I spoke with the tech at Chris' Coffee, and he confirmed that the water line needs to be cleaned and wrapped with Teflon tape. Apparently, the Italians like to use a liquid thread sealant (the green stuff visible on the nuts in the picture), and sometimes it doesn't do a perfect job of sealing the threads. Chris' Coffee prefers to use lots of tape instead. So I'll give it a try tonight and hopefully that will take care of the problem.

I also ordered up a new water softener and filter, since there seems to be a lot of scale on the fittings where the water evaporated. Chris recommends changing the water softener every six to twelve months, depending on how hard your water is. My water seems to be on the hard side, so I'll change the softener now, which will hopefully avoid problems with scale buildup down the road.

Wow, what kind of water are you using?

I assume since its under warranty that maybe LM can send someone out?

The threading in the pump is likely 3/8"-BSPP so get new copper washers from LM (might as well order some spares). Tighten the fittings just shy of ONE FLAT (maximum) after they are finger tight. You do not need teflon tape.

Clean the stainless steel pump housing with a toothbrush and white vinegar. You MAY be able to bake out the moisture in the SSR by leaving it in a toaster oven set at 225F but a replacement would be the better choice. Take wiring pics or make a diagram prior to disconnecting.

Wow, what kind of water are you using?

It's plumbed into the house mains, run through a filter and water softener. However, I think the water softener may be near the end of its life, since there seems to be considerable scale on the pump. I have ordered a replacement softener, but apparently I need to change it more often.

I assume since its under warranty that maybe LM can send someone out?

I thought of that too, but I figured I'd try to do it myself first with help from tech support at Chris' Coffee. If I can't fix it, I might call LM and see what they will do for me. Considering the premium price this machine commands, they should offer free service during the first year at least.

You MAY be able to bake out the moisture in the SSR by leaving it in a toaster oven set at 225F but a replacement would be the better choice. Take wiring pics or make a diagram prior to disconnecting.

Wow, I hope I don't need to replace the SSR. The tech didn't mention anything about that. I don't see any obvious damage to it, and the water stains seem pretty minimal. I thought I could just dry it out and see if it works after the leak is fixed. However, if it doesn't work properly, I guess that will be the next step.

I wish they hadn't placed the SSR right under the pump where any leaking water would be sure it drop onto it. Didn't the GS3 have a similar issue that needed to be fixed in later generations? This seems like a failure to learn from their mistakes.

Beezer wrote:
I wish they hadn't placed the SSR right under the pump where any leaking water would be sure it drop onto it. Didn't the GS3 have a similar issue that needed to be fixed in later generations? This seems like a failure to learn from their mistakes.

The GS3 had its brainbox at the bottom of the chassis under the steam boiler with no drain holes under it, water would pool up and fry it when the seals leaked.

I contacted LM tech support to see what they had to say. They recommended that I tighten the nut without adding any Teflon tape and see if that helped. Unfortunately, when I tried to tighten the nut, it just sheared off. So now I need to replace the nut, and also figure out how to remove the part that's still stuck in the pump.

On the plus side, when I told LM about what happened, they told me they'd send a replacement part free, and they offered to send out a repair person if I needed help installing it. They're also sending me a T-shirt. It's good to know that they offer great customer support. Hopefully the replacement nut will get here soon so I can get back to making tasty espresso at home.

To remove the broken pipe thread you can use a Pipe Extractor
http://www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-Pipe-Nip ... lsrc=aw.ds

Cool, thanks. I had a similar thought. The LM tech said that he has had pretty good luck just using a flathead screwdriver, which he uses to stick into the end of the threads and unscrew the broken bit. I don't have a big enough screwdriver to make this work, so I'll probably just get an extractor instead. The main trick is to get it in there and get a wrench on it. There's not a lot of room to work with.

On the plus side, LM is sending out the new part today, and with luck I'll receive it tomorrow, along with my new T-shirt. It's nice to have this kind of support, which is one of the advantages of paying the extra premium for a high end machine like this.

If I was guessing I'd guess that it was probably already cracked which is why you had a leak in the first place and why it came apart so easily when you tried to remove it.

Ira

Yes, that was the LM tech's guess too. Makes sense. It gave way without much force, like it was already cracked. Bad luck, I suppose. Hopefully the new part will fix the problem and that will be the end of it.

In the meantime I bought an extractor and large screwdriver to remove the old threaded portion from the pump. With some luck, it will come out tonight and I can install the new nut tomorrow and get back to business. I'm hurting for espresso!