Update:

Here is a video of the first shot pulled. This was from 16grams of Zen Cafe Coffee Tres https://zencafecoffee.com/ (Best espresso I have ever had) through an Orphan Espresso Pharos which is actually dialed in for an Elektra McAL. I had to manually pull this as the autofill is not working.


So basically, it works now, the pressure stat was bad.

UPDATE: autofill is now working. Connector was dirty and not making contact.

Current issue, the pressure gauge for the tank seems to work (goes up to 1.1bar, new Siria pressure stat kicks off), but the group head pressure gauge is at 3bar whenever I apply water pressure. When I turn on the manual brew switch, it goes to 12 bar (12 bar - 3 bar is 9 bar, so I think it might be at the correct pressure). Not sure if I should order a new gauge. All of the pipes are clean... the old gauge had some scale in it, but I did not try to clean the gauge itself. Perhaps a portafilter gauge? (heck, they are half the price of a double gauge).

Question: Is it worth getting a new double gauge or just getting a portafilter gauge? Truth be told, I am not sure how to adjust the grouphead pressure on this unit (after all this time, sudden realization, don't know how to adjust the grouphead pressure)

UPDATE: my gauge is not broken. So, this raises further questions! I installed a new gauge, and it behaves the same as the old gauge. So, when there is water pressure (the water is turned on), the head pressure gauge goes up to almost 3bar. When I activate the brew head, the head pressure gauge goes up to 12 bar (!!).

IF you turn off the water, and hit the manual fill handle, the head pressure gauge goes down to 0 bar.

Am I doing something wrong? Does anyone else have a LSM 85-16m-2? Not sure why the gauge is at 3bar when off, but with the water supply on.

UPDATE: aha, it seems the pressure from the bypass on the pump is set at 12bar from the facotory: http://service.dultmeier.com/files/work ... Models.pdf... now to find out which direction is "decrease"

UPDATE2: If anyone is reading this, there is a section in the pdf above which notes the following information:

WARNING For food applications the pumps (even when NSF listed or WRAS approved) need to be sanitized by circulating water at 80 °C (176 F) for at least 20 minutes. The water used for this operation must not be reused, either during the sterilization or later.

Wow, do you think the espresso factory does this to every pump? 176F? So not boiling but really hot. I wonder how does a regular joe achieve this? Run the boiler in the tank then send the water back to the pump and keep the water below boiling? The manual says it is necessary... has anyone else ever replaced a pump and "sanitized" it?

UPDATE3: Standard water pressure in the home is 40-45psi... given that, it seems like when I turn on my water valve (which, reasonably coming out of my filter is roughly the same pressure as my home) is about 3bar. The gauge is reading 2.5 bar when I turn on the water. I am a bit flummoxed as I see videos and pictures of other 85-16m-2 units and the gauge is at zero until they hit the brew switch.

Found out from another HB post that backing out the bypass screw on the fluid-o-tech pump lowers the pressure.. indeed, a full turn cranked it down to right at 9bar when brewing. It seems that all of the problems are solved, with the exception of the following:

1) Why does the grouphead pressure gauge read 2.5bar when the water is "on" but not brewing?
2)Given the above warning from fluid-o-tech, how would a "normal" person with household items go about flushing the pump out like that?

number9 wrote:1) Why does the grouphead pressure gauge read 2.5bar when the water is "on" but not brewing?
2)Given the above warning from fluid-o-tech, how would a "normal" person with household items go about flushing the pump out like that?

I don't anything about your machine, but pressure in the grouphead when not brewing is pretty common. Could be pressure from the incoming water or heat expansion.

I suspect many factories do not bother flushing the pump, or buys pumps that are already clean. Fluid-o-tech probably includes the disclaimer on pumps that get boxed and sold some undefined amount of time later after sitting in a warehouse. I would probably run two tubes into a pot of near-boiling water and run it for ten minutes, change the water, and run it another ten minutes.