I thought my motor was fried but it was the pump that froze. By rotating the shaft with the help of pliers I loosened it a bit, but I still feel areas of friction. Should I get a rebuild kit, have a technician rebuild it, buy a new pump, put it back in the Nuova Simonelli and see if it pumps water, or forgetaboudit?

The motor got very hot as I was trying to start up my 2 group rebuild for the first time. It has taken me months to get this far. I have $200+ invested so far and do not want to spend another $200+ to get the pump working. I still have to test the rest of the machine. How much is a 1995, 220v, manual control, heat exchanger, NS Premier S worth? The list of what could be faulty is long and the parts replacement costs are steep. Commercial NS 2 group machines seem to remain unsold on eBay. I have not seen a working NS Premier S for sale anywhere.

I'm ready to chalk this one up for the experience gained and go back to my lever-- no pump to worry about on my La Pavoni Pro. Any suggestions?

Hello:

From what I have read, Procon will refurbish your rotary pump (leaving it as good as new and guaranteed) for a very reasonable price and that due to its complexity, unavailability of parts and tools required attempting anything else does not make sense.

Cheers,

CIV

Carlos, Thanks for the tip. I called EDCO in California and they will do a rebuild for $45 to $65. That is half the price that I was expecting and I think it will be worth it to take my espresso machine rebuilding project to the next step.

Perhaps a little closer: http://www.jcbeverage.com/contact.html

For what it's worth, have you tried to run some espresso detergent or other cleaning or descaling solution through the pump? I have in the past been able to salvage a few rotary pumps by doing this. I had the same issue whereby pumps were gunked up after sitting for a period of time with no use. The symptoms were that when trying to operate, the motor would just stall as there was insufficient torque to drive. I disconnected the pump and submersed it in a solution of espresso detergent and manually turned the shaft (using pliers) to pump solution through whilst submerged. Did this for a while and it helped reduce friction significantly. After reinstalling I had no issues.

Mine was completely seized when I bought my Rancilio. Motor was fine, pump was rusted and seized due to a failed seal. You can buy a rebuild kit from Procon, have them rebuild it, or just buy another pump, which is what I ended up doing, from Espressoparts.

http://www.proconpumps.com/products/Series-2-Pump.html

I just sent my Procon off to jcbeverage.com. They are a little closer than EDCO and I liked that the guy who fixes them answered the phone. EDCO basically had the same price. They also have very reasonable new pump prices- almost half of what I've seen on some espresso repair sites.

I wish I thought about soaking the pump in some Dezcal first. It was totally frozen and then, at best, I got it rotating poorly. Thanks for the very helpful suggestions.