MPatrick wrote:zoomchick,
Apparently the pump had an air lock. I drained the reservoir as Dan had suggested but didn't find anything out of the ordinary. After refilling the tank I operated the pump without a pf in place. The air in the inlet moved quickly through and water flowed as it had prior to the no-flow condition. The problem has not reoccurred.

Bests,
Mickey

I suspect the airlock is inherent in the design. An OPV would have taken care of the problem. Without an OPV there is no way to release the excess pressure created by choking the machine or doing a backflush. The way to avoid it is to be more careful when you backflush and as soon as you hear the pump begin to strain turn it off. Turning off the pump releases the backpressure through the three way valve. My one black does the same thing. BTW checking the brew pressure shows that it ramps up to 15 bars which is what you would expect with a Ulka pump and no OPV.

Ed

I moved the o-ring from the hot water arm to the steam arm and with the 2-hole tip, had better results.
Im also using Black cat.


I emailed Wendy about getting a 1-hole tip Friday and haven't heard back yet. Searching on-line, I can't find a 1-hole steam tip. I did find a 2-hole, semi-conical on Chris Coffee though. Anyone know if OB steam tips are 10mm?

Thanks Ed,

I am more sensitive to stalling the pump after that. Wouldn't a subsequent pump operation minus a choked puck/backflush blank relieve the back pressure?

I also tried the o-ring off the water tap on the steam tip. However, the position of the tip hole(s) changed which really messed up my "technique." Now I'm back to no o-ring for awhile.

Bests,
Mickey

zoomchick wrote:A few times, when I went to burp my OB, instead of steam, water would shoot out.

I always get some water out of my steam wand when I purge it and I have plenty of steam in my Elektra. Steam cools and water forms in the tip. I guess if the entire wand was kept at steam temperature this would go away....

Mark

MPatrick wrote:Thanks Ed,

I am more sensitive to stalling the pump after that. Wouldn't a subsequent pump operation minus a choked puck/backflush blank relieve the back pressure?

I would think so but the several times it happened with my machine I powered down the machine and let it cool off and eventually the problem cleared.
Ed

MPatrick wrote:I also tried the o-ring off the water tap on the steam tip. However, the position of the tip hole(s) changed which really messed up my "technique." Now I'm back to no o-ring for awhile.

This one might work: http://www.chriscoffee.com/produc...on3/steamarmgasket
Would be worth sending an email or making a phone call to see if it is the same size.

Endo wrote:Yes, it seems like buying Canadian is my only choice right now. These are my thoughts:

Quickmill Anita: $1699 at Caffe Tech
Rocket Cellini Premium Plus: $1759 at Espressotec

Then I make the big price jump:

LaSpaziale Mini Vivaldi S1 V2: $2199 at Caffe Tech (V1 at same price at Cafe-Union).

I like the Salvatore best but since I can only buy it from the US, it means paying the same price as the La Spaziale. Too bad, I love the build quality.

What would you buy?

It's 1999 here...CDN.. http://www.creativecookware.com/new_page_53.htm FREE SHIPPING

Make sure you are comparing the same models....S1V2 vs S1V2, not S1V2 (Caffetech) vs S1V1(Creative)

Follow-on discussion split to Salvatore One Black: READ BEFORE BUYING.