Hi all,

Well this is my first post to this forum - as a sleep deprived Mum of a 3mth old and 2yr old I seek advice from those more wise than I to help me adjust (increase) the brew pressure on my Diadema Junior Extra espresso machine so I can at least know that a beautifully extracted espresso awaits me after a night(s) of broken sleep...

The machine is about 4yrs old and I've never really had any problems with it, have back flushed and descaled regularly but of late the brew pressure seems to have fallen significantly. I have tried to follow previous posts relating to this topic and it would appear the problem is something to do with the OPV needing adjusting to increase the brew pressure. I don't have a PF pressure gauge but I read that you can approximate the brew pressure by measuring the amount of water that flows back to the water tank with a blind PF in place - apparently 2 - 2.5oz in 25 secs is indicative of 8.5-9.5 bar pressure. Well I measured the amount of water flowing back to the tank and in 25 secs it was just under 4oz! Presumably then I need to increase the OPV spring tension considerably to decrease the water return volume to the preferable 2oz? I'm happy to give this a go but just want to make sure I'm adjusting the right part of the machine so if you'll indulge me i've attached a photo of my Diadema and what I think is the OPV (centre bottom of photo in front of the boiler)- the nut appears to be loosened all the way off but to touch it is pretty rock solid (although i haven't really tried to adjust it yet).

At the same time brew pressure seemed to be dropping I also noticed steam was coming out of the group head and water leaking out the group extension into the drip tray and there didn't seem to be any real cooling flush (ie no burp of steam and hot water just a slow run of water when you closed the brew lever). So i disassembled the top part of the group and checked the mushroom for scale and the seals of the brew valve and this all seemed to be OK.

I'm grateful for any advice on the above to help restore my espresso extraction..

At the same time brew pressure seemed to be dropping I also noticed steam was coming out of the group head and water leaking out the group extension into the drip tray and there didn't seem to be any real cooling flush (ie no burp of steam and hot water just a slow run of water when you closed the brew lever).

Then, your grouphead needs to be rebuilt - at least some of the valves therein. The "guts" of your OPV need to be replaced, in particular the rubber seal for the valve itself.

You should also understand that your particular machine is not sold here (USA) although it is SIMILAR to the La Valentina which does have some users - notably HB himself - assuming it is not out on loan.