Replacing pump on espresso machine?

[Amanda Riphnykhazova]

Can anyone assist with this Chromex CH308 conventional looking espresso machine please? I cant find any reference to this Italian company for a service manual. There may be a forum (SAV?) but it is in French.

When I press the espresso button to brew the coffee, the pump works for about a second and then appears strangulated and stops, thereafter dribbling tiny amounts of coffee out of the portafilter.

Do these pumps go weak or do they just fail please?

I immediately suspected a failed pump but when I open the steam valve, the full pump sound comes on and seems to work fine??

So I unscrewed the metal filter above the portafiler which doesn't look particularly dirty. When I took it off, the pump worked fine and spewed out normal amounts of water from the bare head: I figured that the metal filter is blocked, since not much seems to be blocked above it and I cleaned it. But when I put it back, and put the portafiler back in place (empty), the unit appears strangulated again and no water comes through.

I dont suppose there are two pumps, with one governing the coffee brew and the other governing the steam wand. Does all this just mean that my pump is gone?

 

[Con Saris]

On Thursday, November 20, 2014 8:42:37 PM UTC+10:30, Amanda Riphnykhazova wrote:

Can anyone assist with this Chromex CH308 conventional looking espresso machine please? I cant find any reference to this Italian company for a service manual. There may be a forum (SAV?) but it is in French.

When I press the espresso button to brew the coffee, the pump works for about a second and then appears strangulated and stops, thereafter dribbling tiny amounts of coffee out of the portafilter.

Do these pumps go weak or do they just fail please?

I immediately suspected a failed pump but when I open the steam valve, the full pump sound comes on and seems to work fine??

So I unscrewed the metal filter above the portafiler which doesn't look particularly dirty. When I took it off, the pump worked fine and spewed out normal amounts of water from the bare head: I figured that the metal filter is blocked, since not much seems to be blocked above it and I cleaned it. But when I put it back, and put the portafiler back in place (empty), the unit appears strangulated again and no water comes through.

I dont suppose there are two pumps, with one governing the coffee brew and the other governing the steam wand. Does all this just mean that my pump is gone?

Hi,
I have had similar problems with my DeLonghi machine as well. The filter in the portafiler was blocked with very fine coffee grounds. You could not see this and the basket seemed clean. I took a fine sewing needle and started poking each hole through. Made a huge difference. Another thing to check is if the machine needs descaling. I try to do mine every couple of months as we live in a very hard water area. Hope this helps.
Con

 

On Thu, 20 Nov 2014 02:12:31 -0800 (PST), Amanda Riphnykhazova
<licensedtoquill@gmail.com> wrote:

Can anyone assist with this Chromex CH308 conventional looking espresso machine please? I cant find any reference to this Italian company for a service manual. There may be a forum (SAV?) but it is in French.

When I press the espresso button to brew the coffee, the pump works for about a second and then appears strangulated and stops, thereafter dribbling tiny amounts of coffee out of the portafilter.

Do these pumps go weak or do they just fail please?

I immediately suspected a failed pump but when I open the steam valve, the full pump sound comes on and seems to work fine??

So I unscrewed the metal filter above the portafiler which doesn't look particularly dirty. When I took it off, the pump worked fine and spewed out normal amounts of water from the bare head: I figured that the metal filter is blocked, since not much seems to be blocked above it and I cleaned it. But when I put it back, and put the portafiler back in place (empty), the unit appears strangulated again and no water comes through.

I dont suppose there are two pumps, with one governing the coffee brew and the other governing the steam wand. Does all this just mean that my pump is gone?

Greetings Amanda,
I don't know about your particular machine but I did repair an
expensive espresso machine several years ago that the service company
could not fix because they could not find the fault. It behaved in a
similar fasion to the symptoms you describe. The problem was that
several very small passages in a manifold were plugged. They were
quite small, about 1mm as I recall. I used a tiny drill bit, which I
held in my fingers and twisted, to clean out the passages. That was
all it took. I hope this helps.
Eric

 

[Arfa Daily]

"Amanda Riphnykhazova" <licensedtoquill@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:f15cef4d-8e58-45c0-a8dd-03d48f69ee32@googlegroups.com...

Can anyone assist with this Chromex CH308 conventional looking espresso
machine please? I cant find any reference to this Italian company for a
service manual. There may be a forum (SAV?) but it is in French.

When I press the espresso button to brew the coffee, the pump works for
about a second and then appears strangulated and stops, thereafter
dribbling tiny amounts of coffee out of the portafilter.

Do these pumps go weak or do they just fail please?

I immediately suspected a failed pump but when I open the steam valve, the
full pump sound comes on and seems to work fine??

So I unscrewed the metal filter above the portafiler which doesn't look
particularly dirty. When I took it off, the pump worked fine and spewed
out normal amounts of water from the bare head: I figured that the metal
filter is blocked, since not much seems to be blocked above it and I
cleaned it. But when I put it back, and put the portafiler back in place
(empty), the unit appears strangulated again and no water comes through.

I dont suppose there are two pumps, with one governing the coffee brew and
the other governing the steam wand. Does all this just mean that my pump
is gone?

