Hi all,

Tried to do some searching on this, but didn't see much. I just got a new Alex Duetto 3 just over a month ago and it has worked just dandy up until today. I noticed that the brew boiler pressure gauge is not working at all. Everything else operates fine and even pulled a shot with consistent results from when the gauge was working. Tried no portafilter, blind basket, and a normal shot and still nothing on the gauge.

I popped the hood to check if there were any disconnections especially with the copper tubing going from the rotary pump to the gauge itself (this was disconnected on arrival and thankfully many had posted about hooking this up prior to first use). SO to get to my question, does anybody have any suggestions to remedy this situation myself, or is this something where I would need to talk to the shop that sold it to me?

Any feedback would greatly appreciated.

If the capillary tube came disconnected you would know. It would be spraying water everywhere. There could be a blockage in the line but to check that you would need to disconnect the line supplying the gauge at the gauge and turn on the brew. Water should spray out the line. Some machines also have that line soldered into the gauge. If that is the case then you cannot test that. If water does not spray out the line, it is blocked. If it does you gauge is dead. Either way, since the machine is only one month old my first step would be contact the company you purchased it from.

Thanks for the reply and great advice on testing where the problem could be. I have taken your later advice and reached out to the company that sold it to me... Time to see how good the customer service is.

That's definitely the right choice. Not knowing who you bought it from, if it's Chris', they'll have you up and running properly in no time, and will probably send you a new part if they think you have a defective one. If it's not Chris', you can still get the techs there to help you out. They're awesome, and well...have never asked me if I bought my machine from them (though I did). The copper tubing going to the gauge isn't soldered in on the Duetto (afaik). There's a nut, I think it's 12mm, holding it on the pump side of things. Of course, removing the line from the pump side won't tell you if it's clogged, so you'll have to get it off the gauge side, which is more challenging. The challenge is really getting access to the nut. Be prepared to remove some other things, such as the steam boiler pressure gauge line, in order to get o the brew pressure gauge. If you do end up fixing things yourself, and you are plumbed in, remember to shut off your water supply you remove the old one, or you'll have a machine with water all over the inside, and could easily short something out...or at the very least trip your GFCI.

Unfortunately, it appears to be a soldered connection - see pics here: Temperature study of Alex Duetto

Removal is made a little unpleasant due to the accessibility factor where the gage line starts. Just be careful with that small tubing (and gage) you will eventually receive and avoid creating a kink in it.

That's an old thread, and there have been a couple of version changes since, but I found some pictures of my machine as well (I have the II) - on my hard drive - and they do show the gauge end soldered, but the pump end does not appear to be.

Yeah it seems to be soldered on the gauge side, but not the pump side. So that much is good. Also in the process of passing along info, and pics to the company I purchased from so that is a good start. Thanks again for the replies!

You could try disconnecting the cap tube from the end opposite the gauge (with the water off and the machine cold) and just see if there's a clog at the fitting going to the gauge.
Side note.. is the gauge resting at 0?

Hi twolane, I did exactly that today by request of the the shop I purchased from. Couldn't see anything that looked like it was blocking the tube. Also the gauge is resting at "0". Here is a link to youtube showing what is happening: http://youtu.be/v34U1L9OqFQ This was before checking the tube and it still behaves the same after reconnecting and letting it warm up. Still pulls great shots otherwise and thanks for the help.

Sounds like it's just a bad gauge, and it will need to be replaced. Nothing lasts forever, and in this case, I think you just so happened to get a gauge that wasn't manufactured as well as some others. Keep using the machine, swap the gauge when the new one shows, and that's that!