The pump noise only happens on start-up for varying amounts of time, and then the machine runs fine (although I'm currently diagnosing a small leak from the bottom of the steam boiler- I think it's just an old o-ring, and also replacing the steam vacuum o-ring). Anyway, I shared the linked video with WLL, and they told me to send the entire machine to them because they couldn't figure out the problem through email. I'm no technical wizard, but I've done many repairs on the machine myself, and I'm not willing to ship this thing- especially when the shipping would be more than the repair. That said, has anyone had this issue before? WLL thought it might be the control board, and I actually have some replacement GICARS (I once had a boiler problem that was misdiagnosed by WLL), so I might try swapping those out first. Could it be the motor capacitor?

Anyway, any ideas would he helpful!
Thanks,
Eric

Can you take the covers off, fire it up, and figure out what's making the noise, in order to rule anything out, or help you confirm what's making the noise?

The pump sounds okay to me. What's awful is the noise of the gauge being pegged relentlessly like that. Looking at the gauge is painful enough, but it sounds terrible with the hydraulic hammering.

The pump isn't receiving enough water, when it does get some water, it appears to me that the boiler fill solenoid must be blocked because it isn't easily getting on with the job of filling the boiler, it's just giving a momentary pressure spike. I'm going to make the assumption that machine's not plumbed in, because the gauge is able to drop back to zero with a clatter, but is it plumbed? Can you share some information so we can help?

It's hard to really tell much from that short video, but what have you done with it so far? What have you checked so far?, If you manually fill the boiler with a funnel in the (removed probe) hole, so that it isn't trying to auto-fill, how does the pump run with the lever raised? And how does the pump run against pressure (blind disk or lever down, button spooned or pressed)?

Does it have a clear inline plastic filter between the receiver and the pump? If so, is it full of crud? If you watch it run with the body panels off, are the clear hoses between the receiver and the pump full of air bubbles?

Thanks everyone for the replies.
The machine is actually plumbed in and I have the cover removed, but still can't determine what's creating the noise. As I mentioned, the machine runs fine once that initial noise is over. It really only happens after the machine has completely cooled off- so it's hard to get data points. Today I cleaned the solenoid and I'll see if that helps even though it seemed pretty clean. I think the pump is definitely not getting water during the start up.

All my tubes are clear (the machine gets RO water), maybe I'll try manually filling the boiler if it continues to happen (I might need some tips on how to do that).

Thanks for the help so far!

Eric

Is there a pressure regulator in the waterline?

What does the machine do if you run it from reservoir?

After initial start up is over, if you let water out of the hot water wand and the machine needs to auto-fill the boiler, does it auto-fill nicely without all the percussion?

It really is strange. Is it running in 20A mode and possibly causing such a voltage drop with both elements, pump and a solenoid valve powered that the solenoid is getting less than 101 volts and stuttering like that?

Hey- thanks again for the replies.

Yes, there is a pressure regulator in the water line and it seems to be at it's typical pressure. I did think that there might be a problem with the water supply, but since the issue only happens when the machine is cold, I don't think so.

I did empty the steam boiler while the machine was turned on, and the pump sounded PERFECT as it refilled the reservoir with no issues.
I just emptied the steam boiler again, and I am going to let the machine cool and then try to have it refill off the water reservoir to see what happens.

(I'm pretty sure it's not the electric supply- the machine has been in the same location for 10 years and has always worked fine).

Thanks Again!

So, the boiler filled noiselessly when I used the reservoir as opposed to the plumbed in water line...does that give any clue? (at least I know pump and motor are OK at start-up)

I have seen this pump stuttering behaviour before, but not this extreme. Maybe checked for a partially blocked sediment gauze filter. They've put them in different places over the years, but first i'd take the 1/8 fitting off the plumb in fitting and check if there is a gauze filter behind it, they get blocked over time with sediment and cause issues. Either clean or replace

Update- I turned the machine on this morning using the reservoir, and the pump went through the same noises and stuttering that it did with the plumbed line, so it's not the water supply that is causing the issue. Are there any other filters that might be causing this? Could it be the solenoid?
As I mentioned, once these few seconds of irritation are over, the machine works fine, so I'm not about to spend hundreds of dollars to ship it to the retailer. I'd rather just start replacing parts on my own.

Thanks for any ideas!