Hello!

I just got a used livia 90 I am trying to bring back to life. Overall its in great shape and clean but I am having an issue getting things going. Let me explain what I am seeing and what I have already done.

Upon power up all is fine, comes up to temp and boiler pressure of about 1.2bar. Placing a single dose of ground coffee into the unit and running the group head gives less than 0.5oz of coffee. If i let the machine return to temp and pressure (orange light off) and run a second shot it almost immediately goes into the red on boiler pressure and if I don't stop the draw it will blow the pressure valve (back of boiler).

I have tried different grinds and the only way to get water through to a reasonable amount is basically a grind similar to that for drip coffee. I have also tried adjusting the tamp without any noticeable change.

I checked the 1.2mm jet leading into the 3 way solenoid, check the pipe from boiler to the solenoid and the pipe from the solenoid to the group head, all were clear but cleaned them anyway.

I pulled the group head off and cleaned everything there as well. It was a little dirty but nothing was blocked.

I pulled the fill wands in the boiler and they were both extremely clean, look almost new.

With no portafilter installed, water runs freely from the grouphead. A backflush acts normally.

The pressure stat has been replaced and the orange light seems to cycle properly. Steam and water seem fine.

Any ideas?

My thoughts (in order from most likely to least likely based on educated guesses) are bad pump, overfilling boiler, hx issue. Again I don't have alot of reasoning behind those and am hoping someone here can help me narrow things down.

I appreciate any help you guys can provide as I have gone through posts all day trying to help identify the issue.

Thanks!

Update

I used a makeshift portafilter gauge and only get about 1.2 bar with group turned on. It stays at 1.2 bar for about 10 seconds then the boiler starts to show overpressure.

The ulka vibe pump was disassembled and cleaned but was pretty much clean when i took it apart.

Anyone with anything similar or any ideas?

Thanks,

Chris

Either your heat exchanger is cracked (machine left with water in freezing environment) or your boiler fill solenoid valve is blocked open.

Take some pics of the internals and I will point out the boiler fill valve if necessary.

Eric,

Thanks, have been hoping its not the HX, but it is what it is. I will check the solenoid first of course. Is it the item #10 in the image below?



What can I do to check it or ensure that its blocked open or not?

Thanks!

Chris

Disconnect the heating element as you DO NOT need any element action for this test.

Disconnect the wiring from solenoid coil (9).

Loosen both ends of tube (12) so it is somewhat movable. Attach some hardware store tubing to the upper end of the tube by simply forcing some over the "mushroom" end. Retighten the end that connects to elbow (13).

Insert a blind basket and hit the brew switch. There should be NO FLOW through tube (12). If yes, the solenoid valve is leaking and needs to be disassembled for cleaning/possible replacement.

Eric,

Awesome, thanks! I will try this out tonight and post back with the results. I appreciate the step by step!

Thanks,

Chris

You would also want to fit some slightly larger poly tubing to the fitting on the boiler where the tube (12) was attached. If water starts to, unfortunately, flow from this larger tubing, that tells me the heat exchanger has a crack.

It is relatively easy to remove and replace but the idea here is to "zero in" on the true malady.

Eric,

Ok, here is what I see. I have the tubing connected to the end #12 tube near the boiler and another tube at the connection on the boiler. The solenoid is disconnected and the heating element is unplugged (1 wire on each side). Everything else connected up.

Turn the machine on, pump starts automatically, no water from either hose. Turn machine off, then back on, pump doesn't start automatically, turn the group head on, pump runs, no water from either hose but water coming out the overflow tubes back into the reservoir. Turn group head off, machine off, turn machine on, turn group on, pump comes on, measure water leading back to reservoir for 30 seconds and I get about 46ml.

Now I'm confused. How about you?

Again I really appreciate the help!

Chris

I had anticipated that the boiler would have been in an overfilled state to begin with BUT that was likely incorrect . . . sorry.

Hook everything back up EXCEPT the heating element and let the boiler fill to normal level. This is why the pump was coming on when you first turned the machine on. After the boiler fills to normal level (5 seconds?), repeat the "experiment" with the hardware tubes in place and the boiler fill solenoid electrically disconnected.

Eric,

Attempt 2. Hook #12 back up, plug solenoid back in, left heater disconnected. Turned on machine, the pump didnt start. Let it set for a about a minute, pump didnt turn on. Opened the hot water spigot/wand thing, cool water streamed out for a while, then pump kicked in. Waited until pump kicked off, then powered machine down. Disconnected #12, hooked up hoses to pipe and boiler connection, pulled leads off solenoid. Turned the machine on, no pump, inserted blind portafilter, turned on group, let run for about 30 seconds, saw maybe a few drops in the hose from the #12 pipe, decent stream via hoses leading back to reservoir, no liquid from hose on the boiler.

So is the few drips from the #12 pipe enough to think its the solenoid? Is using the water wand the proper way to drain water out of the boiler?

Think we may be making a bit of progress.

Thanks!!

Chris