Stefano!!!!
Yes- it's the same person emailing you (and buying stuff from you!). So, at this point I've narrowed it down to some sort of airlock in the brewing chamber. I've tried to bleed the lines of air by emptying water from the boiler via the hot water tap, then opening the steam wand and lifting the brew lever for about 45 seconds to get all the air out. Then I close the steam wand and let it get up to pressure. What happens, though, is that once it gets up to about .5-.75 bar of pressure, I am no longer able to lift the brew lever. There is some kind of vacuum/suction thing going on. The anti-vac valve is brand new (purchased from you ) and it works fine and is free of any scale. In fact, I only use CG Alpine Spring water, so there shouldn't be scale of any kind in there (there is absolutely none on the mushroom or in the brew valve chamber.
If anyone can figure out this conundrum, I'd be most grateful.

the steam valve should not have anything got do with the heating exchanger function,
but for the hell of it is the OPV opening???

How would I tell that? Would I just check to see that the silicone tube leading from the OPV is dripping water?

Then, somehow you have the cam in the wrong position. When you are ready to disassemble this grouphead again, give me a call at 301-587-5033.

That's very kind of you; thank you. I'll give you a ring, although at this point, I think the issue is actually in the pump itself. I've now noticed that when I've made one or two shots, and the lever gets stuck, I can't turn the pump on even if I just push the microswitch by itself. Also, nothing is coming out of the silicone tube from the OPV, leading me to believe that something is either blocking the OPV or blocking the vibe pump.
AAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!

AAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!

Yes, I agree with that sentiment.

ArchieCoffee wrote:UPDATE: So, I did a little experiment. I took EVERYTHING apart on the E-61, cleaned out any debris no matter how small, lubed everything up and reassembled. It worked fine for a couple of flushes, and then the upper brew valve assembly got stuck like it was suctioned to the seat. I turned the machine off and opened up the steam valve, and sure enough, as it dropped in temperature and pressure, I was able to lift the brew lever.
So, there's some kind of vacuum that's being formed in the top chamber when the machine is at full pressure that is sucking the brew valve assembly to the seat. Any ideas? This is super, super frustrating, because the machine is awesome (when it works).

You are actually opening the valve against the pressure, a vacuum would make it easier to open.

Did this machine work correctly at some point when in your possession? If so, what have you changed since then? There are some minor variations in the length of the valve stem and diameter of the part the seal seats into, these could cause problems if you installed new parts. Does the lever move easily when the machine is cold? If you have replaced the upper valve there is a chance that the new one is larger than the old, and binds when warm. I needed to take a small amount of brass of the new valve for mine to insure smooth operation.

coffinnate wrote:You are actually opening the valve against the pressure, a vacuum would make it easier to open.

Did this machine work correctly at some point when in your possession? If so, what have you changed since then? There are some minor variations in the length of the valve stem and diameter of the part the seal seats into, these could cause problems if you installed new parts. Does the lever move easily when the machine is cold? If you have replaced the upper valve there is a chance that the new one is larger than the old, and binds when warm. I needed to take a small amount of brass of the new valve for mine to insure smooth operation.

Yes. The lever works perfectly fine when cold, and it will brew a few shots before it seizes up. Also- and possibly unrelated- there is nothing coming out of the OPV tube (I just talked this situation with Eric, who was very generous with his time and knowledge). Now I'm wondering if rather than a "vacuum", the OPV is somehow not working, so now there is actually too much pressure in the brew chamber, making it impossible to lift the lever.

Ok- so once I sent a pic of my setup to Eric S, he informed me that I actually had the check valve and the OPV REVERSED (ooooof!). Once I reordered it, all was well. Thank you again to everyone who contributed to this thread trying to help me solve this, especially Stefano and Eric. You guys are awesome!