Hi all,

Longtime reader, first time poster. I just got a fantastic deal on a brand new Elektra T1, completely new and in the box. This machine needs to be plumbed and so I have set it up with a flojet running through a water softener and filtration system I got from Chris' Coffee.

We are having a problem in which I can pull hot water from the hot water dispenser and steam from the steam dispenser, but I can't get water through the group head. When I turn try and pull water through the group head the pump turns on and the brew pressure monitor reads at 9 Bar, but no water comes out. Since this is a completely new machine I am pretty sure this is not a clogging issue and instead am looking to either the pump not being primed, or a defective solenoid somewhere.

I am looking for any suggestions on troubleshooting steps. For reference the exact steps I have taken (as described in the manual) have been to hook up the flojet outlet into the water intake of the Elektra. Turn on the machine and run water through the hot water dispenser for 10 seconds. Repeat this 5 times. Then do the same for the grouphead.

One common result from searching about this problem is that the pump needs to be primed. But for a plumbed system is this still the case? My flojet is providing positive pressure at the pump intake and so shouldn't this be doing the same as a "turkey baster" as suggested in other methods?

Any info is well appreciated!

Thanks,
Nick

If you are steaming and pulling hot water( and the pump is refilling the boiler) the pump is primed. I would check the wiring and function of the brew solenoid.

Thanks Kize,

I have removed the shield covering the grouphead solenoid to check its function. I have not directly checked that the solenoid is not clogged, but I can hear it switch when I try and pull a shot and placing my finger against it I can feel the solenoid switch. Another piece of information that may be important is that the group head gets warm which comes from the convective heating water circuit. So water appears to be flowing through the heating path of the grouphead.

Is it possible that a fresh from the manufacturer grouphead could be clogged since the machine is 8 years old?

Any further suggestions very appreciated. Thanks.

Nick

It appears your brew path is blocked. Either before the solenoid , at the solenoid . Or in the group. Time to break open some fittings and figure out where the water stops.

Hi Kize,

I took apart the group assembly and verified that it is clear. In fact it was spotless like I would expect for an unused machine. The filter chamber was moist so there was water in it at one point, but there was not water in it when we pulled the filter retention cap off. I turned on the machine cold and tried to run the pump and see if water would be brought up into the filter chamber but none came. It seems this is a problem right?

So here is what I am thinking. I am back to be unsure whether the pump is functioning, because we are running the a pressurized water source into the water inlet, the boiler and heat exchanger may fill up from the external pumps pressure. The signs of water in the filter reservoir and thus the heat exchanger could be solely from the convective cycling and not the pump. Is there an easy way to check the pumps functionality without any serious surgery? I will turn off the flojet in the morning and see whether the pump can fill the boiler, this may tell. Otherwise I know there is a check valve in the brew path as well, any thoughts on how this could affect the operation?

Also to note, the pump pressure reaches 9 bar when in operation.

I will attach some pictures for reference soon to ease this discussion.

Many thanks

My quick look up of the t1 shows it has a rotary vane pump. If you have some sort of positive water feed to the water inlet- no special priming is required other than letting air out of the boiler when it fills ( opening the steam valve for example). If your pump is getting water from the main- and supplying pump pressure- it will show 9 bar on the gauge in brew mode and filling the boiler.. (Which it should.) The machine gauge might also show static pressure from the main at idle.

With all that- in a heat exchanger machine - the pump fills the boiler. It also provides water and pressure through the heat exchanger to the group head when brewing . Unless something crazy has happened ( like the machine sat with water in the boiler/heat exhanger - in a freezing environment) it is an issue of water not getting from the pump to group.

Thanks for the info. So today I disassembled the water path from the pump to the grouphead. The check valve had water and the inlet to the flowmeter (this is an automatic) had water. However, the outlet of the flowmeter and into the heat exchanger was dry. I ran water through all the lines with a turkey baster, but could not push water through the flowmeter. Pictures of the flowmeter (lower left) are attached.



My hunch is that the flowmeter is passive and so should not need to be powered to allow water to pass but this could be wrong. In any event I am going to try and bypass the flowmeter to see if we can at least pump water through to the grouphead. If so I will just replace the flowmeter later on. Additionally before I saw condensation in the filter reservoir in the grouphead, but I am now thinking this could be from condensation in the pressure release line which is attached to the drip tray runoff. And so it may be that water never made it to the heat exchanger and the heating of the group head was just because it is mechanically connected to the hot copper tubing of the boiler.

One last piece of info supporting the flowmeter as the culprit and not the pump is that the pump pressure reads 9 bar when in brew mode, and this is measured before the flowmeter.

Any experience with these flowmeters and there problems? Can they be cleaned or should it just be replaced.

Thanks!

You can torture yourself and take it apart. Most I've messed with leaked or quit soon after. I've learned to just replace them and move on. Sounds like you are getting closer.

Pulled out the flow meter and lo and behold there was a clog on the inlet as expected. The inlet diameter is ~1 mm so I ended up clearing it with an appropriately sized drill bit. Re-assembled and turned on the brew nob and water flowed out the grouphead. So far no leaks and we are up and running, fingers crossed. Thanks for the help.