My beloved Epoca is poorly. Please note this is the manual tanked model, so I don't have the E06 card that controls dosage etc, it's just a push button. Here are the symptoms:

When I push the button to dispense water it initially flows out of the grouphead fine, but then peters out after a few seconds and just dribbles. It's unable to pull even the coarsest espresso shot. The pressure gauge starts to drop as this occurs.

Backflushing with appropriate cleaner did not solve this (though I did notice it takes longer than usual for the blank group head to "back up" and force water back through the machine and into the drip tray).

It's always been a loud machine and doesn't seem to be making any new or unusual noises. Nothing sounds different.

Strangely, the pump refills the boiler and will dispense hot water from the tap (for tea etc) perfectly well. That function is unaffected.

When I first bought the machine (two years ago) it was secondhand from a Bar. I initially relied on the water softener in the machine (which I replaced) but we've since had a softener fitted to the house, so for the last 6 months it's only had softened water.

I'm no technician but I do a fair bit of mid-level DIY, so I'm confident I can change a part (suspicion obviously falling on the pump here). That said, my technical knowledge of the innards of these machines is poor, so I'm reticent to go hunting without a good steer on what I'm looking for. The machine's manual was not helpful in troubleshooting this issue.

Any and all advice greatly appreciated.

All the best guys
Jon

For anyone who comes looking to troubleshoot this issue in the future, I believe I've fixed it.

The problem seems to have resided in the pump. I changed it for a new one (Approx £20) and the issue is resolved. The machine now works as intended.