Hi there,

I have been using our Strega for 6 years and just doing basic maintenance on it (cleaning, lubrication). I have de-scaled the machine once few years ago. The issue I have is that the pump start has started to become erratic. Sometimes it starts immediately after lever is pulled down, but then other times it takes 6-10 seconds. This morning it took 30 seconds to start so something is definitely not normal.

It does not seem to be a low-water sensor issue as that would also remove the heating element. Has anyone ideas from where I could start to debug this?

-Mikko

Hi!

I'm not sure but it might also be a problem with the solenoid valve. If you are able to you could open the machine and take out the pump to test it.
Here is a thread about your problem I just found:
Bezzera Strega pump not engaging

Thanks for the tip! It seems they did not come to a conclusion on the issue and fix.

I also get this very silent humm before the pump engages similar to what was described in the thread. The pump could be going bad, but as it brews completely normally once it starts I am not sure if this is the root cause.

This sounds like the solenoid is going bad. On the Strega I think it is normally open to the boiler and has to be activated to let water into the group.
If you could open the machine and test the pump you should see if the pump has problems starting on its own.
You could also test if the solenoid immediately opens when you supply it with power.
But only do this if you are safe working with strong currents.

I opened the machine today and may have found the issue.

There is a piece of silicone tubing that runs to the drip tray. This was twisted almost shut and now that I have fixed that the issue has not yet occurred again. Still a bit too early to be 100% sure, but it seems promising. Note that this is not a stock setup. I have added a Y-connector there and attached the boiler pressure valve to this line so that the water in the machine start-up runs to the drip-tray.

The silicone tube is Not likely the Problem. That's low pressure on the outlet side of the OPV.

First thing I'd try is exercising all the electrical connections... with the unit cold and unplugged.

If the pump has a thermistor, check the value. Should be close to 0.1Ω when cold.

Well, now the machine is working normally again. The only other thing I did was to check if any electrical connections were loose. I did not find any obvious ones, but it of course could be that one of the connections had a problem and I fixed that when checking.

Anyway, I will report back to this thread if the issue comes back.

Well the issue did come back and got even worse to a point that the pump would not start at all when machine was hot.
I ended up replacing the ulka ex5 pump, but it is too early to say if the problem has been fixed as I have not used the machine for an extended period yet.

Keep us posted. I have a Strega, but only a year old. No problems so far.