My Brewtus II is now 5 years old, and It looks like it's starting to have prostate problems.

When I engage the pump with either a loaded pf or with a blind basket, the brew pressure goes to the opv limit (or a reasonable brew pressure) and then immediately starts to fall. As it falls, the pump becomes quieter and quieter. Eventually the pressure falls to zero and the pump becomes a whisper.

At this point if I disengage the pump, remove the pf, and re-engage the pump, the pump remains whisper quiet and there is zero water flow. I have to turn off the machine and let it sit for 10-15 minutes in order for the pump to return to normal sounding operation and to get water flow. It takes about 10 seconds for the water flow to return.

I was sure it was the opv, and so I replaced the old nylon-screw opv with the brass-screw version, with no change.

The pump will happily fill both boilers from empty, and when I test the pump's flow by volume, it produces the correct amount of water for its type of Ulka pump over the 10 second time interval. So I'm not sure that the pump is at fault, and I'm pretty sure it's not the opv.

Any ideas? I don't know what to try next.

Mark

I contacted WLL tech support, who suggested that I must have a clog in the system. This is what is causing the brew pressure to rise and then fall and the pump to go very quiet. They suggest that I remove and clean out the solenoid valve. The only thing is that to me it looks like the solenoid is involved in controlling flow to the steam boiler, but not the brew boiler.

I'm not crazy about getting at the solenoid valve if it cannot be responsible for the problem.

I guess I'll try descaling the brew boiler and brew path a couple of times to see if that helps. I don't mind descaling the brew boiler, but I am concerned that descaling the brew path will then require that I disassemble and re-lube the brew path. I'm also not crazy about releasing all that chrome into the brew path with the descaler.

Is descaling the brew path as well as brew boiler a good idea? Am I correct about the solenoid?

Mark

You are correct about the solenoid valve - if it were stuck open, you would be overfilling the steam boiler. Exactly how much flow do you get from the group (say in 30 seconds) with empty PF in place? It seems to me as though something is amiss with the check valves internal to the Ulka pump i.e. I can't think of anything else within the system that would cause the problem you are seeing.

Have you been here? http://groups-beta.google.com/group/brewtus

Thanks for the suggestions. I guess I'll order a new pump from WLL. Actually, vibe pumps are probably standard issue, so I might look to find a source here in Toronto (there's a Faema repair place near the downtown).

If the machine will let me, I'll try a descale first.

Mark

Rotary conversion is a great idea; I really wish i had the time right now to figure out how to do it, and then actually do it. I'm afraid it's just too much right now - I barely have the time to do the basics like the opv.

You certainly make a good case for doing the conversion, though.

Mark