Isomac Millennium troubleshooting

Equipment doesn't work? Troubleshooting? If you're handy, members can help.
Dr. Coffee
Posts: 89
Joined: 9 years ago

#1: Post by Dr. Coffee »

Hi guys, so long story short I ended up buying a Nuova Simonelli MCI that was hardly used for $30, and with it came an old "broken" Isomac Millenium. So I lugged this beautiful but 50 pound stainless steel beast back to my place to begin tinkering and testing. Heres the deal-

First, I have no idea how to use this machine, all I know is that if you pull the lever up, hot water should come through the grouphead and if you twist a knob, steam or hot water comes out.

Issue #1- I turn the machine on and it sucks up water and begins to heat no problem. The little red light turns off and the green one turns on, seems like coffee time to me. I pull up the lever, the pump turns on, and nothing comes out of the grouphead. great.
-when I look in back, the shorter hose (over pressure hose?) is putting water back into the reservoir. When I loosen the top nut on the e61 water oozes out when I turn the pump on, and water still comes out of the short tube. I assume I need to disassemble the E61, clean out all the gunk that is presumably in there, and put it back together. Will descaling solve this issue?

Issue #2- When I first turn the machine on the the pressure gauge slowly climbs to 1.5 bar, then the pump and I assume the heating element turns off and the green light turns on. I open the steam valve and get some steam, the pressure gauge drops immediately, the steam slows down and the little gauge never goes up again unless I restart the machine. I've tried steaming while turning the pump on. I've tried steaming, closing the valve, and turning the pump on. In both cases water trickles out of the short hose and the steam never comes back.

HELP PLEASE!!
Thanks guys (oh btw I'm relatively handy, I just need access to my tools to dive into this thing)

Dr. Coffee (original poster)
Posts: 89
Joined: 9 years ago

#2: Post by Dr. Coffee (original poster) »

Update- it would appear that the boiler is not filling at all and any steam pressure I saw was just from left over water in the boiler. Does that change anything?