I'm at my wit's end. I've never attempted repair of an espresso machine before (other than slight leakage) and this has been a rough introduction.

At first I thought it was probably the infuser so I replaced it. Then I thought it must be the pump and I managed to replace it. After substantial hairpulling and searching online I finally figured it must be the OPV, and if I'm seeing the waterflow through the tubes correctly it seems to prove that (though I'm very wary of getting too close to it since I am unaware of if it could explode, especially since the whole problem seems to be high pressure!).

So today I finally got a new OPV and replaced the old one, and the water is still all going back into the tank as far as I can gather.

Nothing comes out where the coffee should be coming, if I turn on the steamer/wand to the max (without heating it obviously) a very small amount of water comes out but it's mostly steam, which I take is typical of OPV malfunction. But this is a new OPV.

Machine is totally descaled.

One other thing is that when I was trying to take apart the pump, one of the clipped on electrodes came right off and I have to twist that wire back with the rest of it now. But that seems to be working ok, I don't think that's the problem.

Another thing is that part of my assembly spilled and water spilled out, could that have hit some electrics or something and caused them to go haywire?

What on earth could be causing it? I don't see any blockage or even where there might be a blockage.

I would guess that your "mechanical valve" isn't functioning properly, because it's annoyingly common with those things... And I don't even really know the symptoms.

By OPV do you mean the little Tee down at the floor level of the machine with teflon hose in, teflon hose out and the little 90 degree release on the side with the silicone hose? And you're seeing the water flowing away through that little silicone hose?

If so, then yes, you have a blockage somewhere.

Again, I would guess that it is in the "Mechanical Valve" Part# 7313217301 (The upper section of Brew-Unit)
There are youtube videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QBLoTMgTec

Thanks for the info, that's really helpful.

I think I'm genuinely going to cry.

I can't take off the top left of the unit. I tried unscrewing the 4 screws on top and 3 come off fine, there is one that wouldn't come off and I kept trying to open it. Now I look at it, and the ridges on the + seem to have worn away completely, and I can't lift it off. And the part of the machine wouldn't budge. And then I tried unscrewing screws around it and I couldn't even get the three of them off.

So now what am I supposed to do, try to break it off somehow? It's all going wrong already and I haven't even got the thing off yet, if it's anything like the pump it's going to be another nightmare. It feels like my machine is just going to be a heap of junk by the end of it and it will never be fixed!

This screw?


If you can get your smallest pair of vise-grips to play along you can get it started. Once started, the Philips screwdriver can probably finish it off.

Throw it away, and replace it, or only screw it back in very gently. You don't want to hate yourself in 6 months when you have to go back in. With the steam wand and knob passing through, that corner is secure, it's not going anywhere.

SuperInfinity wrote:I'm at my wit's end. I've never attempted repair of an espresso machine before (other than slight leakage) and this has been a rough introduction.

FWIW: We here all dislike working on that machine, too. You can just buy the entire replacement "Mechanical Valve" I don't know where from in Europe, but they're less than $80 in the U.S.

Maybe try these guys? https://fixpart.ie/en/product/view/0090091525

$80 - the entire machine was bought second hand for around three times that value.

Probably a foolish thing to buy second hand, but the price was hard to say no to.