zin1953 wrote:P.S. The top aligns like a tic-tac-toe grid (#), with the slots at a 90-degree angle to each other.

NO! NO!! NO!!!

I lied. That's what I get for posting without looking . . . What i meant was that the slots in the two covers are offset so that water does NOT drip into the machine.

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and so on . . .

Sorry about that, Chief!

SET712 (Standard Equipment Technologies) PID. Seems to be a very inexpensive unit (came with my previous machine).

Mark

A few things before you start down the path. Your valve, it does not look bent. After you use the machine for a while the valve controls get a little play in them. They do not pop back to dead center all the time. That photo you posted looks like my steam wand which is not bent but broken in.



The cup warmer. The lower plate will have a screw hole. The hole is off to one side so the lower plate will only go on one way. The sides go up like a U with the screw hole in the front and right of center. The top plate is slightly smaller and goes in with the sides down. To take the plates off, use a paint can opener. One of the handiest tools you can put in the espresso bar. You can open your beer bottles, hook and lift those top gratings, pry out shower screens, pry out group gaskets, and a plethora of other uses.

cannonfodder wrote:A few things before you start down the path. Your valve, it does not look bent. After you use the machine for a while the valve controls get a little play in them. They do not pop back to dead center all the time. That photo you posted looks like my steam wand which is not bent but broken in.

Thanks for the pic. I will definitely have a better look at that. As I said, the valve control has absolutely no play in it, which is what makes me worry. Still, it's only cosmetic.

[edit] Here's a closer look at the one pictured above. You're right, from this angle it looks off of center, rather than bent. You can also see the nicks in the nut from the lever slamming into it.



On the other hand, I also had a look at my picture of the other valve; It looks like it may in fact be bent:



In case you need any more detail, here's a closer look.



[/edit]

I'll have to get a paint can opener, sounds like a pretty useful tool. FWIW, I am pretty sure I didn't see a screw hole on either of my lid pieces. Maybe the old ones aren't supposed to be screwed down?

Hate it when my lever dents my nuts, ouch . It does look like it was battered. My valves have a little play in them. The photos are from one side to the other. The valves close up just fine; they just don't pop back to dead center which I attribute to breaking in. The stock levers/portafilter handle are made of Bakelite, I turned a set of Bocote for my machine which is why they look different.

If one of your tops does not have a screw hole in it, then put the larger one on the bottom, smaller on top. Vent holes go in opposite directions with the rolled edges toward each other to form a hollow gap between each plate.

Hi Nicholas,

great news, congrats on the machine!!:) another one joins the league of Elektra owners

If you want a fast config for temperature indication you can always use an unsheathed TC and simply run it between the group and the 'bell' of the group.

Regards,
dsc.

Dave,

I friggin' love you, man!

I got home tonight, heated up a citric acid solution, removed the bypass valve and adjustment assembly from the pump, and filled it up with the solution. Turned the spindle a few times, and filled it. I let it sit for awhile, emptied it out, and repeated that process 3-4 times. I cleaned up the rubber parts on the bypass valve and put some food grade lubrication on them to keep them soft, and reassembled it.

Reinstalled into the machine, routing the pump water out to the sink, and turned her on. Sure enough, after a minute the pump kicked in, and the pump part sounded fairly good. In spite of my 3/8" line, I think that my 0.5 micron carbon filter is going to have to go. It makes noise like it's getting sucked on when the pump kicks into gear, and the pump starts to make a funny noise after a bit that I think is cavitation. I fed it from a bottle, and this removed that noise, but the motor with a load sounds kind of... annoyingly loud. Maybe it was damaged from running with a seized pump.

Anyway, it works for now, and I don't need to replace the pump, which is excellent news. Anyone know if AC motors can be tuned/repaired, either by myself or a professional? For now I think I am going to live with it.

I haven't got to checking the steam knobs. I can't figure out how to get the lock nut off. I believe you turn it clockwise to loosen, but it really doesn't want to budge without some serious torque, and I am afraid of damaging the chrome...

The plot continues to thicken.

Lock nuts go counter clock wise (when looking at your machine from the front). I left them finger tight as they don't need to keep much from moving.

Mark

Put some electrical tape on the nuts to lessen the chance of damaging the chrome.

Mark

The new Elektra valves ( since 1997 or so) are reverse thread