Elektra T1 - #771 built in 2000 is now mine

[mhoy]

Funny thing, just upgraded to a used Anita and I was darn happy with it. However I happened to see an ad on Craigslist that looked interesting... a short chat with the gentleman who acquired it (along with a restaurant) and it seemed in reasonable shape, worth an hour drive to take a look at. Well it wasn't the GL1 he listed but it was a T1. Given almost a decade of use I think it's in OK shape (after all I did buy it). Now it wasn't plumbed in or plugged in, so I decided to take a chance. Hopefully the main boards aren't burned out or anything like that.

As is before any cleanup.


The deal with my wife is that she gets a new kitchen (that we've talked about for a while) since I have to plumb and plug this thing in.

There is certainly some water in the boiler and when I briefly turn it on I get a light near the switch. I'll leave the rest of the experimentation for later (like another 6 to 12 months, I have a kitchen to update!!).

I'll be back for assistance when I get time to work on it.
Cheers,
Mark

BTW: I don't think they ever cleaned the three portafilters. This is after a 10 minute soak...

[jesawdy]

BTW: I don't think they ever cleaned the three portafilters. This is after a 10 minute soak...

Repeated soakings in a fairly concentrated solution of espresso detergent and very hot water should get them clean (JoeGlo "Wicked Liquid" instructions, should work for any espresso machine detergent). You may need to use a green scrub pad as well. It is generally recommend to only soak the metal portion and not the handle, and not too long as suggested in the linked instructions.

BTW, sweet machine, hope she works out for you.

[mhoy]

The portafilters are in much better shape after a couple of soaks. An old toothbrush wasn't sufficient, but as you mentioned a green scrubby helped out a great deal. They are good enough for now given that I won't be using them for sometime.

It is indeed a sweet machine, I've looked at the other forum members that have Elektra's but never expected that I would get one someday. It was planned for after I won the lottery, not before.

Mark

[Paul]

great wee machine. Elektra's are very well built and make a great cup. I'm sure it'll look a million bucks with a little polish and the badge repainted.

[zin1953]

Congrats, Mark -- I hope you keep the pics coming as your cleanup/restoration continues . . .

[mhoy]

Having been in professional use, there are a number of dings and scratches that will be a pain to polish out. The legs need replacing, chrome plated plastic aren't the best idea.



Last night I inquired about ordering a repair and service manual, voila, Elektra has already shipped me a hard copy.

Mark

[cannonfodder]

Super deal, I am assuming. From the looks of the portafilters, the machine has not been taken care of. Remove the shower screen from the group. There should be a single slotted screw holding the screen onto the dispersion block. Once you unscrew it, it should just drop off, brass block and all. The dispersion block has around 6 very tiny holes in it. those will get clogged up even with weekly backflushing. I take mine off every couple of months and run a pin through the holes after a long soak in JoeGlo to clean them out. Yours is probably nearly blocked.

The 3-way is probably plugged up with old coffee residue as well and may need removed and soaked to clean it out. A good descale is probably in order as well unless he had a good softener on the supply line. You can check that a couple of ways. If you remove the cap from the group, there is a wire mesh filter. You can look at that for buildup. If you take the cup warmer off the top so you can get into the boiler, there is a cap on the heat exchanger that uses a large Allen wrench (unless they changed that between the old and new versions). You can unscrew that cap to see what the scale inside the heat exchanger is like. Finally, for the boiler, you will need to remove the vacuum breaker or heating element so you can see inside the boiler to inspect it for scale. If the heat exchanger inspection shows little scale, then chances are the boiler is in similar condition.

[mhoy]

Super deal, $850 This assuming the electronics aren't shot, previous owner claims it was in use before retirement in Feb of this year! Sweat equity is something I can understand (I've re-tiled 50% of my house).

I have to get a stubby screw driver to remove the group head, looks like I need a large Allen wrench too...
Any idea what size?

I've not gotten the instruction/parts manuals yet. Which one is the vacuum breaker?



Thanks a bunch,
Mark

[HB]

I've not gotten the instruction/parts manuals yet. Which one is the vacuum breaker?

The silver one on the right with the brass pin. The brass fitting next to it is the safety pressure release.

[cannonfodder]

A- Pressurestat
B- Pressurestat adjustment screw
C- Brew/auto-fill solenoid
D- Heating element
E- Heat exchanger inspection cap
F- Boiler level probe
G- Brew pressure gauge supply line
H- Boiler pressure gauge line (also K)
I- Boiler pressure release valve
J- Vacuum breaker
K- Boiler pressure gauge capillary supply
L- Pump pressure adjustment screw and locking ring
M- Brew pump
N- Brew pump body

The level box and controls are under the drip tray

It looks like it is in good shape under the covers

[mhoy]

Dave: Thank you for taking the time to label the parts. It's replies like your that make HB a wonderful place to hang out.

Mark

[mhoy]

This is looking pretty good. There was a bit of scale on the boiler level probe, the probe itself is virtually spotless. The vacuum seal is looking pretty clean too.

Shooting a 3 Watt LED into the boiler probe hole and looking thought the vacuum seal hole gave me a bit of a view. Seems like there is a light gray coat inside, nothing like some of the scale pictures I've seen. Looks like I'll need a 12 mm Allen wrench for the heat exchange cap (anyone know the real size, I'm guessing as my 10 mm one is too small).

The machine has sat for a while with water in the tank. Would this be the same condition as what is put into the system a couple of months ago, or would it have precipitated out minerals? In any case I used a straw to take a water sample of the water in the boiler, a quick test with a Hatch ppm test strip yields a 50 ppm. Hey, this water is better than my water softer water....



Mark

[mhoy]

I soaked the outside of the level probe in citric acid and hot water for 30 minutes. The portion above the boiler water line clean up. The other area is thicker than I originally thought. Kind of like one to two sheets of paper in thickness.

Mark

[cannonfodder]

Sounds like it is in good shape. I would still give it a descale just to cover the bases and keep ahead of any problems. I have not removed the heat exchanger inspection bolt so I am not sure what size it is.

[stefano65]

Allen head size 12mm good for top of grouphead and heating exchanger

[stefano65]

Definitely you need a descaling, the probe casing is solid brass ( normal color in real clean life)

[mhoy]

Yep descaling is in order. While browsing the HOW-TOS I didn't see a definitive guide. I'd like to read up on how strong to make the citric acid solution, guides to how long to leave it, heated solution vs cold, etc.

[mhoy]

Couldn't find a 12mm Allen wrench at Lowes or OSH, guess I'll have to order on-line.

In the mean time I dropped out the group head.... ughhhh, makes me scared to ever order an espresso at a restaurant. The green scrubby hardly touches this stuff. Scraped some of the crud off with a piece of wooden chopstick. They are currently soaking in a strong solution of hot water and Cafiza (again).

Here is a over exposed shot so that the rather black good is shown in it's full glory...


Cheers
Mark

[cannonfodder]

Yup. I figured the group would be in bad shape given the portafilter condition. You will probably want to replace those gaskets as well. There is one in the group and another between the flying saucer (that thing on the left) and the grouphead. They are probably both hard as rocks. You may want to get with Stefano (two posts up) and see if he has an Elektra gasket kit and replace all of them while you are working on the machine.

[mhoy]

A couple of the holes in the shower holder are plugged solid. I'm thinking of using a needle to clear them (if I can). A kit of Elektra gaskets would be a welcome thing. The green (vikon?) gasket is actually still plyable, but it needs replacement. The group head gasket is a bit plyable, may have been replaced at one point. In any case I'll be replacing it too.

Mark