Hello everyone.

I am trying to a fix a leaking group of a 2-group, SANREMO commercial espresso machine. My hypothesis was that since the group was constantly dripping, that the inner plunger of the group's solenoid's valve has been worn out, causing it not to form a perfect seal even in the OFF state.

In this case, it is a 3-way Parker solenoid valve and the after-brew, drain connection seems to be achieved through a rubber tubing, which is connected to the stainless-steel body of the valve.

For this purpose, some sort of a plastic adapter seems to be used. There is a hexadecimal plastic nut plus washer type of thing that is screwed on the flared end of the valve's body, to which a plastic fixture with a plastic C clip is attached.


I broke the C clip while trying to remove the drain connection, to get an access to the solenoid and the inner plunger. Do you have any idea what is this type of adapter is called or whether there is a more popular connector that I can use to achieve a secure drain connection after I finish my fix?

Furthermore, a bit off topic. But can I fix the plunger by polishing the green sealing part at the bottom, fearing I might not be able to find a replacement part here.

(Please note that the above image was borrowed from another valuable post on home-barista.com, here)

One more thing, do you think that a leaking espresso group such as this one (with a rate of one drop every 1 sec) can cause a significant drop in boiler pressure and temperature? or should this suggest a problem with the heating element as well?

I would really appreciate any help.

Regards.
Orwa.

3orwah , I can't help you with the plastic thingie but I've had problems with these solenoids leaking before. I tried repairing the "ruby" part by polishing etc but was never able to make it work consistently. I also tried to increase the pressure from the internal spring to no avail.

Now the good news. New replacements are available locally from espresso machine distributors in addition to US vendors such as Espresso Parts, Stephano, etc who ship internationally.

For the future you might want to look at your water and cleaning. These selonoids can accumulate dirt and/or scale quickly in bad conditions. I used to have to deal with this problem (at home) every 6-8 months until I changed my water source and now it's been years since my last selonoid replacement.

Good luck.

there are elbow fitting (and straight one as well) made specifically for that purpose

@Mohammad: Thank you for your feedback. I will be going to a Parker supplier in Dubai which I found in the Yellow Pages tomorrow. I'll let you know what happens.

@Stefano65: Thank you Stefano for the information. Can you be more specific and/or give me links or photos. I understand that it might be questionable to promote a specific supplier but just for the sake of knowing which type of products I should be looking at. Maybe you can help me with the name of the stainless steel's threaded end? It has a flared-fitting type of seat (a 45-angle slope at the end), but the thread diameter and pitch are not exactly the typical brass 1/4 inch size. Maybe you can help me a bit further? Thank you very much Stefano65.

No problem at all I'm a suppleir and a business myself but that not the point,
I know I have them in stock since Elektra commercial machine uses them,but not availabe on our web page for sale so I'm not trying to sell you something
I will take a picture of them once I locate them
also the rubber one for ulka pump (those are on our web page so you can see them) will fit pushed in on the pilot and filll hold as well
picture on the way shortly

picture of the elektra one

Beautiful, Stefano. Seems like exactly what I need. That plastic crappy thing is quite complex in construction. Furthermore, due to the many parts/gaskets it is also quite vulnerable. Sometimes I don't get Italians.

Here is a photo of the solenoid's body after removing the coil. I did not have a 24mm wrench today and the hardware shops were closed because it is Friday.



So in case I tried to look for something similar, what type of inner thread should the elbow have? Is this a metric thread?

So it was definitely the Plunger that was responsible of the leak. The spring was broken. I wonder if I can find a replacement locally, I will go to the shops here tomorrow.

You can replace the entire solenoid for around $65. May pay to just to scrap the entire Parker and replace it with a fresh one. That one looks pretty used up. You can also replace just the core for a few dollars less.