Rush of steam from Pavoni Pro when pulling blank shot

[Brendan]

Hi , well I aquired this machine a while back and it seems to make pretty good coffee but the more I read about them the more confused I get . One thing I don't understand is pulling a shot with nothing in the basket , I've heard people do this to clean out the group . If I try this as soon as I raise the lever I get a rush of steam going everywhere and burning my hands as I rush to shut it off . Do you think my machine needs new seals ? It was fairly old when I got it and I don't know if this has ever been done .I would appreciate any help with this problem
Regards Brendan

[hbuchtel]

If I try this as soon as I raise the lever I get a rush of steam going everywhere ( . . . )
Regards Brendan

Where is the steam coming out from?

Can you stop it by lowering the lever?

Henry

[Brendan]

The steam gushes out the porta filter where the coffee usually comes out . It stops as soon as I lower the arm .
Brendan

[hbuchtel]

Is there only steam coming out or water as well?

Henry

[Brendan]

Steam and water Henry.

[hbuchtel]

Sounds good to me. At normal operating temperature the pressure in the boiler is quite high (around 1 bar) so the water should come gushing out as you described.

What does your boiler pressure gauge read when you are doing this?

Henry

[Brendan]

Boiler pressure at the gauge say 1-1.5 . Are you saying what is happening is normal ? It's just I read about these people pulling blank shots to clean out the pf I suppose , and it seems a bit dangerous to me . Thanks for your input
Brendan

[Mark08859]

I also will run some water through the group after brewing in order to help clean it. When I hold the lever by its handle, however, steam never touches my hand. Perhaps you should do it w/o having the PF attached. That may be affecting the direction of the steam. Also, have you tried bleeding off some steam prior to running water through the group?

[srobinson]

As the guys say, this looks pretty normal based on your description. If you want to see a violent blank shot, you should do a first pull on the Elektra A3.

[Brendan]

Thanks

[espressoperson]

Boiler pressure at the gauge say 1-1.5 . Are you saying what is happening is normal ? It's just I read about these people pulling blank shots to clean out the pf I suppose , and it seems a bit dangerous to me . Thanks for your input
Brendan

Find a pitcher or mug that you can slip under the grouphead and that is high enough to confine the steam/water. It's safer and also keeps the drip tray from filling up.