I have a RIO junior single group espresso machine that has been everywhere over this country on rock tours. This machine has held up very well over the last 2 years. Right now, I am having some trouble with it. The machine fill off a flo - jet system.

When turning on the machine, it will fill continuously until I turn it off. The Red LED also blinks while filling which is new. I pulled the water probe and cleaned and reset it. Still no go. What did work a couple times was tapping on the Solenoid Coil and that shut off the fill (only 4-5 times). Does this mean I need to replace the coil? or the coil and valve? Can I take out the valve and clean?

Any help on this would be appreciated.

Can I take out the valve and clean?

Sure. Have some paper towels handy.

Unplug machine and shutdown all water sources to the machine. Remove the nut/washer on the coil and slide off the coil - hope there's enough freeplay in the wiring. Now unscrew the valve's cylinder and inspect for broken parts and/or scale buildup. Soak cylinder and "piston" in white vinegar for about 45 minutes, rinse well, and reassemble.

Think about an accumulator for that flo-jet system - it will make a world of difference as regards noise.

Thanks Eric! I will try doing this tomorrow. I will post an update on the progress!

I did forget an IMPORTANT fact. When you unscrew the "cylinder", that will open up the ~ 1.0 mm middle port in the valve to the boiler at the fill level. So, you need to syphon out the boiler - not necessarily to empty - but close.

To do this, unscrew the vacuum breaker (near the level probe) or the level probe housing and use some hardware store flex tubing. More later - chow is calling.

edit - chow over

This is from a different machine but is similar to your situation. I initially thought of plugging the hole with a golf tee or similar but that is probably too large. The safe bet it is drain the boiler but - you may think of something inventive that WON'T break off.

If the solenoid is crusted up, it may be time for a descale on the entire system.