hbuchtel wrote:Finally found time to pull it out- there is a big CMA sticker on it, as well as a smaller blue one that says "NSI component N009149." Stamped into the metal are these two #s: PA104 and F98. Hope that means something to you!

Yes, it is a Fluid-O-Tech, balanced bypass, in the neighborhood of 145 lph or 45 gph, see here, see PA104.

The pump shaft was frozen, now it turns with a wrench but not by hand. Hmmm... what to do?

Try filling the pump head with descale solution or straight vinegar. Turn the shaft, let it soak, rinse, repeat, see if it improves. (EDIT - When you finish, try to run the pump via the motor and flush with water, perhaps with a temporary output to a bucket. Don't leave straight vinegar in there.)

It is probably the pump impeller, and not the pump motor. As Jeff suggests, you can try putting some descale in there to see if it loosens up. Often, they have to be replaced (the pump, not the pump motor). I managed to get the one on my Faema to break loose and got away without having to replace it.

I believe the BSPP fittings use the 'bullet' ends. The parallel threads do not seal up against themselves. The inner pipe seals against a 'bullet tip' on the other end. BSPT fittings seal against themselves. The tapered threads lock up against each other. With these fittings, you can get away with a NPT fitting provided you give it a heavy wrap of Teflon tape.

The machine looks nice and clean.

All right! After a night of soaking in de-scaler the pump turns by hand!

Thanks guys!

Dave- from your description it looks like I have BSPP ends . . . I'll take another look at it later today. I figure if I have to wait another week for parts to arrive I might as well de-scale the boiler, eh?

Henry

It is a bit of a pain, the metric parts in a non metric country. When I rebuilt my Faema, I ordered an assortment of BSP to NPT fittings for just an occasion. Glad I did, I have used most all of them.

It never hurts to descale the machine and is good preventive maintenance. I descale all my equipment once a year just to keep ahead of any buildup. A clean machine is a happy machine. While you are waiting, you may want to remove the group gasket and drop the shower screen. They have a bad habit of getting caked up with gunk on the back while looking nice and clean on the outside. It is also a good indicator of how well it has been maintained. If it is clean, you got a well maintained machine.

Keep in mind, removing the gasket my ruin the gasket so I would get a spare just in case. I keep a spare vacuum breaker, group gasket and an assortment of thermal fuses in my part stash along with a bunch of other junk.
.

Henry-

FYI, the three rotary pumps that I've messed with are 3/8" female NPT on the pumphead, but they all had adapted out to something less "standard".

If you have time to kill, and the patience, you might remove some plumbing and see how bad it is scaled.

Well, I took out the heating element (it was the easiest way to take a look in the boiler) and it is clean...



The boiler was never emptied, and by peering into the boiler I can see a 'waterline'... also there is this colorful stuff around a few of the lower boiler bolts.



If I manage not to screw things up I think I might have a fine machine on my hands!

Henry

I got the parts from EPNW today (as UPS promised!) and hooked up the water line, plugged her in... no leaks! boiler cycles between 1 and 1.2 bar! brew pressure at 9 bar! volumetric dosing works!



Two problems, the little floating ball that shows the water level is either invisible or stuck somewhere, and there seems to be a problem with the auto boiler fill. I can hear the pump running but it didn't seem to fill ... (hard to tell without knowing the water level!) Maybe a stuck valve? Fortunately the manual fill works fine.

Tomorrow should be fun!

Henry

You sight glass float could be scaled to the bottom to the glass. If the boiler was not emptied completely, then chances are it sat in water and had some scale form around it jamming it in the tube. When I rebuilt my Faema, the lower sight glass line was completely plugged with scale. Those sight glasses are easy to break if you decide to take it off to free the ball.

The auto fill is probably a stuck solenoid. Again it could simply be scaled shut. You can take it off the water supply line (caution, unplug the machine if you do, water in the boiler will backflow out the line and make a mess). If you want to test it, once removed you could hot wire it to an electrical outlet (provided it is a 110v solenoid). You should see the solenoid pop open and hear a distinctive click when the coil energizes. If it just hums and the solenoid stays closed you could try descaling it or just get a new one.

It looks like you got a gem of a machine, congratulations.

In addition to what Dave recommends, I believe the autofill solenoid is all the way in the back right (near the top) of the machine and it has a manual water shutoff just below (I think).

http://www.espressoparts.com/category/0 ... letvalves/

It is the W.287 in the above parts list.

You might double check that the water shutoff is open? It should be inline as it is in the linked diagram.

Interesting. I have not seen a shut off valve on the autofill before, but my experience is limited. That would make sense especially if it were on the boiler side of the line. That way you could shut off the water before removing the solenoid. That way the boiler water does run out all over everything.