I am trying to get my vintage olympia working. My pump makes noise, but no water is flowing. I ordered a replacement pump from OE but can't get the old fittings off the old pump to put on the new one. Any suggestions? I started this project 4 years ago and recall disassembling the pump and wasn't sure what the problem was... and gave up. Bought a Vivaldi. Now I don't have the space or power requirements and am jonesing for a decent espresso!
Thanks!

Well, the pump may be okay. All of us Oly-restoration people have contributed to another thread discussing the need to prime many Olympia pumps, and the horrible racket they can make until they are primed. I'm computer-challenged at this moment, otherwise I'd find that discussion for you. May actually be a bad pump, but the discussion, and some of what we've learned, is worth the read. I'll see if I can find it tomorrow when I'm not typing with my thumbs.

Regarding the pump, if it makes noise, that's a good thing. Add some water to the reservoir, about enough to fill it halfway. Turn on the machine and hit the brew switch. Let it run for a few seconds, then turn off the brew switch and walk away for 10 minutes. When you return, engage the brew switch again. If all is well, the you should start seeing water come out of the grouphead.

If there is still nothing, the next step is to start disassmbling and tracing the path. Start with the pump exhaust and remove the tube that attaches to the hx circuit. Divert flow to a separate container and engage the brew switch. If water flows, then you know the pump is fine, and the clog is somewhere in the hx. I'll post some pics tomorrow for clarification.

Hello:

RAS wrote:... the pump may be okay.
... need to prime many Olympia pumps, and the horrible racket they can make until they are primed.

Indeed ...
In my limited experience, what I can say is that all the Ulka pumps I have come across made a 'horrible racket' when water was not getting to them and were pumping 'on empty'.

This is probably a common trait to all vibe pumps. If a vibe pump is making a loud noise, it is because it is working but the plunger is banging back and forth without water inside the line to offer resistance, softening the movement and muffling the sound as the water passes by and pressure ramps up.

There's a very interesting blog started by a fellow by the name of Rod Schiffman (aka Brownbag), where you will find quite a bit of information about Ulka pumps, how to take them apart, clean, etc. See here: http://ulkapumprepair.blogspot.com/.

These pumps are very easy to service although there are some who think it is better not to waste time doing it and just replace them as there are no spare parts for sale anywhere. I think otherwise and have revived two or three with just a good cleaning in white vinegar.

A pump with a burnt out coil (there's no replacement available from Ulka) is an excellent source for spare parts.

Caveat emptor: you must be very (very) careful when taking one of these apart as although they have few parts, some of them are very tiny and prone to jump about, getting irremediably lost in the process. Believe me, I know. =^/

Hope this is useful to you.

Cheers,

CIV

Sherman wrote: After the sight glass nuts are completely loosened, bring the faceplate back down, then use the 17mm wrench again to loosen the safety faucet. I'd recommend opening up the safety faucet as well, then using a 5mm hex key to completely disassemble it, followed by a nice bath in a warm citric acid solution (17-18g/L of water works well for me). With the safety faucet removed, the sight glass will slide out. Remove the sight glass, replace and lube the seals (and crush washers).

Anyone else come across a particularly tight safety faucet? If so, do you remember how you broke the seal while minimizing torque on everything else?

Thanks, David

Nevermind, I got it. It's the same as the Cremina, which Doug and Barb have documented here:

http://www.orphanespresso.com/Olympia-C...571-1.html

Putting the machine on it's side was the key. The hammer may have helped, but I had already tried that with the machine in the upright position. With it on it's side, it's also easier to apply the needed force.

At this point, I found that removing the 3-way solenoid made things a LOT easier. So, remove the silicone pipe that connects the 3-way to the faceplate, then use an adjustable wrench to loosen/remove the nut (under the solenoid) that holds the solenoid onto the 3-way valve. Remove the solenoid and lay it down gently

The instruction to loosen the nut under the solenoid is confusing me.

The solenoid is sold an assembly like this:

http://www.orphanespresso.com/Parker-11..._2277.html

This assembly would just bolt to the HX w/ 3mm hex head screws. Any reason not to take the existing piece apart at the same junction? Is it useful to clean up inside the solenoid?

Thanks, D

I got some help from another HB'er here. The easiest way to remove the solenoid is to remove the nut at the bottom of the valve where the silicone outlet tube is attached. The coil box then slide right off and you have access to the 3mm screws. Since I took off the top HX plate, it was even easier to unscrew the 3mm's and remove the 3-way valve. I will defer to someone more knowledgeable regarding cleaning of the 3-way as mine looked pretty clean when I removed it.

Eastsideloco wrote:The instruction to loosen the nut under the solenoid is confusing me.

In the OE picture, the "nut" is shown near the top of the picture, just under the black rubbery nipple protecting the thread. My reference to "under" was relative to installation, but it's just as CafeDenda says:

CafeDenda wrote:The easiest way to remove the solenoid is to remove the nut at the bottom of the valve where the silicone outlet tube is attached.

I'll try to take some pictures to clarify.

Thank you both. I just wanted to verify the proper method. I'll take that nut off and slide off the solenoid as described. That way I won't have to "modify" another hex key to get into that tight space.

(I had to take a grinder to a 5mm hex key to make the tool short enough to remove the lower group screws.)