Hi, first post.

I have a one month old Isomac Rituale II machine that has developed a leak at the outlet of the pump, so that I wind up with a puddle of water under the machine after using it. There is a right-angle metal fitting in the plastic outlet tube of the pump, and it looks like the leak is between the outlet tube and that fitting. Can someone tell me how the fitting is locked into the outlet tube? That is, is it just screwed in? In that case maybe I just need to tighten it a little, although if I tighten it too much it will not be properly aligned for the hose connection.

Thanks for your help!

/Bill

I would make darn sure that the leak is where the fitting screws into the pump's snout before I did anything. Assuming that you purchased the machine locally, I would contact the dealer and get their advice on warranty repairs.

If this is something you must fix yourself, the pump needs to be removed from the machine and the 90 degree ell removed from the pump. IIRC, a stainless steel hose is attached to the 90 degree ell - this needs to be removed from where it connects to the remaining machine piping.

Make a note as to how much threading of the ell is exposed where it screws into the pump. Remove the metal ell from the pump and clean any sealant that MAY be on the threads including the internal threads on the pump. This threading is 1/8"-28 BSPP sometimes indicated as 1/8G on drawings. If you look inside the snout of the pump, you will see a white plastic "cage" that serves as a spring retainer (for the pump's discharge valve) AND ALSO as a sealing face for the 90 ell. Screw the ell into the pump by hand and you should "feel" the ell come up against the "cage" face. Now remove the ell again and apply two layers (maximum) of teflon tape to the ell. The teflon tape will act as a secondary sealant.

The pump snout can rotate freely but I would NOT apply a wrench to the 90 ell as those plastic threads in the pump can be a little fragile. You may need to apply a thin 12 mm wrench to the flats on the snout while hand tightening the ell. After tightening, the ell and the snout can be turned as a unit to align with the braided hose.

Good luck and, welcome to Home-Barista.

+1, except it required 4 layers of teflon to effect a seal. The ell bottomed before 2 layers were effective.

Eric, I don't know which I am more impressed with, your intimate knowledge of the Rituale or your kindness in sharing your knowledge. Anyway, your response was exactly the information I was looking for. Thank you very much! And thank you, Ian, for your response also.

The water drips from the ell-pump outlet joint, as you can see in the photo below. I thought it most likely that the leak was at that point as well. But if you think that the leak might be at the pump, with the water running down to the end of the outlet tube, I can try tying a cord around the tube and see if it drips from that instead.

I bought the machine from Bella-Italia.com in Italy and they shipped it to me here in Sweden. They were unable to really help me with the problem till Isomac opened again in September (chiuso per ferie). I took the machine to an Isomac service store here in Sweden (Caricon Electric), but they said they did not honor the warranty for a unit purchased outside of Sweden. I told them I would pay and left the unit with them after they promised to look at it and call me later in the day. But by the end of the day they had not even bothered to take the unit out of the box, so I brought it back home.

I don't want to ship the unit back to Italy, so my plan is to have Belle-Italia ask Isomac to send me a new pump unit under warranty. If that does not work, then I will try to repair the unit myself, following your instructions. I will also try to fix a spare unit to have on hand (any idea where I can buy the 1/8G ell?).

Again, thank you Eric and Ian for your very kind responses! You have been most helpful.

/Bill

But if you think that the leak might be at the pump . . .

The leak MAY BE where the stainless hose attaches to the 90 ell. A small leak there will show up exactly as it does in your photo. Dry the area thoroughly with tissue paper or a paper towel and operate the machine with the blind filter in place. Probe the area with tissue paper with the machine pumping against the blind filter.

If you need to tighten the stainless hose connection, be sure to apply a counter-hold to the 90 ell. That 90 ell is a very common espresso machine part.

Actually, I had already checked the stainless steel hose connection, with a blind filter on, and it was dry. I checked again this morning, and now the leak is worse and I can see water bubbling out of the ell-outlet hose connection. So I am quite sure that that connection is the problem.

/Bill

OK, re the source of the leak. When you ask for a pump, ask for a pump with the 90 ell already installed. I would refer them to this thread.

Since you've already had a problem with the plastic outlet, see if you can get a pump with brass outlet

erics wrote:OK, re ther source of the leak. When you ask for a pump, ask for a pump with the 90 ell already installed. I would refer them to this thread.

Thanks, I will follow both suggestions.

cafeIKE wrote:Since you've already had a problem with the plastic outlet, see if you can get a pump with brass outlet

Good idea. I had already found a site where I could order a 220V pump with a brass outlet if I had to upgrade myself, but I will ask for one from Isomac.

The machine seems otherwise to be pretty nice. The only other problem I have is that the springs in the water tank suspension are too strong, so that the limit switch cuts off when the tank gets down to half-full, but I think I can fix that. Also, I will replace the plastic Y's in the water lines with brass ones. I will report back on how things turn out on the pump problem.

Hi,
I have a Isomac tea which I brought from Italy a month ago which has exactly the same problem with a leak between the plastic outlet from the Ell pump and the 90 deg, can you let me know the outcome of the Ell pump, ie did you buy a new one (with a brass outlet) and where from or did you get sent a new one under warranty.
thanks