Hi kids! First post.

I live in south-central Nebraska (not exactly the espresso machine Mecca of the World) and so I was surprised to see TWO espresso machines available for a total of $300 yesterday. The one that is functional is a 1995 CMA (Laurentis) SME / 2N. Both steam wands work, but only one group works. This will be my first restoration project. A tech I respect in Kansas City told me that this is basically the same as Astoria (and it looks like the discontinued Argenta).

Question: What parts would be your Prime Suspects for one group not working?

I also wanted to share links that I found useful in giving me an outline of how to tackle this project. Paul Pratt (of Cafelat - Robot fame) wrote an informative little article called "My restoration schedule" and "Thoughts on Restoring Vintage Machines".

Thanks for reading!

Hi and welcome!
My first guess for the non functioning group would be a clogged or broken solenoid valve.
Since you mention it looks like the Argentina, I found a schematic of that machine here:
https://www.espressoparts.com/parts/com ... enta-parts
There is also a general service manual for the laurentis on scribt:
https://www.scribd.com/doc/68502366/Ast ... nce-Manual
As far as I could see it discusses all versions of the machine.
Good luck with the restoration and hopefully you'll find time to share some pictures!
Cheers!
Rob

I appreciate the reply!
The machine came home with me today. (It was hooked up and still functioning when I looked at it yesterday so I gave them a day to dismantle.)

An espresso tech in KC told me that he just sold one (he said was not as nice as this one) for $1800. So that makes me feel pretty good. (The external pump & motor in the front are worth more than what I paid for the whole enchilada!) The seller was nice enough to also give me a box of various S.S. pitchers, a knockbox, tamper & bunch of baskets.

The espresso tech told me my group problem is probably just clogs. He says there are a couple of trouble spots for that in these machines. (Now to figure out where those might be).

What a great find!
I have an Astoria CKXE which is a similar but 1 group. My machine was also clog, and the culprit was a clog flowmeter.
Pull Pratt has a guide how to treat the flowmeter. The clog at my machine was pretty hard and stubborn. I used dentist tools to break it.

Good luck.

I would check that your getting power to your solenoid first. If not it's likely you just need to replace a fuse in the control box. If there is power to solenoid but you don't hear a clicking sound when it's engaged the solenoid needs to be replaced. Failing that it might be calcification build up in one of the lines.

Appreciate the add'l replies!

I currently have this in my garage and my daughter (who owns a coffee kiosk as part of Barista's Daily Grind) is going to loan me her kiosk generator to hook it up and do some real testing this weekend. My son-in-law does a lot of the maintenance work on their La Marzocco machines and he's been helpful, as well. I will keep y'all updated.

Very cool- looking forward to the updates.