a "steaming monster" so even a bit lower may still be satisfactory.

More Elektra info here: /downloads/