Hello,

I descaled my Anita using the simplified method post on this forum. Everything was working alright but.this morning, the pressure does not build in the boiler. And the temperature stop at 175 max. The red light always stays on. I also notice that there is steam exiting the tube in the water tray...

Water flow through the e61 head but not from the steam valve or the hot water valve....

Please help! I have a nice bag full of redbird that need to be pull
Thanks!

Jeff

Jeff, is there any pressure building at all?

Does the red light flicker or is it steady?

Are there drips of water or absolutely none from steam & hot water valves?

Any sound of air from the steam & hot water valves?

I am new at this, but perhaps I can help eliminate possibilities.

Hi Diane

Does the red light flicker or is it steady?

Steady

Are there drips of water or absolutely none from steam & hot water valves?

None at all...

Any sound of air from the steam & hot water valves?

No sound from those two but a sound from inside the machine and some steam exiting from the tube in the dip tray...

Thanks for the clarification hope they are helping!

Hello again,

I did some reading...

Can it be ?:
1) Hi-Limit switch (hope it is... seems like a easy fix ! Just push the red button)
2)Problem with the Pressure Stat
3)Problem with the water level?
4)Problem with the boiler fill solenoid valve?
5)Problem with the 3 way valve
6) Mineral stock somewhere in the line
7) Vacuum breaker

Anything else I should think of?
If I need to look for a clog of mineral stock somewhere, is there an order I should follow for my investigation?

I wont be home until friday to try that out....
Thanks for your help
Jeff

Sound like a problem with the vacuum breaker. It is probably gunked up and therefore not sealing, therefore your boiler cannot get up to temp, so no pressure for steam or forcing out hot water, the light is staying on because the element is running continuously, boiling off water.

Let the machine cool and remove/disassemble/clean/soak the breaker, then reinstall. You may need to just buy a new one.

http://www.espressoparts.com/W10836

I did some reading...

Well, that, by itself is great . . . BUT you did not answer the key question that would lead to an easy solution. Diane asked:

Jeff, is there any pressure building at all?

Your initial description tells me that you have the newer style vacuum breaker which has a silicone tube fitted to a barb and then on to the drip tray.

So, I agree with Alex - the vacuum breaker is the likely culprit. You can remove (unscrew) just the top of the vacuum breaker but this is likely a two person/three hands job to avoid twisting the boiler's lines out of shape. After removing the top, lift the valve and teflon seat out with some needle nose pliers and soak that assembly in some white vinegar for 30 minutes. Rinse well, reinstall, and you should be a happy barista.

If the o-ring looks damaged, I have replacements.

Oups i forgot to answer that one...

So to clarify this, there is no pressure at all. The boiler gage pressure stay at 0

One more clarification: Before I descaled the machine, I had an intermitent problem with the pressure at the group head: Sometimes while doing a shot the pressure would drop from 9.5 to about 6 and then back again to 9 and down again...

(info about the OPV remove)

Do you think the pump could be the problem or the element?

Thanks again for the great support!
Jeff

Jeff, before you order anything, try what Eric suggested.

Edit: Eric clarified that the OPV usually does not impact variable pressure. Removed conflicting info.

From what I read, this look like the OPV, I will order the part from Chris Coffee and follow instruction you gave in another post Eric.

The majority solution to the declining pressure in lots of machines has been a pump replacement. See this:
ISOMAC Tea losing brew pressure . The easiest way to fix this problem is to simply remove the "guts" of the new pump and exchange it with the same of the old - two easily accessible screws. Certainly the more proper fix would be to replace the pump in its entirety together with new mounts for the pump.

Replacing the OPV insert and the o-ring for the adjusting nut is a good idea but is not likely the cause of the brew pressure fluctuation. It is a very inexpensive maintenance task.

Cleaning the vacuum breaker should be at the top of the list.

Ok just arrived home and opened up the machine..... ;-(( Wow, what a mess....
now I'm pretty sure something is leaking.

Here are some pics:






The tie-wrap around the vacuum valve just desintegrated when I touched it.... and the insulation is all hard and fragile.

I started the machine to see if something was obviously leaking and after 20 minutes I could not see any leak. The boiler was hot but the pressure was still at zero.

Here is a pic of the heating element base. Look like some rust at the connections!!! Can I order those connection to the heating element with a new element and gasket?



So right now I'm working on the Vacuum valve but I think there is a bigger problem?

Any thoughts?

Any way to clean all the green?

thanks