Hi I have just got a Brasilia Mini Classic which is not working but I got it for next to nothing so thought it would be worth a shot to get going.

It has 2 issues

burnt out element(probably caused by Issue 2)

The controller seems to be a bit bung, The element is getting power(assume this has some control over element switching looking at the wiring) but the boiler wont fill, no power to pump or refill solenoid even when disconnecting level probe.

Inside the controller looks ok but something must be off

Anyone had a similar issue.

I will replace the element once I get the auto fill sorted as to avoid burning another element out


The controller is a G Rossi

Cheers in advance

OK progress report,

Had a look at the controller, checked the transformer and am getting 24v out of the transformer so its not that, powered up the relay with 24v and that energised so not the relay which are the 2 easy fixes in the controller sooooooo

I have a technosystem blitz which I was originally going to use to build an espresso machine until I found the Brasilia, I have circuit diagrams for both and think I will take the controller out of the blitz and use the self levelling component to fill the boiler. This also looks like it has element protection on the controller as well so might integrate this in.

so hopefully using this will save me $200 NZD for a controller and if it works I can get to the "FUN" job of removing boiler to get to the element as it is a vertical mount(might be upgraded to a horizontal) in the future or if I can squeeze 2 boilers in??????

I will keep you all updated and can post pictures as well

ps if you want a good supply of replacement solenoids, relays etc get a blitz those things are jam packed with 6 solenoids, 2 relays and plenty of other bits, and when the thing is gutted its going to be a coffee machine for our 2 year old daughters room, she is hooked on making coffee already has to "help" with the early morning espresso round.

Its now 20 past midnight and time for a progress report,

I got the boiler filling, by exchanging control circuit from Technosystem to the Brasilia

But by trying to be smart and save blowing a new element I now have a new problem

What I didn't anticipate was that the element was totally destroyed and had exposed cores which when water hit it has destroyed the SSR(hopefully thats all)

Got the Element out which was much easier than expected, and it was molten and crumbling.

So off to get a new SSR tomorrow and maybe some sort of over current protection and then will test without Element connected!!!!!

Then hopefully its a new element and it will be up and running.

Thats the theory anyway

2 Weeks after getting my machine it is now fully functional

Replaced the solid state relay, had to rejig the controller to get separate feeds for the pump and solenoid when filling the boiler.

The Blitz controller had 2 relays one activated when the boiler required water and one that activated when full. It also had solenoid control but I couldn't get any voltage out of this output. So as the Brasilia had no element protection based on boiler level(future project!!) I rejigged it so when the boiler required water both solenoids fired.

Put a new element in and had my first coffee last night, wasn't the best coffee I ever had but sure tasted sweet knowing I now have a functional E61 HX machine for the grand total of about $200 USD or $300 Kiwis and a very frustrating at times and rewarding journey to get it going, couldn't be more happy.

Got it working at about 8.5-9 bar for now will fiddle a bit with pressure once I get a few weeks trying grind and tamp setups.
Very next thing is to get some temperature monitoring happening.

Now I can relax and enjoy it for a month or two before the next project which is to replace the controller with a Raspberry Pi or Arduino which will take over auto fill, Monitor Brew temp, Shot timer and might also look at setting up an flush function so it flushes to set temperature.

Hope this may help anyone that has similar issues or inspires someone else to take on a cheap "Wreck" and bring it back to life