New owner needs advice regarding Brasilia Portofino

by **pulseorganics** on Mon Apr 28, 2008 3:41 pm

Hi, just picked up a Brasilia Portofino. Don't seem to be having much success with getting it to work though. I suppose the first place to start would be with trying to obtain a user manual. Does anyone have one that they could email to me?

Regards John

by HB on Mon Apr 28, 2008 3:49 pm

Most owner's manuals only cover the very basics. What doesn't work?

by **pulseorganics** on Mon Apr 28, 2008 5:53 pm

Top half of gauge (which I believe is temperature) moves round to the number one. Bottom half of gauge does not move at all. Seems to be a lack of pressure when I try to make espresso, does not push water through coffee. Hot water seems to come out ok as does steam. Unsure why there is two setting on the on / off knob (bottom right hand corner) One of the three settings seems to be a squiggly line that turns on red light one setting says on and one says off (wont turn to this setting)

Regards John

by HB on Mon Apr 28, 2008 6:14 pm

How did you come to own this espresso machine (used)? Do you have experience with other espresso machines? How was it installed? Since the boiler has water but no flow from the grouphead, evidence points to an obstruction. You may want to seek out a local repair technician for assistance; with the benefit of the machine in front of them, they could figure it out in no time.

by **eastpresso** on Mon Apr 28, 2008 7:59 pm

Gauge

Upper half boiler pressure
Lower half brew pressure

Power switch

Setting one - machine on, heating element off
Setting two - machine on, heating element on

Not enough info to make a comment really..if the machine is plumbed in you should at least get line pressure on the lower gauge. Could be pump is cavitating (air or kink in the inlet hose? No water?) or the gauge itself or the pump setting or a restriction on the brew side etc. etc. etc

Pictures and a detailed description of the machine and what you do would help. Otherwise get professional assistance.

PM me your e-mail address and I will send you the manual (pdf) - this will not solve your problem.

by **chris** on Mon Apr 28, 2008 8:05 pm

First the switch, position one is to allow power to fill the boiler. Position two provides power to the heater. If the boiler pressure gauge reads one bar that is normal setting for the boiler and should indicate you have steam pressure. Do you have steam? Did you fill the heat exchanger? After the boiler fills automatically you need to activate the brew cycle until water flows through the group to fill the exchanger. When you activate the brew cycle the pump gauge should read right around 9 bar whether the portafilter is in the group or not.

by **pulseorganics** on Tue Apr 29, 2008 1:38 am

Well thank you for your replies. Perhaps I should just get the thing serviced by a professional. I am based in Brighton, Sussex, England. Any recommendations?

Regards John Towhill

by **pulseorganics** on Tue Apr 29, 2008 3:07 am

eastpresso wrote:PM me your e-mail address and I will send you the manual (pdf) - this will not solve your problem.

by HB on Tue Apr 29, 2008 6:53 am

pulseorganics wrote:I am based in Brighton, Sussex, England. Any recommendations?

The UK members of Too Much Coffee ("The European Coffee Resource") will be able to offer recommendations.

by **eastpresso** on Tue Apr 29, 2008 6:59 am

E-mail sent.

Good Luck!

by **pulseorganics** on Wed Apr 30, 2008 6:53 pm

Ok, so machine fitted to the tap in my house for testing. However machine does not seem to want to fill. Is it possible that a pipe could be blocked on the way in? When I turn the tap on there seems to be too much pressure and the water squirts out of the join between tap and tap/pipe fitting. Surely the machine should fill relatively easily?

Regards John

by HB on Wed Apr 30, 2008 9:03 pm

pulseorganics wrote:When I turn the tap on there seems to be too much pressure and the water squirts out of the join between tap and tap/pipe fitting.

Depending on your mains pressure, your plumbed in espresso machine may need its own pressure regulator. Even so, water should not "squirt out of the join" unless it's improperly fitted. Now may be a good time to call in a plumber. It's worth the peace of mind to know that you won't wake up to a flooded kitchen.

by **pulseorganics** on Thu May 01, 2008 4:45 pm

HB wrote:Depending on your mains pressure, your plumbed in espresso machine may need its own pressure regulator. Even so, water should not "squirt out of the join" unless it's improperly fitted. Now may be a good time to call in a plumber. It's worth the peace of mind to know that you won't wake up to a flooded kitchen.

why am i getting two red lights flashing at me (top right corner of the stop button?)

by **eastpresso** on Thu May 01, 2008 9:05 pm

Did you get the manual I sent you? Fault signalling page 8 top ?

by **pulseorganics** on Fri May 02, 2008 1:16 am

eastpresso wrote:Did you get the manual I sent you? Fault signalling page 8 top ?

Yes, thank you. Have turned machine off and on, and still receiving same error message. Still having trouble filling machine. I am currently waiting on an engineer to contact me. Was hoping to use this weekend at an event, but think i will abandon this for this month. Very useful user group and helpful users.

Regards John

by **Steamtech** on Thu Jun 25, 2009 11:33 pm

If you purchased your machine, used, how pure was the water delivery into the unit? Because of the intense heat and pressures the machine must be fed softened water. The head groups are precision machined and the resulting tolerances are so close that minerals which enter the system could solidify and clog up the network of journals. My suggestion, based on our experience, would be to remove the plumbing from the head group and visually inspect for mineral build-up.


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