Good evening, all! I'm a long time lurker, first time poster. Looking to upgrade to a used Pasquini Livia 90 auto. I won an eBay auction for one, but the seller said that when he powered it up water was leaking from the grouphead ( shortest youtube video ever is below). I see where a user last year posted of the same issue, but I was unable to reply to that thread. I thought I'd try again . Anyone had any experience with something like this?

Pasquini Livia 90 leaks from grouphead while filling boiler

https://youtu.be/k3ybPWaf6Tg

Hi,It sounds like the CPU is malfunctioning or the power relay is sticking on. The power relay on these things has points that get carboned up after awhile. It is possible to remove the relay and clean points but it's a PITA. Easier to replace it. Another thing to try is cleaning both auto probe rods that descend in the boiler. with the machine off and cold/depressurized, unplug for safety and remove top cover of machine. Find the two probes (I think there are two) on top of the boiler. One is for a low water alarm but don't quote me on this as it's been awhile since I worked on these.
The short rod is the auto probe. loosen the top nut to free the rod and pull it straight up. Once the rod is out of the boiler inspect for buildup on the tip. If there is calcium on the tip it will give false readings to the CPU. Clean both rods with steel wool or scrape off with a knife or screwdriver.
The CPU's on the older Pasquinis are right up against the boiler so they can get cooked as well with only a cardboard divider as heat protector.
Hope this info helps!

Wow! Thank you for the great insight and obvious personal experience as well. I've familiar with the probes that sense the levels in the boiler. If it was the CPU being burnt out is that even possible or worth it to try to replace? That is what I'm afraid of.

Being the water is coming out of the grouphead randomly, I'm also thinking it might be a solenoid somewhere...

weebit_nutty has two Pasquini Livietta in the for sale section of this forum, he might be able to jump in. It sounds like one is on the right track.

nblair wrote:Wow! Thank you for the great insight and obvious personal experience as well. I've familiar with the probes that sense the levels in the boiler. If it was the CPU being burnt out is that even possible or worth it to try to replace? That is what I'm afraid of.

Being the water is coming out of the grouphead randomly, I'm also thinking it might be a solenoid somewhere...

If a Solenoid is malfunctioning it just won't open i.e. the electro-magnet stops working. The CPU is easy to replace. Just mark the wires or take a photo to match where all the connectors go. The CPU also has a diagram to follow and it's pretty straight forward. They might be around $200-$300 though

Thank you everyone for the insight and assistance. I wanted to report back with my findings so that hopefully it will help others in the future.

I spoke with the folks at Pasquini a few times, tried many different things over about 5 months, but eventually got her up and running. The people at Pasquini said it could be 4 things causing the autobrew issues:

• Flow Meter - It can get gunked up with scale. Easy to unplug and test, but your machine will then become a semi-auto until plugged back in.
• CPU - As many others have reported, being the CPU sits so close to the boiler it can cause some contacts to become brittle and loose.
• Wiring Harness - Sometimes there can be bad connections causing the issues.
• Buttons/Touch Pad - They told me they hardly ever see this, but it could be the cause.

Sure enough after trying the first three, I was skeptical the machine could ever be fixed. I was REALLY hesitant to throw down $70 on a new button pad incase that also did not work. I ended up buying a generic touchpad on eBay for about $3.00 that plugged right in. Works perfectly.

I still have the flow meter unplugged, but I have been pulling about two shots a day for the last two months without issues. Couldn't be happier I was able to finally diagnose the issue. I just moved the old buttons over and slid the new ones through the slot. Eventually I'll probably get the real buttons, but for the time being I'm happy.