Death of Rocket Cellini Evoluzione V1

Recommendations for buyers and upgraders from the site's members.
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spiffdude
Posts: 359
Joined: 14 years ago

#1: Post by spiffdude »

Hello all, I've been away from this forum for some time.

I come with bad news, as my Rocket has died. It started making horrible "busted bearings" sounds a while back and word has come from our local coffee shop and repair place Faema Canada that it ain't looking good.

Seems like the boiler has been leaking water onto and into the motor and pump housing and destroyed bearings and other sensitive items. I'm looking at 800$ in parts for the pump and motor and a full day of labor for a grand total of 1300$ (Canadian dollars eh).

Over the last 12 years, I've had some issues: faulty pressurestat unit, Jammed inlet solenoid that caused the safety pressure valve to release a couple of times (wonder if this helped ruin the motor and pump that sit under the boiler), two or three steam valve stem ends that sheared off... In retrospect, not a worry free unit I would say.

Mind you it's on 24/7 and makes coffee several times a day, every day.

So I'm saying goodbye, and probably going for a Profitec Pro 800 in the hopes that German engineering and the simplicity of a spring lever connected to mains water will offer a more carefree relationship!

I'm curious to hear your thoughts on Rocket reliability and my hopes (or illusions) of a better future in lever land.
Damn this forum, I've had too m..muh...mah..mmmm..much caffeine!

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PhilthyCoffee
Posts: 102
Joined: 3 years ago

#2: Post by PhilthyCoffee »

I've got a Rocket, have serviced it myself and it's mostly just typical wear items that go. Solenoids go, it is what it is. That safety valve is probably $40 and 10 min to swap The steam valve thing sounds like something else maybe causing them to snap, maybe whatever it mounts to being slightly off and causing accelerated wear, but again that's like a $10 part.

Why is the boiler leaking water, and from where? If it's just leaking from somewhere and shorted out the pump, that's probably like a $300 part. Not aware of a "motor" in the machine, unless they are referring to the control board, which is another $200, but that's a little isolated from the boiler. You could probably get the whole thing going if you're decently handy for ~$500 and replace little stuff along the way as preventative measures.

Heck, if you want to just buy another machine, I'd consider paying for shipping plus something for the machine itself and try my hand at rebuilding it. But if you're open to it, you could probably get it going again with about 10-15 hours of work if you've never done it before and make a project out of it.

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spiffdude (original poster)
Posts: 359
Joined: 14 years ago

#3: Post by spiffdude (original poster) »

Water got into the electric motor that turns the pump. Motor is 300$ and pump is 200$. So yeah 500$ ish + a few o-ring and stuff since you have to get the boiler out of the way to replace the motor and pump.

I'm now thinking that they got wet when I had a solenoid issue that cause to boiler to overfill and the safety valve to blow. That would dump water all over the counter. Happened 2-3 times I think. Other than that, the boiler was fine, no leaks.

I'm fairly handy but lacking in tools when it comes to piping, and I'm sure I'll realize along the way that I need some crush washer or other fitting as I would be rebuilding it. So totally doable, but the machine would be down for a while. Might still do it and then sell it when it works. Or like you said, just sell it for parts or as a project.
Damn this forum, I've had too m..muh...mah..mmmm..much caffeine!