I asked Elektra on their web site about a manual and they ended up sending me a current CD and current user manual. It took a long, long time and was a surprise when it arrived from Italy! A very nice welcome to the Elektra family. However it was NOT a service manual, so I basically relied on this wonderful forum to help me along and tried to give back lots of what I was doing for the next person to follow along.

JoeGlo should work fine on removing all the old coffee oils. It basically a TSP (or similar) cleaner. I used Cafiza and it worked particularly well with hot, hot water.

There isn't much in the manual you'll need that you can't learn in 5 minutes on the machine or this forum.

If you are coming down to the Sunnyvale neighbor hood sometime, send me an email and I can show you my Elektra T1 and you can play around with it.

Mark

That brass block with all the holes in it, that comes off the group bell. It should have fallen off when you removed the shower screen screw. If it did not, it is caked on. Make sure you get it off, give it a good soak and use a sewing pin to ream out the little holes in the dispersion block. They like to crust over time and if they get plugged you end up with a water jet instead of a stream. It is something that needs done every couple of months during the normal cleaning cycle. There are two gaskets on the group. The upper seal you see in the photo and a group gasket on the portafilter side of the group.

Dave, it did indeed come off without effort - another good sign.

Mark

You wrote something about the 12mm or 14mm hex needed for the top of the boiler - is it necessary to remove that big guy? I recalled your trouble with the copper washers - as I was looking at mine. Opps.

Here are some photos, and some questions..

A few hours ago.. The pressure-stat "box" was written on it with permanent marker, 04-08, could this be a new part that was replaced in April of 2008?



Is this indicating the year of manufacture as 2000?



Do I just continue to crank on this, or does it need to be pulled out with the worry of cracking the plastic housing?



Elektra, meet Rancilio, 2700W (awaiting parts) Mark Did you submerge the entire heater, or did you keep the "end" dry?




At end of a couple hours..

zin1953 wrote:Well, as a fellow (albeit working) T1 owner, welcome to the "club"! As you know, there are a fair number of us who have a T1 (or its semi-auto sister, the A3). . . Stefano has been of great help, both here on HB and via phone and/or email; ordering parts has been a piece of cake, and delivery has been fast and no hassle.
Cheers,
Jason

+1
Without Stefano, I don't know what would have been the fate of my 1993 T1, (too big for a paper weight), probably a parts horse.

1993 Elektra T1

On the outside chance Stefano doesn't have the obscure part you need, PM me. I've got a few leftovers.

phillip canuck wrote:Mark

You wrote something about the 12mm or 14mm hex needed for the top of the boiler - is it necessary to remove that big guy? I recalled your trouble with the copper washers - as I was looking at mine. Opps.

I got the large hex at Sears, you need to take it off to help clean out that area along with the rest of the boiler since you are taking things apart. I needed a pipe on the end of the Allen wrench for extra leverage. Call up the brew supply stores and get some citric acid, 8-16 oz will be plenty.

phillip canuck wrote:Is this indicating the year of manufacture as 2000?

Very likely.

phillip canuck wrote:Do I just continue to crank on this, or does it need to be pulled out with the worry of cracking the plastic housing?

Mine broke and I got a new from from Stefano, (who was a massive help). He pointed out that different era machines had different keys for programming. I've only programmed it once, but it's nice to have the correct key.

phillip canuck wrote:Mark Did you submerge the entire heater, or did you keep the "end" dry?

Keep the end dry!!!

Looking good so far. Start preparing a list of items to purchase. I replace anything rubber and all washers. Teflon gasket for the main heater.

Mark

zin1953 Thank you - I may just take you up on your offer, we'll see.

Mark I bought the citric acid and Sears hex wrench this afternoon - all parts are now soaking in a bucket. There was plenty of black shards of scale in the boiler, I expect that will take several days.

Though you did answer a question about the key (that I was thinking about asking, but didn't) the plastic bit I was asking about is the overflow tray - how to safely remove the piping bit that the crescent wrench is attached to in the above photo. However, the question may be moot if I can't figure out a way to remove that single fastener in the overflow tray that is rusted to the nut.

-phillip

phillip canuck wrote:zin1953 Thank you - I may just take you up on your offer, we'll see.

Mark I bought the citric acid and Sears hex wrench this afternoon - all parts are now soaking in a bucket. There was plenty of black shards of scale in the boiler, I expect that will take several days.

Though you did answer a question about the key - thank you - (that I was thinking about asking, but didn't) the plastic bit I was asking about is the overflow tray - how to safely remove the piping bit that the crescent wrench is attached to in the above photo. However, the question may be moot if I can't figure out a way to remove that single fastener in the overflow tray that is rusted to the nut.

-phillip

I couldn't remove the rusted nut without resorting to cracking the plastic. Perhaps penetrating oil? I purchased a plastic tray and didn't use a metal mounting screw the second go around, instead I used Velcro which doesn't rust. You'll probably find the foot that is behind the metal tray also rusted in place. That I think I got loose with penetrating oil and a bit of time.

Mark

phillip canuck wrote:zin1953 Thank you - I may just take you up on your offer, we'll see.

Offer? Did I make an offer? I think you are referring to Doug's offer re: some leftover/extra parts . . .

Cheers,
Jason

The date on the pressurestat is probably a rebuild date. Those are commercial p-stats and can be serviced. It even has a spare set of contacts in it. If one set of points burns out, you can just move the leads to the other set.

zin1953 wrote:Offer? Did I make an offer? I think you are referring to Doug's offer re: some leftover/extra parts . . .

Cheers,
Jason

Ah - yes, retracted - well, I still thank you - and Doug!

The machine came with one single PF. I'm quite certain it is a Faema, part number 117321. Other than Elektra and Faema, has anyone else made these E61 PFs? Are there other manufacturers I be keeping my eyes open for on the used market?

-phillip