I have read the other posts about the problematic Mater pressure stat but I don't think that's what is happening with my machine.
Purchased about 2 months ago and working beautifully until yesterday........
Yesterday when going for my 1st shot of the day I had almost no water flow through the puck. I unloaded and ran the pump without portafilter and not only was the water debit poor (1/2 oz in 10 seconds) but I also could hear a rapid 'on-off-on-off' clicking from the base. It's possible to feel this clicking as well with a hand on the machine. That was about as far as i got yesterday as i had to head to work.
Today I took out the dispersion screen and brass plate to do some cleaning. I rechecked the water debit and got a full Illy in 10 seconds! Also no click from the base. Much better than yesterday. I replaced the screen and disc and retried and unfortunately the same symptoms from yesterday reappeared. Low debit and clicking from the base. My boiler pressure is fine, cycling from 1.3 down to 1 and back.
What does this seem to be? I'm guessing a malfunctioning pump? Would the solenoid produce these symptoms? I haven't descaled this machine and I only use RO water.

Thanks for any ideas.....
I contacted 1st Line and am awaiting a call.

Jay

This is like a rerun.

For Javajunkie, it was a clogged group jet; but there's also some diagnostic and fix it advice for the pump, if it's blocked there.

Sounds like (no pun) a loose electrical connection at the three-way valve. There "should be" one dual wire connection at this valve with one lead going to the pump and the other going to the brew switch. With the machine UNPLUGGED, tug on this particular connection and check for "looseness".

While you're at it, might as well check them all, but I would go to this one first.

Eric S.

I spoke with Jim at 1st line and he feels it is a faulty Ulka.

Another symptom in addition to what I already mentioned is that the pump does not ramp up in pressure. Under normal operation when I load a shot the pump has the typical vibe sound for the first few seconds after hitting the brew switch and then as pressure builds the pump's pitch lowers and becomes much quieter during the extraction. Now the pump sounds the same all the time and can barely get enough pressure through the puck to create a drip or two.
So...
Low water debit.
Clicking from base.
No brew pressure.

Talking with Jim was a pleasure. Very helpful even after hours on a Friday night.

Jay

Sorry if this is a repeat of the sypmtoms in other posts.

Check the Ulka pump repair thread -- the clicking sound could be from the check valve being unseated. In any case, the Ulka in the Elektra is attached to the base via a screw (you can see it on the right side of the base). If you have to replace the pump, it's easier to reuse the existing pump frame, which already has the screw hole tapped.