So my Church just bought a used La Marzocco Linea 3. Pictures attached. It works for the most part and we can use it, however there are a few things not working that I'd like to get working.

1. The 3 black button panels on the front for automatically choosing cup size are not working. When I first plug the machine in, they work for a few seconds then stop working.

2. There is a hot water dispenser on the right, not the steamer, that is suppose to release water when you press a button. It has the same issue as the first problem. It works when you first plug the machine in but then stops working.

3. On the right, down below, above the spill tray is a round glass thing, which I think should fill up with water to show the water level right? Well it doesn't fill up at all.

Any help on these things would help.

Of immediate concern is the steam boiler sight glass fill level indicator barely showing anything (#3). The upper center white (correction oops, haven't used my Linea in a couple years!) lower center spring loaded black toggle switch is steam boiler manual fill. Hold it on for oh 15 seconds. Pump should turn on feeding water to steam boiler. Wait 15 seconds or so watching for a rise in sight glass level, should come up a bit. If zero noticeable rise in sight glass level the line to sight glass may be clogged. If you see a rise continue with filling until about 1/2 full by sight level.

If manually filling steam boiler okie-dokie there is a problem in auto-fill circuit. Could be probe but combined with shot volumetric and hotwater buttons not working good chance the main brain is dead or severely dying at best.

So my Church just bought a used La Marzocco Linea 3.

Then, your Church just made a big mistake.

Was this machine not evaluated prior to purchase? Do you have the owner's manual? Have your researched the available info here?

/downloads/

This machine has a three position power switch (0, 1, 2). I suggest that you do NOT turn the switch to position 2 until this machine can be checked out by a LM technician.

And where is Paramount?

So I decided to try to figure out why the sight glass wasn't filling. The pipe was clogged with gunk. Its filling now. Thanks for the info. We did have a tech come out and make sure its working. Generally he said its functioning fine except for the dosing buttons but he suggested I take it in to have that checked out.

I was hoping it was something simple to fix like a loose connection or something so that I wouldn't need to take in.

Could the Hot Water Solenoid be the problem?

erics wrote:Then, your Church just made a big mistake.

I'll respectfully disagree (if the price was right). Those old 3 group Lineas are work horses and can be maintained for decades. We started our business with an old used one 9 years ago and developed a quite respectable reputation as did many independent shops in their beginnings. Even if the brain (or touch pads) go bad can still be used manually like an EE. I still have that puppy of similar vintage and it still works just fine though we've retired it a couple hears back and now running a 3gr Hydra.

roblesrene wrote:Could the Hot Water Solenoid be the problem?

There were different versions of the old Linea AV, mine didn't have the hot water tap. I believe the upper center white toggle switch on yours is also for hot water (as well as pads). If using it doesn't work either (with steam boiler heated) then yes could be hot water solenoid.

Sounds like a bad brain. The hot water tap and is also controlled by the brain. You can use the machine using the EE rockers but you may not have autofill.

Of course we are just guessing, your best bet is to have it overhauled professionally.

Rene, for future reference, please do not cross-post your questions to HB. Please see Why is cross-posting strongly discouraged? for the rationale behind this policy. Those who are contributing to this thread may wish to refer to Rene's post on CoffeeGeek to avoid needlessly offering suggestions that have already been provided. Thanks.

Paul_Pratt wrote:Sounds like a bad brain. The hot water tap and is also controlled by the brain. You can use the machine using the EE rockers but you may not have autofill.

Of course we are just guessing, your best bet is to have it overhauled professionally.

Ok I'll admit it's gratifying to hear someone with such luminary credentials as you saying the same things I said. Albeit more succinctly!