My lovely Anita is not feeling too well. Whenever I am pulling a shot the pressure gauge is going wild. It starts from 2.5 bar (as it should), then goes to 9 and sometimes to 8 bar, then drops to 4 or 5 bars, then goes back to 8 or 9.

I descaled the machine and that didn't accomplish anything. I contacted her Physician, Chris Coffee (Medical Services) and they suggested I replace a seat for the expansion valve http://www.chriscoffee.com/products/home/parts/expansionvalveseat.

I replaced it and my Anita is still having problems.

Here is a video of what's going on...



Your opinions are greatly appreciated.

Looks like the vibratory pump needs replacement.

A vibratory pump is very susceptible to power swings. I cannot see the video at work (blocked) but I would put money on your heater cycling around the pressure swings. The machine is starving for power. I had a VBM on a strained circuit at my other job. It would do the same thing. I had a 3 position switch so I would turn off the heater while pulling a shot to keep it from swinging. Find every outlet on that circuit and unplug everything, then see what happens. If you know which way the circuit runs, you could also relocate the machine to the first outlet on the line or move it to a dedicated 20 amp outlet for more diagnosing. Your microwave/range is probably on a dedicated outlet.

A Kill-O-Watt meter might be a helpful diagnostic tool. Plugged into the same line it could allow you to view voltage fluctuations on that line. With the machine plugged into it it could measure the current draw of the machine during an extraction.

Check all the connections inside the machine for corrosion or rust, particularly on the brew switch and pump leads.

Try another outlet in the home which is on a different circuit.

Is there a particle filter on the water intake? If so, is it clean and is the reservoir free from cat hair, mice, etc?

Does it do this with a blind filter in place? [excuse me... a visually challenged filter]

If my machine played such pleasant music, I wouldn't care about the pressure!

I think Dave nailed it. Although you can't see your light for your heating element in your video, you can see that the drops in pressure go hand-in-hand with the boiler pressure rise. Like clockwork, the pressure drops down to about 4 lbs pressure and the boiler pressure starts to rise (a bit rapidly, I must say), and when the boiler pressure stops rising, the pump resumes normal pressure as set by the OPV, and then the whole cycle starts over again.

Moving outlets is the first choice for troubleshooting. Did you add anything to the same circuit just before the problems started?

Hopefully this is a very low/no-cost fix. Good luck.

Thank you very much! I am going to troubleshoot as soon as I get home. Thank you very much, guys (and gals)!

I've been dealing with the exact same issue on my QuickMill Anita. It has been happening for at least a month now. I've been in contact with Chris, and swapped out the expansion valve seat, and I just received my 3rd Ulka Pump. Like others have said, watch your light for your heating element, I guarantee it will come on when the pressure drops. I've dug around in the machine and re-seated all of the connections, (found a few that were loose) and no change. I would take what every person is saying to heart, and realize that it is probably a drop in voltage in the line of your house. I have personally tried several outlets in my house (3 family house, with 2 of the 3 apartments vacant) and it hasn't changed, but the wiring in my house was probably used as jewelry for cavemen/women. Get a Kill-a-watt and test from there. If EricS is around, he can chime in, as he has been a huge help with me and most of what I say is just regurgitating what he told me. (hopefully it is all correct)

No beautiful music, but same deal:

If you have a duplex outlet, put a DVM in the empty outlet. Even the least expensive auto ranging volt meter for radioshack will sample fast enough to see a 5 second drop in voltage. Just set the meter on AC volts, stick the probes in the outlet and run the machine. Check the voltage with no load on the circuit, then power up the machine and see if it drops. Run the pump to see if you get a voltage drop at the outlet then open the steam valve to trip the heater and see if you have a drop in voltage. You could also put the meter on the pump and do the same thing to see if the volts brown out when the heater kicks in.

If the outlet tests okay, but the pump browns out, the problem could be a defective power cord. The wires in power cords are stranded which makes them flexible, but too much flexing (typically at the plug end) will break some of the strands, effectively reducing the power carrying capacity of the wire.

Does the cord feel warm, especially near the plug?

I'm a fan of oversized power feed cables.

That is another option. The wiring in most machines is minimal gauge for the amp draw. A quick performance upgrade is to replace all the wiring with the next gauge up for better current flow. The power cords are usually attached via a terminal block in the machine. You simply unplug, loosen the block screws, remove the cord and screw in a heavier gauge replacement. If you were feeling real adventurous, you could replace the cord completely and hard wire it into the outlet which is how I have my machine hooked up.