Hey everyone I'm in a dilemma and need some advice.

I have an Isomac Tea that I've had almost 8 years. It's caused me very little issues except for the normal items such as heater elements, group gaskets, shower screens and cam lever gaskets. I've been religious about backflushing, monthly cleaning, annual descaling, and group gasket and shower screen replacement.

However it's starting to get a bit older and has recently started leaking water when pulling shots out of the bottom of the grouphead where water normally escapes after the shot. I hope you know what I'm talking about. Also, during the last service the Espresso Tech stated that the boiler had a tiny leak at the brazing and that he put some commercial putty on it that he uses for other Espresso machines. After speaking with Chris Coffee they mentioned that the entire group needed to be pulled apart and the gaskets replaced. Let me state that the machine functionally works and I still use it it's just not at 100%.

I figure that the cost is going to be about $300 with shipping from Texas to Chris Coffee, maybe more maybe less. My question is, do you think it's worth it?

What could I sell the machine at as is vs. what I could sell it for if I had it serviced?

Your thoughts as I'm really torn at what to do. My ultimate plan is to buy a new machine but I want to do what's going to be cost effective for me.



Apologizes but I cross posted in Coffee Geeks forum too.

The leak is something to be a bit concerned about... Is it a localized anomaly from poor brazing or is it the precursor of worse problems?

The seals in the group are not difficult to replace by anyone with basic hand tool knowledge and experience.

In the early days of the electrical home appliance industry, which began a little more than 100 years ago, appliances were made with durable materials and could be repaired indefinitely if one was so disposed. So it is with machines like the Tea, but decisions must be made on a part-by-part basis, and how much work to tackle is up to each individual.

I believe it was Stefano of Stefanos Espresso Care who mentioned on the boards recently that the older Isomac nickeled copper boilers have a tendency to develop weeps on the joints over time. This does not seem like a catastrophe unless more numerous holes develop, and even then, I would explore the option of replacing the boiler (though that would not be cheap) as opposed to junking the thing. Disconnecting an old boiler and reconnecting a new one is not a huge challenge. While the cost of a replacement boiler might make it not worth the effort - I'd check the numbers with a parts dealer and decide then.

As Randy said, I would not hesitate to rebuild my e-61, since the skill level to do so has been compared to the skill needed to repair a leaking faucet - no big deal - and rebuild kits are cheap.

From what I've heard it's the copper boilers from the Teas that had issues like these. The new stainless ones don't. However the cost of a stainless boiler is about $500.00 through Stefano. Also, when looking at the pinhole leak it was at the brazing area so it's not much.

Regarding the DIY, unfortunately I travel quite a bit and when I'm home I can barely keep up with everything else. I wish there was someone who was trusted in my area to complete the job however I had a bad experience with Coffee Techs in Austin. The main reason I wanted to send it to Chris Coffee is because if there were any other issues they would have the knowledge and/or parts available to fix it.

it's a little less then 500 for the S/S one,
we also offer "used" copper one
BUT you could be in the same boat down the road,

some times even doing an aggressive descale
( when machine that we received for repair are very very scaled up)
the acid will weaken the already weak weld spot so is a risky situation no matter what.
Spending all that money for the boiler plus all the parts to go for a complete rebuild most of the time IS NOT a suggested expense.

Can anyone give me an approximate value if I fixed everything minus replacing the boiler vs selling it as is.

Let me restate that the boiler is not leaking since the patch however full disclosure.

Well upon getting the machine ready by draining the boiler I discovered that the boiler is still leaking. Thus I have decided just to sell as is and buy a new machine. Very sad but it's not worth it to me to pay $500 for the boiler.

Have you considered the 'Loctite' solution? Inexpensive to find out if it works.

Using Loctite 290 to seal small cracks and pin holes in boilers

Mark