Hi Jim. Steam is coming from this valve. Not sure what it's called.

rasmusnielsendk wrote:Hi Jim. Steam is coming from this valve. Not sure what it's called.

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Totally normal. Don't worry about it!

Amberale wrote:Does anyone have experience changing the portafilter handles?
I seem to remember reading that they are glued in but I don't know if they are threaded and whether it can be done without destroying the timber and/or basket carrier.

Conventional threaded connection.

My plumbed-in v2 recently stopped reliably doing the short pump cycle at turn-on; now mostly doesn't do it. Meaning, left to itself, some moments after turn-on, it starts making some ominous heating sounds. At which point I manually turn on the pump for a couple seconds, and all is quiet again. Service boiler turned off, so that's not it.

Anyone else's pump stop automatically topping off their brew boiler like this? Guessing it's likely a loose/open wire, but figured I'd ask around before cracking it open.

Pump operation when switched on is optional.

I got my Bianca in January 2020 and have used it daily since I got it to make 2-3 espresso's each morning for me and my wife. A few months ago I wasn't paying attention and ran the water tank down too low and the system stopped with the low water warning. I'm not sure if that event is related to what I'm experiencing now or if it was the catalyst to make me realize my Bianca wasn't behaving the same as it used to.

Turning it on to make an espresso no longer goes up to full pressure in the tank within seconds, but takes up to 13-15 seconds to reach full pressure. The gauge bobs up and down as it makes a bunch of noise seemingly struggling to get to full pressure. Once at max pressure, the groaning it makes settles down into what I remember as being normal.

To be honest, I ignored this issue for longer than I should have, but lately, I started actively paying attention to it and when I searched online for potential causes (and ideally a fix) I did find someone on reddit who had the exact same issue. His post is here -

I found a video from one of my first times using the Bianca back in January 2020, and I was shocked when I saw it got to pressure in the tank in seconds, and relatively quiet too. I took a video today, and the difference is startling, with it taking about 14 seconds to get to full pressure with lots of bobbing up and down on the gauge and a lot of noise and groaning to get there. You can see the two videos here - https://1drv.ms/u/s!AoFon8FBZ35Ltc906Tk ... w?e=I0nVXi

For the Reddit poster, the issue appears to be caused by the pump not getting fed enough water and sure enough, he fixed it by cleaning his filter support. I haven't had the same luck, but I'm pretty new with these types of machines so I'm not sure how to best troubleshoot and proceed.

Additional info that could be helpful:

- Never descaled the system since I've bought it beyond the standard 4-6 week black flush through the group head
- I'm using the built-in water tank (not plumped in)
- Have never used tap water in the system, it has only ever seen water I mixed using the Barista Hustle recipe listed here - https://www.baristahustle.com/blog/diy- ... pes-redux/
- Upgraded to V2 LCC last summer when it was available in Canada. Didn't have any issues (to my knowledge) with the replacement
- Took out the plastic water tank and cleaned it, the tubing, the filter on the tube.
- Haven't opened the unit itself (beyond the LCC replacement), and have not taken off my mushroom to inspect for scale.

I'm open to any and all suggestions on how to troubleshoot this problem. Until I found that video from last year I didn't realize how bad this problem has become and I'm hoping it is something that can be fixed.

Scale is possible because you are using water with magnesium salts.
The use of a blank filter does not affect the formation of scale in the boiler.

Smo wrote:Pump operation when switched on is optional.

Thanks. So just happens to not be pumping now, I guess.

Nvm

The water filter can be regenerated.
30℅ NaCl solution, for 12 hours. With periodic circulation.
Then wash off with your water (1-1.5 liters).
Execute monthly. Otherwise, the development of fungi is possible.
Better to use a 35 liter filter.
After 3 months I noticed a significant increase in flow resistance at filter 70. With a 35 liter filter, this was not the case.