On my Elektra Microcasa Semiautomatica which is 10 months old I have a blocked vacuum breaker valve, a sticky pressurestat and now it appears that the boiler fill solenoid valve is jammed open.

The symptom associated with the blocked solenoid valve is the sight glass is full and doesn't recede. (What problem does this actually cause?)

What I'd like to do is fully flush the system as well as replace the valves.

I think I've invalidated my warranty by adjusting the pressurestat and so I don't think I 'd get away with a free repair. Maybe not, any advice welcome.

So my main problems now are that I don't know where to buy the spares in the UK or if any US suppliers ship to the UK, and I don't know how to clean the insides of the machine, nor do I know what cleaning product to use.

So, er, help!

I don't know why a 10 month old Lektra would have all these hick ups unless the water is mud. These machines are easy enough to dismantle and clean. One search will get you one of my posts which is one of many how-to's.

Elektra Semiautomatica new owner tips

A 10 month old fill solenoid should only fail because of contaminants or defective manufacture. Try the retailer you bought it off but I have a feeling you bought it on line?.. If they are reputable they will at least listen. London Espresso sells Elektra spare parts.

Remember to use a well padded surface when you lay him down.

I got in touch with the retailer who also repair. They said it sounds to them like scale buildup and I should descale it first, then, if there are still problems, return it to them. They also said scale build up was not covered by the warranty. So that's clear.

Thanks for the advice Dr Dregs.

I was wondering if anyone can explain what the consequences of a full sight glass (stuck open solenoid) are? Right now my coffee tastes a bit sour and the steamer isn't working that well. But can anyone explain if this is related?

My experience after 5 1/2 years of using my Elektra: My Semi works mostly trouble free with very clean (of lime-scale) water. I recommend - once you get the machine running smooth to use reverse osmosis, or distilled water. If there is scale build-up in the machine after 10 months. A hard water problem seems likely. If not that: I would have no idea what is wrong.

Ian - the sight glass is telling you the boiler is over full. Fire it up and steam repeatedly until the level goes down or, when cold take the steam arm off the valve and drain some water out.

I'll need to drain water off through the steam arm, as the solenoid fill valve is jammed open.

I have another question re descaling. If I was to empty the boiler by draining it through the steam valve, could I then fill the reservoir with descaling solution and use the fill pump to refill the boiler and have it drain out of the steam valve? Obviously I'd need to do this over the sink and tilt the machine at an angle. The reason I ask is because if it is do-able then I'd get plenty of descaling solution into the solenoid fill valve, which needs to become unstuck.

Any help greatly appreciated.

PS Would I even need to remove the steam arm? Wouldn't it work just as well with just the steam tip removed?

Best to take the steam arm off otherwise it'll be like a bee having a wee pee.

If you don't want to dismantle the machine then pump the descaler in from the tank. Don't forget to do the HX. The only thing that might happen is because where the fill solenoid is, a bit of dislodged gunk might get in and you're back where you started..But it's worth a try and is a thorough way of descaling short of pulling everything apart.

Flush, flush and flush again.

Well I did the flush of the boiler and the group head. There was quite a lot of visible gunk came out of the boiler flush, even some big bits up to a 1/4 of an inch. The brew head had some particulate but much less overall. So we'll see how this goes. I feel as though I did a good thing though.

Thanks for your help DJF.

You're welcome. It's performance will now be Elektrafying.