Okay get ready for some really stupid questions but here goes anyways.

Does the water inlet tube connect to anything inside the machine or should it simply dip down far enough into the machine so that water can rise into it.

Besides the inlet tube, should there be anything inside of the machine besides the heating element? Is it okay for water to be sloshing around directly onto the heating element or should there be something covering it? I don't see anything else in the diagram and I'm a total newbie with machines but letting water heat up directly on the heating coil seems a bit unsafe.

I finally plugged it in and the heating coil shot right up and gave me my first look at what I'm working with inside. I definitely need to descale. Do I need to take the machine apart and do it by hand of will using some citric acid such as https://www.amazon.com/Ball-Jar-Citric- ... itric+acid
be sufficient running through once or twice?

I still am worried about which portafilter to order. Since this is a 1982 machine or earlier, would https://www.espressocare.com/products/i ... -and-brass work or do I need to look elsewhere for something that will fit?

Also, my machine becomes blistering hot to the touch practically the moment I turned it on. I didn't put in any water however since I still need to install the water sight valve. Is this normal? Will it take longer for the brass to be blistering if there's water inside the machine?

Thanks for all the help. There's tons of resources talking about the machine but not really any videos except people pulling great shots off of perfectly working machines!

Also having issues removing this bolt http://imgur.com/gallery/F1719

Anyone know where I can get a wrench small enough to fit in between there without overlapping on the other sections. I have a decently small wrench but the width of the clamps is simply too much. These machine need such particular tools!

Don't have time for a long response but that is an immersible heating element. It must be covered in water or it will very quickly fail, which is an expensive replacement. You may have burnt it out already. At this point I would not run the machine without checking continuity at the heating element terminals (unplugged) and reading the user manual.

http://www.elektrasrl.com/en/wp-content ... N-0609.pdf

Okay I'm glad I turned it off right away, I had a bad feeling about it. I followed your advice checking the unit unplugged yesterday and everything is still in working order. Finally ordered the parts I need from stefano's website. I'm sure I'll need an extra piece or two and know for sure that I will have to cut the portafilter gasket a bit for it to fit in a pre 1982 machine. I can' t thank enough for all the help drgary, you sure do a lot for this forum I've noticed!

So I finally got the parts in and started putting on all the new gaskets as well as the glass water sight valve. Lightly hammered out a dent in the top so the dome fits snuggly now and belt the sight valve slightly so that it lines up perfectly for the glass. Everything went into place with little issue. Began to fill up the machine and the sight valve started leaking heavily from the bottom. Waiting for the area to dry up a bit before I take it apart and see what the issue is. I'm hoping I just didn't put the rubber on correctly and it's not snug enough. I'll be updating probably tomorrow if the issue persists.


EDIT: So I've spent a few hours tinkering and reading up a bit more but didn't want to double post.

I unscrewed a few bolts and lifted the sight glass by hand a bit and realize I left out the bottom clear gasket (doh!) so squeezed it in without removing the glass all the way and then pushed it back down snugly into place. Tried refilling and this time no leak there but instead 2 of the 4 bolts on the group head were leaking which simply needed to be tightened further.

Waited a bit to let everything dry and tried the machine with power and sure enough it worked. However, the water started dripping out of the top valve (under the dome piece) so I cut power and let it cool once more. I determined after some more searching that my water level was a bit too high so I let a bit out to where it was near the top of the sight valve instead. Water was able to run through without a problem at the right pressure according to the gauge.

I'm quickly learning how hot this machine stays even after being switched off for 30 minutes. I noticed some specks flowing through the machine so I'm going to descale and run a clean cycle of water and see if that takes care of that minor issue.

The only major problem I'm having now is that the portafilter won't slide into place which stefano warned me about when I ordered. He said the wings might need to be 'grind down' which I'm confused if he means in width or if they're too long. I think I'll wait to run coffee through until I have this issue fixed. (I saw the warning on this machine about taking the basket off without depressurizing as it will shoot all over the room. I'd rather not risk it by trying to hold in place by hand.)

One last note this video on another thread was amazing Elektra Microcasa a Leva Review And helped out a ton with the visuals. Once again thank you everyone and drgary for being visible on multiple threads about this machine.

A little update. I've been slowly pushing the portafilter into place after the machine heated and am now able to lock it into place quite easily with the basket in as well. The only problems I'm having now are a slight leak near the pressure valve and small metal flakes coming out when I run water through. I've descaled and run fresh water through several times and my water still has a strong metallic smell to it. Do I need to do more descaling or just continue to run hot water through? I'm using pure citric acid; is that too strong? Should I try out a name brand cleaning product instead? I love having this machine to tinker with every weekend, it's turned into a fun little hobby!

pwittr wrote:hello seinfeld11
Appears we are on parallel paths with older Elektra MCAL's, however mine shows better on the outside and boiler is clean as a whistle inside.
The tag underneath clearly shows 1981.

It had very similar shipping damage.... broken water-level glass, bent gauge (just like yours), bent upper T-Fitting (soldered to boiler) that mounts the gauge etc.
With the gauge removed, was able to strip down the water-glass pieces.
Then did use gentle taps with a rubber mallet and the T-fitting straightened nicely. Thought about gently heating it up to avoid cracks, but it was straight before I knew it. Kinda late I read the post about levering the fitting straight, probably better than tapping.

My Water-Level glass holder is 1-piece brass like yours (no clips), rather than the split 2-piece replacements sold on those sites. I also assume this identifies the unit to be older.

So I'm waiting for water-level parts, gasket kit, and new gauge.
This one came with a fine brass portafilter, just no basket.
So now focusing on getting the correct portafilter basket for pre-1982.
Not sure what a pre-1982 looks like, or how it's different, nor have seen one advertised so far. Anyone?

One site states their 2-cup basket is 26mm tall outside dim, so I measured the inside of this portafilter to find 34mm from rim to bottom near edge. So seems like it should fit, but what don't I know??? Like rim of basket is different? I may be out $14 if so.

The advice to remove the 2 allen screws and inspect inside the group was appreciated, will try next.
I too am a believer in stainless fasteners.
And appreciate your hesitation to not tear it all down right-off, but yes it sure is tempting. (if it ain't broke...)

It's been a week or so since your post, did you get the parts and fire it up?

my is the oldest one, circa 1980 on the stamp. my portafilter and basket are bigger. don't have a digital caliper but it's roughly 2" or 51mm. need a tamper but waiting for the digital caliper to arrive before ordering. is yours working?

All my equipment is working fine and fits in nicely at this time. I've noticed that my spring has been sticking more and more lately which leads me to believe I might need to get a custom made one elsewhere (which I've seen the posts about but not sure if anybody is still making them). Above all else though I'm still really nervous about the overwhelming metallic taste my machine is giving off. I've purged the machine over a hundred times with the freshest of water possible and am still getting visible sediments in my water every other time. I've confirmed with blind tasters that my water is still metallic and not just in my head. I've tried descaling with citric acid at least ten times leaving the solution in from anywhere between thirty minutes to three hours. I'm totally at a loss on what to do here thinking about buying a commercial grade cleaner and praying that will do the trick.

I contacted Lee Springs, figured out how many coils and what thickness and length and bought a sample from them. It wasn't cheap but wasn't too expensive, less than $40 I think. Another option is to contact an Elektra dealer with the spring measurements and see if today's spring would work.

If you are descaling that much, you are no longer removing scale but are probably breaking down the metals in the boiler with descaling solution, which is a mild acid. This might be yielding the metal flakes you're getting. If I were in your position I would stop descaling and run clean water through the machine. After awhile it might stop tasting metallic.