timmus wrote:There was some hissing coming from under the reservoir causing condensation and dripping, assuming the safety or vacuum valve, but these are new so will try again tomorrow.

The vacuum can hiss until its warmed up; after that, it shouldn't unless there's grit. You can usually clear it by pressing down on it with a knife or ruler; there's enough clearance under the tank to make this one of the few simple fixes.

Thanks Jim, I tried tapping the vacuum valve before I read this but what you said is correct. A quick tap on it with the handle end of a spoon did the trick.

Anyway, thanks for your help, its much appreciated. After a while with no coffee at home I am now enjoying it once more. Its been frustrating but I have learned a lot by doing it myself, not to mention saved a fair bit of money.

Thanks to cbrew from the below thread for a bit of a guide.

Elektra Semiautomatica SXC will not heat up.

Below I will post my steps, I hope they help someone in the future.

How I replaced heating element in Elektra Micro Casa Semiautomatica. I hope this helps someone one day.

1. Unscrew fill pipe from the back of the reservoir
2. Unscrew chrome pipe coming from base into the boiler (water entry to boiler pipe). At one point I actually retightened this to give a bit more strength and leverage when removing bent copper pipe but will need to be removed eventually.
3. Take off bottom plastic base by removing screw under drip tray and forcing with screwdriver.
4. Remove Pressurestat - unscrew nut, then remove connectors - remember which goes where. Make sure to use two spanners against each other so not to bend the copper pipe.
5. Undo the braided silver hose from the pump's brass end - don't need to remove the adapter just the hose. Use Size 12mm spanner on the grooves in the brass part of the pump, size 13mm on the nut.
6. Loosen the screw on top of base next to drip tray, to allow the pump to shift around to give better access.
7. Remove heating element connectors - Note which wire goes where.
8. Cut cable tie connecting safety temperature probe to bent copper pipe if there is one there.
9. Remove bent copper pipe going from solenoid valve to boiler.
10. Unplug 2 black wires coming from brew head. In mine, from memory one goes to pressurestat, the other goes to the brew switch.
11. Undo boiler bolts x 4. Using socket size 8mm.
12. Remove base and place on a box. Be careful of the other chrome pipes, don't place pressure on them or let them scratch the finish of the machine.
13. Undo Heating element screws. Pull heating element out. Might need a bit of force. I actually needed to use an impact screwdriver to loosen these as they were very much stuck.
14. Check for signs of scale in boiler and clean up.
15. Replace element gasket. I was recommended to use some sealant on the new gasket.
16. Replace heating element and follow steps in reverse.

Speaking about the Elektra Semiautomatica... I've had mine now 11 and 1/2 years. Bought it as a demo unit along with a Macap M4 grinder from 1st Line coffee. I have gone through at least 5 pressure stats during this time... plenty of rust in the drip tray - and inside from various leaks over the years - the steaming valve wore out twice - the local repair shop did an inexpensive repair with a valve from another machine - it drips and hisses a little but does the job... I have also replaced the heating element once about 3 years ago. I once tried descaling the top water tank and the citric acid solution I used removed the thin chrome plating inside the tank with extreme prejudice.

About 2 years ago the pressure would not go down - despite replacing the pressure stat - that local repair shop (Great Infusions in Santa Cruz) tried doing various remedy's... I kept having to bring it back - finally in frustration the water pipes were flushed out to an extreme degree - still it overheated too much pressure - finally on yet another flush a stream of milky white fluid came out - and the machine seemed to right itself.... The machine has not overheated significantly over the last 2 years of daily use. This may be the longest use I have gotten out of one Mater pressure stat... Probably the Semi has even more rust inside than 2 years ago - I have not reopened the bottom to look since then. Uh oh.

When I first got the machine in 2006 I used various water sources in it - even Brita filter water sometimes, over the last 4 or 5 years I've used cleaner water - usually reverse osmosis - I wonder if that milky water and those too frequent pressure stat failures had something to do with the 'dirtier' water I used in the first several years I owned the machine... Now finally it has flushed out? I have not descaled it in several years - just back-flush with water and once a month back-flush with espresso detergent. I make 3-4 espresso drinks a day.

I still like the Elektra Semiautomatica...I have owned several other espresso machines since I got the espresso bug in November 1987 - that first was an Olympia Cremina ordered from Zabars (about $375 -in 1987- when I lived in Chicago) - other machines I've owned included an E-61 machine - an Isomac Millennium - both of those machines had quirks too - and needed repairs - I think good water was important to all these machines - and I did not realize it then: in 1987 there was no internet with advice.