HI All,

I was performing descaling today (first time in 3 years, so you can't say I am over doing it!). My baby is bottle fed (ie, not plumbed in, but draws from a jug under the machine.) The drain also goes into a jug under the machine.

I mixed up some Citric Acid, using about 6 tablespoons in 3 liters of water (my boiler is about 3 liters as well, so I figured that would average a tablespoon of citric acid per liter once things started flowing.)

I then put the drain hose into the jug that feeds the machine.

Of course, now I see the error of my ways- some gunk was sucked up and went into the system that had accumulated somewhere.

Now, when I have the Group Solenoid open, the pump runs like gangbusters, and I have good flow through the HX.
But, when the autofill kicks in (as when I was trying to circulate the citric by running the pump and having the hot water open) the pump pressure builds to max, but there is no water being sucked in, no vacuum on the end of the hose, and no flow.

My suspicion is that the gunk has plugged the autofill solenoid.

Before I start tearing things apart, does this seem like the first place to start?

Has anyone ever tried to backflush the system by either pressurizing the waterspout with water under pressure or air, with the pump disconnected? Might that clear the system?

Or, is there some other location that gunk might first collect?

Thanks

Joe

You'll need to clean out the autofill solenoid valve (pretty easy, it's a 2-way valve) and the inlet pipe and the pipe from the valve to the boiler. It's a reasonably common problem with HX machines with a bit of debris floating around. Best to remove the valve for cleaning and manually poke out the pipes.

Alan

Thank you Alan
Now, if only I could have a cup of coffee before tackling this problem!