If you have a padded knockbox bar, you'd have to hammer down really, really hard to deform the basket. Like shake the cabinets hard. I've never damaged a basket knocking a puck out

Yeah, that's most likely a BMW or a reasonable facsimile of one

Caffeine is one hell of a drug. I took a couple weeks off last summer and had an experience similar to yours. It was maybe even like seeing the world anew again. Michael Pollan has written about the effects of caffeine and he says that being on caffeine becomes a part of your personality and I'd have to agree with

The good news is you've got it working. The bad news is that as with old age, these problems will only increase in frequency. Next time you see something weird happening it's highly likely it will be time to replace the PID - you've already established things are going wrong with it

Hi everyone! Thanks SO MUCH for all your help. I received the solenoid valve kit pretty quickly. Install went fine, and now my machine is back to working order. What a great sense of accomplishment to fix it myself... and save ~$250!! I truly appreciate all your advice and direction.

Many on-line distributors have them. Try Amazon and seach for "bspp to npt adapter". Cobbling together a couple of braided water supply hoses is probably the easiest way to make the connections, and I trust the durability of the braided lines

+1 I just ordered a bag of CC Hologram. I expect no blueberry, but hope springs eternal

Ah, we may be getting to the root of the situation now Being new at all of this, I just assumed that, with a proper knockbox, I could bang (lightly) on the bar with the basket part itself. Using the neck of the portafilter as shown there, and as described in the thread here, more often than not

It's not what they did, it's what they can do and still blame you for inadequate packaging. IIRC, the package must be able to tolerate multiple drops onto a concrete floor from several feet, including on corners. I've talked with sponsors who went through the trouble of "certifying" their packaging for espresso machines. My recommendation? When in doubt, use

Don't all Harleys have a "V" piston configuration? A friend told me that's why they sound the way they do