Thanks for the information Jim, I live in the UK and so far I have not been able to find anyone who does elekra spares, I am searching at this moment. If I have no luck I will send machine back to Elektra Italy. Got my gaggia up and running again, regards Ray.

There is an elektra importer in the UK is a big coffee roasting company
called ( not sure about the spelling )
Matthew Algie

cbrew wrote:. . . I have the semiautomatic which is about two months old.

Let me first say that I know nothing about your machine other than what I have read and pics I have seen in Jim S's fine review. Now I do realize that circumstances differ from user to user but removing a heating element from a machine that is under warranty(?) would not necessarily be on my list unless there were no other alternative. Furthermore, there APPEARS to be a few items you need to remove to gain access to the element and that, by itself, could be the source of a headache or two.

Hello, sorry to hear about the problems with your Semi. When I lived in the UK, Costa Coffee sold Elektra machines. I do not know what their relationship with Elektra is today, but you could start there, they may be able to help. My guess is that they would recommend shipping back to Elektra Italy, I doubt Costa has any UK warranty service. Doing a quick Google search found a few importers, but no one who seemed to represent the full line. Good luck.

Enjoy your experience.

Hello again, just an update on the machine. I have some had some very good advise from Stafano's espresso care. He sent me a breakdown of the machine and some tips on removing the base. Hope to have the machine working agian soon. Thanks to all at HB for your help. Ray.

Hi Ray - just a (selfish) suggestion - would you document the steps you follow for replacing the heating element? During a descale, I tore my machine down fairly far, but stopped short of removing the element, it seemed a little trickier than the diagrams I had on hand suggested. For those of us who have a machine out of warranty, we may someday be faced with attempting our own replacement or sending it out to be done, and a few pics and notes of what works (and doesn't) could be helpful in making a decision.

By the way, not sure what part of the UK you are in, but if you are ever down in Brighton, swing in to Red Roaster on St. James St. Tim is the owner, he has a roaster on the premises, and he and his crew make sublime espresso and cappas.

Enjoy your experience, James

James asked if I would document the steps to replace the heating element, I will try my best. Tools needed, set of mm open ended spanners from 16mm downwards. 8mm socket is ideal to remove the base bolts if you have one and screw drivers, (posi and blade). To begin remove the posi screw located under the drip tray, unscrew the nut connecting the fill pipe below the water reservoir, unscrew the pipe at the bottom of the boiler where it goes through the base using a 12mm spanner.Turn the machine over and place on the floor. Put a box or anything you have, to come level with the base of the machine, this is to rest the base on when you remove it,see photo. To begin, remove the plastic base cover, remove the pressurestat, then remove the flexible pipe, pull the wires off the heating element and make note to replace correctly. untighten the pressurestat pipe from the heating element using the 22mm spanner and remove. Next untighten the other pipe from the heating element and the nut that connects to the solenoid valve and remove the pipe from the element. Now gently pull out the probe of the element safety switch and put out of the way. Now remove the four bolts holding the base to the boiler using the 8mm spanner or socket. There are two (in my case) black wires coming into the base from the brew head, these have to be pulled off the connectors, one from the solenoid and the other from the brew switch, make a note where to replace. The reason for disconnecting these wires is when you lift off the base the wires travel down through the rubber grommet in the base and gives you enough slack so you can place the base on the box which you put next to the machine, (remove the base). Having done that the rest is easy. Using the screw driver remove the screws and pull out the heating element, make a note how to replace the new element in the same position. Before fitting the new element I poured a half ltr of water into the boiler so that when I had replaced everything and turned the machine the right way up I could check for leaks, and also when I started the machine up again I would have water covering the heating element. Refit the new element. Place the plastic insulator onto the boiler with the cut out facing the drip tray. Lower the base with your left hand and with your right hand guide the pipe through the rubber grommet in the base onto the boiler. Make sure every thing is lined up as before and replace the bolts and tighten using the 8mm spanner. Replace everything in reverse order and the job is done. I hope this will help some one. Ray.

Cheers Ray, very helpful and thorough instructions. I have bookmarked the thread for future reference. Great idea to protect the finish while you work on the machine.

Glad to see you are back up and running again. Hope your machine is trouble free from here out.

Enjoy your experience, James.

Nicely done. Thanks for the writeup. It'll help anyone who needs to do major repairs on the Semi.

Thanks so much for posting the boiler replacement instructions. It would have taken me all day to figure it out on my own. With the instructions I did it in about an hour. I'm not thrilled that the machine has needed a new p-stat and boiler in less than 18 months of use, but I still love it. Blinded by beauty I guess, not to mention by great espresso.