I bought a rather tired Rancilio MD 40 Grinder and what I believe is a Brasilia Century or Cappuccino that seems to be in quite good nick. I paid a 100 $ for both so something was probably wrong with the machine. When I opened it there were needles stuck in the touchpads connectors, probably to force in some wires that are supposed to go somewhere else? The pump worked but I am a bit weary trying to heat it up before I get some understanding of why the needles are put there. I will try to make the grinder doserless, it might be a fun project.

It heats up OK but the steam wand leaks pretty badly and no water come through the brewhead. I'll fix the steam wand tomorrow , anyone have an idea what can be the reason for no water through the brewhead ?

Can't help with the water, but I'll bet the needles were left by someone trying to make an easy and quick connection to a multimeter to diagnose a problem. I do that quite often. Even though probes can touch the screws, the needles allow you to use clips that you don't have to hold.

Jim

It is working ! It was a dirty gicleur. Water is coming out of the grouphead and I can backflush the machine. I do not want to descale it since we have little calcium in our water here in Norway. Any other way to get 14 years of gunk out of a very scarcely used machine ?

All the machine needed was a new Ulka pump and some decalcifying with white vinegar. Just getting to know it and results so far are quite good. Not much info on the net about how to best use a HX Brasilia like this but I will learn by doing.

I just picked up one of these today. Need to fix some leaks but otherwise in good condition.

It has the exact same pins in the connectors and certainly gave me a surprise too.

I suppose there's a remote possibility that I just bought it from the OP (!), but seems more likely those things are deliberate.

If I was trying to figure out how it worked I might do something like that so I could attach a scope or protocol analyzer.

Ira