Hi Everyone,

Looking for a bit of advice for my Rocket Giotto V1.

I was using it at a light duty catering event (pulling several. shots in a row, some milk drinks etc, nothing crazy).
All seemed fine but then I noticed the sound of the vibe pump got quite quiet, but kept running at that lower volume. I lose pressure at my grouphead but was still able to steam with the pressure in the boiler, but had minimal water flowing out of the head.

Turned machine on and off, but pump kept quietly engaging. Then a big cloud of acrid smoke came out the top, smell of burning plastic etc. Powered it off and it stayed off.

Pulled it apart. I get 120V on a volt meter to the vibe pump connection spades. When I switch on the machine though nothing happens, no pump pressure, boiler doesn't fill etc. A loud click and that's it.

So my initial thinking is the vibe pump burnt out but I can't see that its a common thing to happen? What I'm hoping is that there is no damage to the boiler, but I pulled the water sensor out and can see inside a seems to be OK.

Anyone else have experience with these machines? I've seen some stuff on people replacing the solenoid so wondering if I need to do that too, although it looks fine to me.

thanks!

I will suggest checking the refill solenoid too which is close to the opv.

A quiet pump sounds like a dead pump.

It does sound like a dead pump but the reason it failed may be on the water intake side. The heating element should still be heating unless the fuse has tripped but you can check the resistance to make sure it's not damaged.

Unless you are familiar with working on a machine you might want to leave it up to someone who is. I assume you're out of warranty but asking your vendor can't hurt.

Yes it is indeed out of warranty.
When checking for Resistance on my voltmeter, what is the proper way to read that? It shows 1 when not touching anything. If it stays at 1 is that good or bad? I'm assuming you mean to put them to the Spades of the boiler element?

Before asking do a search? There should be a couple of threads on this.

Anyway here's a guide how to measure resistance:

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/How+To+Use ... 632#s65006

From the guide:

First things first:

To begin, make sure no current is running through the circuit or component you want to test. Switch it off, unplug it from the wall, and remove any batteries.

'Snip'

If you set the range too low, the multimeter simply reads 1 or OL, indicating that it is overloaded or out of range. This won't hurt the multimeter, but we need to set the dial to a higher range.
The other possibility is that the circuit or component you are testing doesn't have continuity-that is, it has infinite resistance. A non continuous circuit will always read 1 or OL on a resistance test.

If it has infinite resistance you need a new heating element.

No need to check if the machine warms up as it is of course

eastpresso wrote:Before asking do a search? There should be a couple of threads on this.

Anyway here's a guide how to measure resistance:

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/How+To+Use ... 632#s65006

From the guide:

First things first:



'Snip'



If it has infinite resistance you need a new heating element.

No need to check if the machine warms up as it is of course

I did check out a few guides but wanted to see how it would relate to the espresso machine. I'm not that electric savvy.

It reads 1 when not touching, then gives me some numbers in the 12 range on the lowest setting when I touch it to the heating element. So looks like heating element isn't blown.

Will order a new pump and get that hooked up. The refill Solenoid Looks ok, but I don't know how it would look to be broken

From your description, I would say that the old 'Sniff Test' would likely expose the defective culprit. Just unplug the machine first; you wouldn't want to shock the old sniffer!

Hello:

jjk232 wrote: ... check out a few guides ...
I'm not that electric savvy.

Please bear in mind that electricity and water do not mix.

Any maintenance should be done with the machine unplugged and any electrical repairs/mods should be done/looked at/supervised by someone who understands how these machines work and knows about how to work with electrical appliances.

If you do not have some basic electrical experience ie: you are not an engineer but you do know how to repair a toaster, you may be better off getting a home appliance tech/electrician/knowledgeable friend to help you sort this out.

Cheers,

CIV

Previous post +1

If the heating element is fine (but obviously the machine is not warming up) the high-limit fuse might need to be reset or replaced.

I'd say get somebody to help you.

Just wanted to give an update.

Got a new Ulka Vibe pump (EX5 Brass Piston) to replace the EP5 (plastic) pump. It was 15$ more but apparently rated for heavier duty. I figured pull the trigger on the heavier duty one if pulling all apart.

Popped it into place and tightened it all down. Machine turn on, pump primed, boiler filled like a charm.

Clearly the fault was the pump. One of the screws holding the pump was a bit loose so was able to tighten that down a bit more to make it quieter overall.

Thanks again for the advice! Helped out a lot. Back to full service espresso making.