Fiorenzato Bricoletta- new owner - Page 2

February 16th, 2017, 3:17 pm

The only adjustment I made to the pump was to turn down the pstat to .8 bars on the gauge. Are you planning to get Eric S thermometer?

February 16th, 2017, 10:44 pm

Probably, once I get the bugs worked out of this machine, where did you order yours from? I did some further probing this afternoon and thought I found the source of pressure problems. One of the copper elbows coming out of the bottom of boiler was clogged with rock hard deposits. Cleaned it out and put back together and still doing the same thing...to the shop on Monday! If that junk was in that little line, then there's probably more elsewhere.

February 16th, 2017, 11:27 pm

I purchase mine from a fellow HBer

February 21st, 2017, 12:33 pm

Worst fear confirmed, shop called and said the hx is leaking into the boiler and a new one will be required to get this machine up and running. I can get a new one for 265. I'm guessing this is a pretty straightforward process of swapping out the old with the new. Guessing I will need a new heating element gasket or are these reusable?

February 25th, 2017, 12:22 am

Okay, so I got the new boiler installed today and everything works as it should; well almost. I tried to pull several shots and only got a dribble from portafilter. I use a pretty fine grind for my other espresso machine so I dialed the grind back a little and got a bigger dribble but not much. Does grind fineness vary that much between machines? Is the fact that machine is not plumbed in yet and pulling from a jug a factor here?

February 25th, 2017, 8:32 pm

Update:
Put together a cheap portafilter pressure gauge with a 200psi gauge and could only achieve 38psi or 2.6 bar. Is this indicative of a failing pump or is this still because I am running my hose into a jug? When I first got this machine, the pump was frozen up and I had to use a wrench on shaft to free it up.

February 27th, 2017, 10:21 am

Hi Steve
Did the fellow who fixed your HX have any advice about the pump situation?
Are you using a flow jet between your jug and the machine?
I am not really familiar with the ins and outs of a non-tank machine. Maybe you could do a search on HB, pretty sure there have been lots of discussions about flow jets. Replacing a vibe pump is really easy to do yourself, but the guy that replaced the HX should have already gone through the entire machine.

February 27th, 2017, 10:59 am

I replaced the boiler/hx myself after the shop I took it too gave me the diagnosis, pretty straightforward job and learned a lot doing it. As far as running my machine off of a jug, yes there have been a lot of discussions concerning this. From what I can tell, it is okay to do this but not the preferred method and it does depend on the machine but not a lot of info concerning this for the Bric. I'm not convinced that my low brewhead pressure is connected to running off of a jug but welcome all advice/opinions. I wanted to ensure my machine was good before re-rigging my plumbing options.

March 2nd, 2017, 10:07 pm

Update, installed the new pump today. Since this pump is capable of 250 psi. I figured I back off on adjustment screw before applying pressure. At first, the motor would spin and then slow to a stall as pressure built up. So I backed it off a little more and no more stalling. I then put on my portafilter mounted gauge and tried to adjust to 9 bar. The most I could get was about 6.5 bar before motor would begin stalling. What's up with that?
I'm new to this machine so not sure how its supposed to act. Any advice?

BTW, I did load basket to see if the pressure was sufficient to brew espresso and it was. Is 9 bar needed or will this increase once I plumb the machine in?

March 5th, 2017, 5:32 pm

Another update...I finally plumbed in my machine yesterday, was able to adjust pressure to 130psi (9 bar) and now I think all is fine. A note on the controversy surrounding running off of a jug versus plumbed in; I thing it all depends on the machine but mine wasn't happy without mains pressure assisting pump pressure. I could not get 9 bar out of jug pressure.

A question concerning pump adjustment, my last pump had the adjustment screw that protruded through the acorn nut, this one, the screw is under the acorn so you have to take it off. I am getting a leak at the adjustment screw with nut off but it's sealed with an o-ring when nut is on. Is this seepage normal while adjusting pressure?