cuppajoe wrote:Here's the link to my rebuild - ECM Giotto Project

One thing to remember when sourcing parts is that while the old ECM Gioto shares some parts with the new Rocket version, many are not, and the ECM has been out of production for some time. Stefano is the go to guy for most internal bits such as the group rebuild kit. Check out his Isomac parts diagrams, as a lot are interchangeable. Seattle Coffee Gear had a new drip grate that fit mine perfectly, so guess most of the Rocket body parts would fit as well.

Take your time, take lots of pictures and make lots of notes, and look forward to that first shot. These are very capable machines.

Cuppajoe, it was your beautiful posts\pictures that inspired me to give this a shot. I've got the smartphone camera clicking away as I dive in to this machine. I managed to bring my La Pavoni back to life after years in a garage - total labor of love but well worth it. Hoping for the same result - a perfect shot before climbing on the road bike in the am.

Thanks for pinging back; hoping I can contact you from time to time on the nuances of how you restored your machine. I'm a neophyte and just dumb enough to dive in.

No problem, will be glad to help in any way I can.

Hey David,

You were right, Stefano was an instantaneous response. They don't have a 135* tstat with reset - only a 145* but they do have a 135 without the reset. I'm thinking 135 to stay consistent with designed temp.

They have a water solenoid valve to replace the one that's melted but alas it's not 110. I've searched it but can't find one so Stefano suggested a Parker 4.5 from the Isomac as a reasonable alternative. Seems reasonable but no real clue here.

I'm going to order both today. If you have an alternative idea please chime in. I'll then do a quick install and test to see if I need any other parts. I plan to then go about the full break down of the machine (although maybe not the group as I've never done one) and address the leaks and corrosion on the internals as best I can.

Stefano did say from the pics that this was going to be time consuming and $$$$. Just keeping my mind focused on that first shot......

By tsat are you referring to the safety cutoff switch? if so, it's only function is to protect the element. If Stefano recommends the 145 as a replacement, and you would like to have it resettable, then would go with his suggestions.

Just about everything I ordered from him was from the Isomac catalog. It would probably be a good idea to rebuild the e61 group in any case, as everything you drink goes through it. Lots of how-tos on this site. If your machine looks like how mine started, and you plan on keeping it for a long while, might not be a bad idea to just bite the bullet and just rebuild the machine. That way you know exactly where you stand and it will probably be a long while before you need to mess with it again. Just about anything I buy food related gets a complete disassembly and cleaning before I will consume anything coming out of it.

Hi, forgive my error but I think that the tstat I'm referring to is the screw in type on the top left of the boiler with the little red reset button and 2 wire connections (one being the red lead to the pstat) - from your pictures on your rebuild. The existing is labelled 135 degrees and I'm assuming this gizmo controls the temperature of the water in the tank. The other gizmo is a water solenoid below the tank with 3 wire connections (black rectangular box with white writing). Connections on my solenoid were melted and Stefano has a replacement from the Isomac that he says will work. Can you tell I'm a liberal arts major and not an engineer?

I'm not going to risk health issues from the corrosion and dirt (what, coffee doesn't kill germs!?!?) Everything will be rebuilt but I first need to see if I'm dealing with $100 in parts or $400 - just want to get it functioning first before tearing it down. If the brain, pump, boiler, heating element, etc are shot, too, then it will sadly have to become a "parts" machine.

Parts are on their way today - should have by Friday and I'll either be pulling test shots Friday or lamenting the death of a fine machine.

buddysharp wrote:Hi, forgive my error but I think that the tstat I'm referring to is the screw in type on the top left of the boiler with the little red reset button and 2 wire connections (one being the red lead to the pstat) - from your pictures on your rebuild. The existing is labelled 135 degrees and I'm assuming this gizmo controls the temperature of the water in the tank.

That gizmo is often referred to as a thermostat, but it really does not maintain temperature. It's a thermal safety switch that trips and opens the heater circuit if the boiler gets abnormally hot, then you need to push the button to reset it. The pressurestat alone is responsible for maintaining your boiler temp.

A higher temp thermal safety switch is less likely to trip at operating temps but perhaps a also a little less likely to protect your system in case of some malfunction. It won't effect your brew temp at all. If Stefano thinks the resettable type at 145C will do the job, I wouldn't hesitate to go with that.

ah, grasshopper now understands. That makes total sense now. I didn't get the engineering here based on the wiring and for instance why the "tstat" was wired to the "pstat". Yep, Stefano said it would work fine so I'm going with it. I'll continue to search for one though that is 135 and has a reset button; I like keeping things original and the part is cheap.

The melted water solenoid scares me a bit though given how damaged it was. But if it's voltage tolerance is as low as indicated, then I'm hoping for a successful outcome on using the Parker 4.5 that Stefano suggested and simply repairing the spade connectors.

I opened up the boiler last night and it's a mess of black crap. Ran out of time but intend to go a bit further tonight and post some pics.

OK, dumb problem time. Doing a trial re-assembly to test new parts and see if anything else has failed before full disassembly and cleaning. Reinstalling the mater pstat and the copper tube with the soldered connection on one end. upon re-assembly, the pstat is pointing the wrong way; not sure why and didn't have a washer. 180* out and spade contacts would actually contact the exterior panels. Tried adding a crush washer but no luck. Any ideas as to what I am missing? I'm afraid to crank it further for fear of stripping.

Loosen the nut, rotate the pstat to whatever position you want and retighten.

Hey Eric, thanks but the blasted nut is soldered into a fixed position, UNLIKE every other brass line connection on the machine. So when the pstat bottoms out - it stops. I tried adding a crush washer but similar result.


I guess I'll hold my breath and twist the copper back to where I need it......