Hi everyone,

the goddess is here:) picked her up yesterday and I'm still shocked what bargain I managed to find for only around 1200$ (with grinder and other useful stuff):

The most important thing is that the machine is only 2 years old and it looks like it almost wasn't used at all. I mean look at the group taken out, WITHOUT any cleaning whatsoever:



The PF's were clean as if new and only the spouts were a bit dirty. I took a pick inside and it all looks good with only small signs of scale. The steam wand was a bit dirty, but a bath in Cavizza quickly sorted that out. So far I've managed to take off the case, remove the steam wand and the hot water wand and remove the group. I'm strugling with the group mushroom and the nuts that hold the steam/water outlets in place. Oh I've already managed to break one of the front lights which snapped when I was removing the connectors from the back.

More too come soon, need to get more tools:)

Cheers,
dsc.

Nice going! The external Brita filters are great, I can't recommend them highly enough. That looks like the cleanest used machine that I've seen!

Bravo!

OMG!!! Elektra T1, Grinder and a water softener that they USED. Great find and a really good price.

What's under the cardboard box?

Mark

Hi guys,

still can't believe how lucky I am, the machine is almost new!

Took it apart today, removing most of the pipes, and only leaving the boiler in place:



Now I have a couple of questions:

- what the hell is this pipe inside the HX:



- how the hell do I unscrew the HX HEX nut? I couldn't find any 12mm HEX wrenches in the shops today.

- I need to unscrew the safety valves on top and the level sensor but I know they have those damn copper washers underneath. Can I reuse them or do I need to buy new ones when putting the whole thing back together? I know you Mark reused them so I'm looking to do the same.

Still haven't removed the electronic parts, although I'm not thrilled to do that as it looks like a lot of work.

So far everything went smoothly, well maybe except for the nuts holding the steam/hot water valves in place (nasty scratches).

The thing under the cardboard box is a bang box.

Cheers,
dsc.

A bit late, but if mine was in the shape of your, I would have just done an in place descale and started having espressos tomorrow with it. The lights on mine were also pretty fragile due to their location and proximity to the boiler.

I eventually found the hex wrench at Sears, not that helps you much. Check out local car parts places. If I remember right, I also used a 1 foot long pipe slipped over the hex wrench for extra torque.

You really should replace the washers if you can. A couple of my new ones fit perfect. I only had problems with one of them. That said, don't lose them and pry them out gently. For a while I was convinced they were part of the boiler.

Take a careful look at the parts diagrams and make a list of what you need or of what you are planning on replacing. There is nothing like sitting and waiting for a part when everything else depends upon it.

Mark

Hi Mark,

I totally forgot to thank you for the PDFs, especially the part diagrams were handy. Thanks a lot!!:)

Got the heater out yesterday and there's almost no scale on it, maybe a few small spots, but that's it. I also removed the safety valves, so I'm ready to take the boiler out and descale everything. I think I will do an 'inside' descale only, blocking the holes with something and pouring the descale solution inside, leaving it for a couple of hours. I will also soak the heater and pour some in all the tubes to make sure that everything is clean and descaled.

I also partially disassembled the hot water valve and cleaned out the grease around the ball joint near the handle. I will replace it with some silicone grease.

So far on my parts list I have:

- copper washers
- something to seal the heater joint (paper gaskets?)
- one green neon light
- water hose to plumb it in
- citric acid (or 2kg of lemons)
- 12mm HEX wrench

Cheers,
dsc.

Get the Teflon version of a gasket for the heater (advice I got on HB).
Gasket for the hex bolt (See page 13 #2 on Gasket 01228035), I think it was green.
Might as well replace the group head gasket and perhaps get a spare and replace it every 6-12 months. (See page 23 #14 filter gasket #01917035)

You might consider replacing the other O rings in the group head to since they get pretty hot.
Also on page 23:
#2 Gasket 01228035
#16 Group bell gasket 01204035
#18 Solenoid valve pilot gasket 00112035

Mark

Hi Mark,

thanks for your reply, those were the parts I was thinking of ordering as well.

I took the boiler out of the frame today and removed the heater to see how it looks inside. It's almost completely clean:O

Here's the heater:





and some scale starting to build up on the pump:



It would have worked fine if I was to do an in-place descale only (or even none at all).

Cheers,
dsc.

Tom, is that scale on the pump from a pump leak or from water dripping onto it from somewhere else, like, say, from putting wet cups on the cup warmer (top of the machine)? Seems like a pump leak you would want to fix soon.