Elektra A3 finally installed...no water coming out?

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Yeti
Posts: 116
Joined: 15 years ago

#1: Post by Yeti »

Finally got the coffee bar finished (wired & plumbed), hooked up my new to me Elektra A3 with the first test there is water coming out of the group head, but not the or steam/water valves :(

When apart, the pump was a little tough to turn by hand, but it would turn (had been sitting for ~ 5yrs). Line in is ~3 bar, and I'm getting 9 bars of pressure when I flick the lever to run water through the grouphead.

Boiler pressure gauge is not rising though.

Heating element is presently not wired in until I know the hydraulics are working as they should.

Could it be a vapour lock? Do I need the element hooked up to create boiler pressure?
Any suggestion as to where to start?

Thanks,
Dave

aindfan
Posts: 637
Joined: 17 years ago

#2: Post by aindfan »

The steam and hot water on your Elektra both require a heated/pressurized boiler. Everything sounds ok from here, but the most important thing is verifying that you have water in the boiler before connecting the heater. Does the pump sound ok when you enable the group lever? Does the pump click on when you turn on the machine? This last bit is to confirm autofill - another way to check that autofill works is to disconnect the level probe wire (WITH THE MACHINE UNPLUGGED) and turn the machine on for a few seconds to see if the pump runs and the boiler fills. If you're sure that there is water above the heating element, then it should be safe to plug in the heater terminals.

Note that the boiler pressure gauge shows exactly that - you will not see a change on it from pulling a shot, and it will only react to a hot and pressurized boiler. Do you have a double sided gauge that shows both pump and boiler pressure or is it only for boiler pressure (range of 0-2 bar or so)?
Dan Fainstein
LMWDP #203
PSA: Have you descaled lately?

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Yeti (original poster)
Posts: 116
Joined: 15 years ago

#3: Post by Yeti (original poster) »

aindfan wrote:The steam and hot water on your Elektra both require a heated/pressurized boiler.
<Sheepish grin> yup, though that was the case, thought I'd ask first though :oops:
Everything sounds ok from here, but the most important thing is verifying that you have water in the boiler before connecting the heater. Does the pump sound ok when you enable the group lever? Does the pump click on when you turn on the machine? This last bit is to confirm autofill - another way to check that autofill works is to disconnect the level probe wire (WITH THE MACHINE UNPLUGGED) and turn the machine on for a few seconds to see if the pump runs and the boiler fills. If you're sure that there is water above the heating element, then it should be safe to plug in the heater terminals.
Just checked all the above and it's good to go, rewired the element in and things are now working as they should be
Note that the boiler pressure gauge shows exactly that - you will not see a change on it from pulling a shot, and it will only react to a hot and pressurized boiler. Do you have a double sided gauge that shows both pump and boiler pressure or is it only for boiler pressure (range of 0-2 bar or so)?
Got that on the BP, and yes it's double sided, all is working right so far.

Thanks for taking the time to respond Dan, appreciate the confirmation.
Time to go play now :D