Bar Keepers Friend is amazing, and yes, it's safe for the outside, and the inside, of the bell, as well as your brass pieces.

Don't worry about that foam padding. Just remove and discard it. When I finished mine, I wrapped the boiler with 1/2" ceramic wool that I found on ebay (I'm in the US) for $10 for the sheet, which was enough to do 2 boilers. ChrisCoffee, also in the US, sells an actual boiler wrap piece, that has a black cladding on the exterior of the wool. Very sharp looking. I think it's $22.

I purchased a new o-ring and the glass ball from the seller on ebay who's in the UK. Took me 5 weeks to get it, and they just put it in a letter envelope which arrived partially torn open, because letter envelopes get sent through those squeeze style sorting machines. Fortunately, the ball and o-ring were still inside. You'll have no problem getting those, since you're in the UK.

There's also the seller, Marc, who's posted the picture of the cut-away with the individual parts that he sells.

Hello, I'm back!

Pump situatioin: I replaced the sphere and the o-ring. I think the spehere didn't need replacing, but I did. The pump pumps, hoorray!

I gave the group elements an extra brush, they seem ok. I replaced the gasket (flat side up when the bell is mounted, the curved part will be in contact with the portafilter, if II understood right).

I turn the machine on, it stops at some point, then turn on the brew switch and the water flow through. Hooray!

Next issue
The water that comes out of the group is cold. Pressure doesn't build up. There's no steam nor hot water.
I gave it 5 minutes, nothing moves, no sound. The temperature of the boiler, measured with a laser thermometer doesn't seem to change.

Any idea where to start?

UPDATE:
I pushed the high temperature limit reset button/switch. It does heat now: we have hot water, steam and the pressure goes up. It goes up to the red area, which makes me think that I have to bring back out the high temperature limit switch. What's its correct position, in or out?

Excellent work!!

Boiler temp and pressure are controlled by the pressure stat. There is an adjustable screw in the top of the pstat. Rotating the screw counter-clockwise (loosening pressure on the internal spring) lowers the pressure and temp of the boiler.

The microswitch on the side of the pstat is a common failure point for these machines, so you may need to either replace the microswitch, or the entire pstat, and then turn the machine back on, and make your adjustments. If you adjust the pstat so it clicks off at about 1.4bar, that'll be perfect.

There's an electrical "filter" sold to protect the contacts of the microswitch from burning and getting stuck together. Here's a sample sold by a company in the US: https://www.chriscoffee.com/products/ap ... 0720976932

Here's what it looks like installed:

Should I regulare the screw on the pstat while the machine is on?

And what should I do with the toggle on the bottom of the boiler, the high temp limit reset controller? Should I leave it pressed in?

Yes. Push in the reset button on the temp switch so that the heating element will be powered. Then as the machine begins to heat, pay attention to the pressure gauge. Once it hits 1 bar, I would suggest turning the pstat adjustment screw counter-clockwise until you get a "click" sound from the micro switch, and the orange light on the front of the machine will shut off. At this point, you know you have a microswitch that works, and the pstat has responded to the adjustment. From here you can turn the adjustment screw back "inward" (clockwise), a half turn, and then watch what the pressure does, and what the machine does. You can keep finessing the adjustment of the pstat until you have the orange light turning off, at about 1.4bar. You'll find that the pressure gauge needle will "coast" upward to just about the 12 o'clock position (after the orange light has turned off) and then begin to drop until about 1.2bar, at which point the orange light will turn on again, the boiler will begin heating, the gauge needle will right, and then a few seconds later, the needle will be back at 1.4, the orange light will turn off, and the process will keep repeating. As this is happening, you may need to just barely adjust the the pstat screw in tiny increments, until you have that 1.4bar switch off point.

Regulatinig the screw on the pstat seem to do the trick. I couldn't hear a click from the microcontroller, but some conneection on the pstat sparkes lighlty when the pressure is reachd, even though not always. Thisi doesn't feel right, and Ii thnk I'll need to replace the pstat. Are there several models I should look at?

I tried to pull an espresso, and I have to say that the result was decent. Good starting point./

One more thing: when locking the portafilter in I felt too much resistance. It wasn't completely full with coffee. I had put 18gr in the larger basket. Then I removed some coffee. Now I have a doubt; the curved part of the gasket is on the side in contact with the portafilter, since I put the flat part up in the bell. Is there correct?


Furthermore, some steam/water came out of a valve on top of the boiler: is this supposed to happen? It was a little bit, then stopped. Given the cyan color I see on the copper of the boiler, I guess this used to happen frequently in the past.

The valve that leaks steam for a moment, is called the vacuum valve, and that's how they work. As the boiler cools, that pin will drop back down, opening the hole in the valve, so that the water pump can fill the boiler when you turn it back on, and so that there's not a vacuum in the boiler as the water cools and pressure drops. The valve is able to be cleaned, should it ever start hissing or spitting water all the time.

I don't know which pstat your machine uses, but what you see in my photo, is the new one on my machine, along with the filter that protects the contacts of the microswitch. It's a standard pstat used on many brands of machines.

The portafilter gasket is orientated as you have installed it; flat side facing up into the Bell, beveled side facing down toward the portafilter. There are silicone gaskets available, in 8mm and 8.5mm thickness (red and blue coloured, respectively). They are much better than the original black gasket and worth using.
8mm Red: https://www.amazon.com/Silicone-Gasket- ... 133&sr=8-7

8.5mm Blue: https://www.amazon.com/Silicone-Gasket- ... 33&sr=8-10

I'm glad you're making such good progress, and that you were able to make espresso.

Thanks for all the help and info!!

Any suggestions regarding the sparks on the side of the pstat? Would that mean I need to change the micro switch and not the pstat? I see they are different parts, sold separately.

Do you have the link to your pstat?

The sparks are what burn the contacts of the microswitch, causing the contacts to get stuck together, and then the machines just heat up into the red zone, until the user turns them off, or they blow the boiler pressure safety valve. That's why the electric filter was made.

You can replace the microswitch. Here's the Pasquini website in Los Angeles, California, and the pstat. But I'm sure you can find the same unit in the UK: https://pasquini.com/products/pressures ... e832&_ss=r

Very good, I found something that will work. Annoyingly while removing the pressostat the pipe twisted and even if it will work, I think it'll need to be replaced. Maybee I'm over-reacting. Unscrewing this pressurestat though, will require some skill.

Is it important the amperage of the pressure stat? I found a 16A 1-2.5bar; my original is 21A.

Furthermore, I see that your pressostat is 0.5 to 1.2bar, seems low for what the machine supports: how does that work?