The rubber in the gasket is new. And when I backflush (rubber disk in a basket), I kan keep it on for 20 seconds and it does not leak. Maybe it is portafilter? I will try to screw the DIY thingy on another portafilter, maybe it won't leak.

EDIT: I tried to put the rubber disk in a basket with a DIY thingy, and it leaks. But when it is in another basket-it does not.

Interesting, I wouldn't back flush for 20 seconds though. You might stress the pump or something else. Sounds like one of your PF handles or a basket could be the issue.

An update.
I tried to measure the pressure of water going through the coffee, so I created this DIY gauge.


With which I measured 3.5 bars. Which is waay too low.


So I began to investigate and found out that the pressure is the same as in the water mains.


That lead to the conclusion that pump does not add anything to the system and that the whole time I was doing coffee with 3.5 bars Something is broken I guess.

I took apart the motor and pump, and discovered a lot of corrosion (white stuff), the motor is spinning, when switched on, but the pump, is not mooving freely, I have to force my fingers, to rotate it in any direction. When I switched the brew on, and the water was flowing through it, the pin on the pump (brass (golden) thing) did not rotate by itself, and the amount of finger-power I had to apply to make it move at least quarter of a rotation-was the same as in the case of a switched off "brew" button.





The whole story is here Trouble measuring rotary pump pressure with DIY portafilter gauge and is not yet over. I will investigate further.

Man, that is a funky looking pump! I may have to look into mine just to see...

Nice DIY gauge! I see the leak over the PF you were mentioning. And that is at 3.5 bars ???

Looks like you are going to get intimate with this machine.

Lockman wrote:Man, that is a funky looking pump! I may have to look into mine just to see...
Nice DIY gauge! I see the leak over the PF you were mentioning. And that is at 3.5 bars ???
Looks like you are going to get intimate with this machine.

You sure better have a look. Just to be sure. And thank you for the compliments on the gauge, the leak over the PF is said (in other posts) to be nothing grave. I will see what will happen after I change the pump.

As far as intimacy goes, yes, the machine has occupied my thoughts for quite a few nights, what a mynx!

Update on my Promac.

So now I have a new pump in front of me. Will install it now. Fingers crossed

EDIT1: Well, I dismantled the old one, and found out that I could not unscrew the adaptors on it, that I do not have the instruments (did not notice their absence). So I figured I would screw around with the old pump. So I began to screw that adjustment screw out, then in, to the maximum. Then something inside clicked slightly. Strange, I said to myself. Then I continued to vigorously turn the knob by hand. Poured some water inside and noticed, that suddenly, the water level in the pump began to react to my knob turns. Wow. Maybe I unstuck something inside, that got stuck during one year of pump's idle state? I mounted the pump back and YES, IT BEGAN WORKING! Yowzaaa!

I have now used the gauge, and setup the pressure to be 8.5-9 bars, with a flow of water 60 ml in 24 seconds. At least it is now working and I can play with it.

As for the new pump, the seller agreed to take it back and return the money. So overall, a week of frustration, but all well that ends swell.

Thank you all for your help in identifying a problem and for your suggestions.

EDIT2: as for the leak, I will check it in a month, and see whether it is there and if it is significant. If yes, then I will change the pump for a new one.

EDIT3: I have finally made first real espresso, under a 9 bar pressure. Fresh Brazilia Fazenda Cahoeira 2009, roasted on 18. 05. 2009.

That is looking nice, how is the taste?

The roastery site says that I have to expect sweetness, caramel, chocolate and toffee in the cup. But I can not manage to get them there. Instead I have a little bit of toffee and caramel in crema, but the coffee itself is slightly sour, no bitterness at all (great for those who dislike bitter taste) and a wery strong aftertaste of grapefruit. The crema itself tastes heavenly. I am not saying that the rest of the cup is bad -- it is great, but not what it said on the package I have tried to do it in a french press -- and yes, THERE is some toffee and caramel in the cup, and less grapefruit. So I think I have to grind it even more fine for the espresso. As for the orange stream -- it is normal for this particular coffee.

Hi Everyone,
Great to be apart of this forum.
Great site & quite alot of information here.Best of all everyone is so friendly & helpful.

This question might have been answered here but im just not quite sure due to the very technical information posted.

Here is my question:
I have the Promac Club PU/S machine which i absolutely love..I have had it for 6 years & it just never stops, i have never had a problem with it.
But i would love to raise the brew temp just a little.Can i do that without affecting the machines performance?..I noticed the temp potentiometer in the picture on the previous page , but my understanding is that it is only for the steam pressure...im right?
Can i raise the brew pressure/temperature quite easily without affecting the machines performance?

Thanks
Joey.

I have the Promac Club PU/S machine which i absolutely love..I have had it for 6 years & it just never stops, i have never had a problem with it.

That is quite an endorsement. The first picture in this thread was of the machine that Vad acquired and showed a boiler pressure gage - I assume your Promac has a similar gage. Note the operating range on your gage when the machine has been on and idle for an hour or so. For "conversation purposes", let's assume it is 0.80 to 1.00 bar.

Now turn the adjustment screw on the pstat counterclockwise - say, one full turn and note the new boiler pressure range. If you have the same Parker pstat, they are relatively insensitive to adjustment and I would say your new range should be, maybe, 0.85 to 1.05 bar. Now, assuming you keep your prep routine the same, your new brew temp will be maybe 1.0 to 1.5 degrees hotter - which may or may not be detectable to you. Machine performance will not be degraded and in any event you can always revert back to where you started.