I have run into a bit of a problem with my Elektra T1.


My shots are incredible sour, even if I let my machine sit for 2 hours. And I can't seem to find any reason. And it's even more odd as I just descaled my machine the other day. And it's not like i didn't do it proberly, there is no traces of scale on the mushroom or in the tubes leading to it.

And the steam is powerful and doesn't loose pressure when steaming huge quantities of milk. The pressure seems fine as Well As I get lot's of crema but the color is pale, but the pressure gauge shows 9bars.

Could there Be something wrong with the spring or restrictor in the group?

I'm also wondering if in fact my pressure gauge shows the Right pressure. Because when I look at the setting it showed minus 7 in setting and the pressure gauge shows 0,9 bar. And minus five in setting for 1,1 bar.

So if any other T1 owners out there Will check setting versus pressure I Will Be very pleased.

Mine is between 1 and 1.1 at -3. at 0 it is around 1.5.

I won't be much help diagnosing the problem unless the following silly thought helps - any chance you removed a water pressure restrictor on the supply side when you descaled the machine and didn't put it back in or changed its setting accidentally? (Before I put mine in my shots were not very good, but I can't remember if they were sour or not, just that it was a totally different machine once it was added in since my house water pressure was too high).

I assume you flushed all the citric out well enough?

I have flushed allot of Water out of the Hx so that shouldn't Be the problem.

My pressure gauge is apparently not showing the Right pressure, as All machines are set up the same way.

So it seems like the gauge shows 0,1-2 bar above the accurate pressure. No wonder my espresso taste like crap if the boiler pressure in reality was around 0,6- 0,7 bar

But that isn't the first time I heard about inaccurate pressure gauges. But That is really annoying!

But I Will try to increase pressure and see if that help

With the machine off and the water mains turned off everything should be at 0 on the gauge's. If it is not, your gauge is bad. The movers broke the gauge on my machine somehow. When I moved into my new home and unboxed it the gauge was pointed all different directions. They are easy enough to replace, just two fittings and a retainer to unscrew but that dual nanometer gauge is $80 USD if I remember correctly.

The T1 and A3 are fire breathing monsters. When you flush the heat exchanger it should hiss and sizzle like a bag full of snakes. I run my machine at .9 bar at the top of the heating cycle and it is more than enough. At 1.1 bar you will have a very long cooling flush. The machine needs at least an hour to heat, 2 hours is better, or better yet turn it on and never turn it off. It is a commercial machine and designed to run 24/7. I am also assuming that after the machine heats, if you open the steam wand does the pressure die? If your vacuum breaker is stuck closed the machine will build up false pressure and never get hot. If you open the steam wand to vent the boiler pressure and it runs out of pressure in a few seconds then your breaker valve is stuck which happens on all machines now and then. One of those parts that needs replaced now and then.

If I open the steam valve and keep it running for some time, it loses 0,2-0,3 bar in pressure, but most noticeable in the beginning if I keep it open for a longer time, it Will after some time go up to around 0,9 bar of pressure, So As you Can see the pressure never go below 0,8 bar, no matter how long i run it. And the steam is extremely dry.

If I turn it off, the bar indicator pin go down to 0.

When i heat it up in the morning, I Can clearly hear the vacuum breaker closing with a tjuck Sound. And if remove the cup warming tray I Can clearly see it moving and release pressure before it closes. First after it closes the pressure (according to the pressure gauge) rises. I have not tried to open the steam valve before 1-2 hours after I turn it on.

The brew head is extremely hot, and so is other hot areas on the machine. And if I set it at 1.1 bar i get allot og hiss and sizzle And It behaves like a fire breathing dragon. But it doesn't at 0,8- 0,9 bars of pressure

And it Can't Be scale either, As I just descaled it, besides there is no Sound indicating that should Be the case. And There is no traces of scale neither in the Hx tubes or the brewhead/ mushroom , steam arm etc.

And that is why I believe that the pressure gauge doesn't show the Right pressure. But of cause I don't really know for sure.

The only thing I know is that if I set the boiler to -7 (0,8-0,9 bar) in the setting I only get Sour espresso

I wonder if the right pressure is different for the new T1's from the older ones. I read about how hot they are and am always surprised how cool my machine is. Cups on top, for example, are not quite as hot as I'd like them even if I set it to 1.5 instead of the usual 1.1 I tend to keep it at. I'd bought insulation for the boiler, but see no reason to install it even in the summer. I wonder if they somehow run cooler at a given pressure (or does that defy the laws of physics as I would have expected)?

Also another related question about the newer models is this

cannonfodder wrote:
If your vacuum breaker is stuck closed the machine will build up false pressure and never get hot.

From the write ups on it...

"It does not have a pressurestat to regulate the boiler pressure which is directly proportional to the temperature of the boiler and water in the heat exchanger. This espresso machine has an additional probe in the steam boiler that is connected to an electronic controller which regulates the boiler steam pressure."

I was hoping that meant it would be immune to false pressure, but I'd love to know if that was the case or not. (I haven't had false pressure yet on this machine).

In the manual it clearly say that if the Gicleur (filter) is clogged, Or if the circulation is partly clogged, then it Will effect the temperature of the grouphead.

Could that Be the problem, the passage from the Hx to the grouphead seems fine.

If I remove the bolt from the group, is it possible to remove the gicleur from there to inspect it, last time i looked inside there where no traces of deposits. But I didn't remove it, I just assumed it was fine.

How bad was the scale before your descaling operation?
I suppose it's possible some scale might have gotten dislodged and gotten stuck in the gicleur or somewhere else in the group head.

Not that bad, I usually descale it every 6 month, and I use filtered water. But I can't really make any guarantee that some of the deposit didn't dislodge itself and are now restricting the flow.

But if that was the case shouldn't it take longer to flush, rather Then the other Way around.

I just tried Brewing espresso at boiler pressure 1.1 bar, and it still taste sour. Even after it has sat idle for plus 3 hours. Something is seriously wrong.