On pro machines, there is a proper cleaning regime required. Most important
amongst the actions, is back-washing the group head and feed. This is
normally done by putting a blanking insert into the portafilter basket,
along with a cleaning tablet. The filter water is then run a number of
times, each time pressure building against the pump. When you let go, the
water flies backwards, with dissolved cleaning tablet material in it, and
'exhausts' to the drip tray via the back pressure relief valve.

see

http://pollards.com/how-to-clean-coffee-machine/

Arfa

 

[Amanda Riphnykhazova]

Thanks guys, I also have a Gaggia Baby which heeds all that advice and suffers all those ills but when the Gaggia is blocked, the pump carries on and the water comes out slowly

Wit this one, lots of water comes out.

I have tried to put vinegar in to see if it loosens anything over a period of time

 

[Amanda Riphnykhazova]

I have always doubted vinegar as a bit of an old wives tale but after a few hours, it seems to have done something. I put the portafiler on it and turned on and it strangulated, wheezed, suddenly spat and then started pouring slightly dirty looking water out of (one side of the portafilter at) the bottom.

Either it works now or I may have to try citric acid a few times to clear whatever else is in there? It is being used in an ultra-hard water area and it has never been cleaned since I got it second hand in rural France

 

[Amanda Riphnykhazova]

Yes, I had heard that you can irretrievably adulterate a coffee machine such that it can never be used for coffee any more if you put CLR in it. (But it definitely burns off all the limescale in minutes)

No one seems to have come across a CLR alternative (of which there are MANY) which doesn't do this.

 

[William Sommerwerck]

"Amanda Riphnykhazova" wrote in message
news:3af2ec99-7e56-4ba3-92f9-7eb585a2e615@googlegroups.com...

It is being used in an ultra-hard water area and it has never
been cleaned since I got it second hand in rural France.

There are products (such as CLR) which are designed to remove hard-water
deposits.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/CLR-28-oz-Calcium-Lime-and-Rust-Remover-CL12/100670289

Whether they will clean your espesso machine without damaging metal parts, I
don't know. Some reviewers state that CLR leaves a residual taste on metal
objects that will not come off.

 

[David Platt]

Yes, I had heard that you can irretrievably adulterate a coffee machine
such that it can never be used for coffee any more if you put CLR in it.
(But it definitely burns off all the limescale in minutes)

The active ingredients seem to be lactic and gluconic acids (to
dissolve the mineral deposits), and lauramine oxide (a surfactant).

I wonder whether the residual taste from the CLR is due to CLR
residue, or whether the CLR attacks and alters the surface of the
metal enough to cause it to start "leaking" metal ions into the
water. The latter could lead to a pretty nasty taste, and subsequent
cleaning of the coffeemaker wouldn't help.

No one seems to have come across a CLR alternative (of which there are
MANY) which doesn't do this.

For filters and other reasonably small, removable elements, I wonder
whether putting them into an ultrasonic cleaner, with water and a
small amount of a neutral surfactant, might not do the trick. This
might remove the mineral scale buildup through an essentially
mechanical process, rather than a chemical one, and wouldn't attack
the surface of the metal with chemicals that could alter its surface
chemistry and cause it to "leak" ions.

 

[Arfa Daily]

"David Platt" <dplatt@coop.radagast.org> wrote in message
news:tsg4kb-jf2.ln1@coop.radagast.org...

Yes, I had heard that you can irretrievably adulterate a coffee machine
such that it can never be used for coffee any more if you put CLR in it.
(But it definitely burns off all the limescale in minutes)

The active ingredients seem to be lactic and gluconic acids (to
dissolve the mineral deposits), and lauramine oxide (a surfactant).

I wonder whether the residual taste from the CLR is due to CLR
residue, or whether the CLR attacks and alters the surface of the
metal enough to cause it to start "leaking" metal ions into the
water. The latter could lead to a pretty nasty taste, and subsequent
cleaning of the coffeemaker wouldn't help.

No one seems to have come across a CLR alternative (of which there are
MANY) which doesn't do this.

For filters and other reasonably small, removable elements, I wonder
whether putting them into an ultrasonic cleaner, with water and a
small amount of a neutral surfactant, might not do the trick. This
might remove the mineral scale buildup through an essentially
mechanical process, rather than a chemical one, and wouldn't attack
the surface of the metal with chemicals that could alter its surface
chemistry and cause it to "leak" ions.

My son-in-law used to work for a commercial coffee machine place, and they
used a powerful limescale remover that fetched everything back to factory
original. I'll ask him if he can remember what it was. For general cleaning,
there are proper water-path washing agents that you can run through
machines. The one I have is Suma Caffe from Johnson Diversy, but cheap it
ain't ...

Arfa

 

[Amanda Riphnykhazova]

WOW! What an amazing point. which i have never heard made before.. I'll bet you are absolutely right. There has to be a reason these machines can't be cleaned properly once they have been so clogged with the limescale

There is one proviso however, which is that not all machines have the same material composition to the water chamber. Surely it would be easy to obviate this problem by making the chamber of (eg) stainless steel.

One of the currently-acknowledged 'best' machines, the Gaggia Classic uses a curious boiler with an extremely limited life made from aluminium. I have a similar machine called a Baby which I bought second hand which, when enough citric acid had been passed through it to clean off all the limescale, started passing out black dust which seemed to have nothing to do with either limescale or coffee residues. When I dissembled it, I found extensive pitting which was so bad that in places it is 2-3mm deep! No one on the Gaggia forum seemed to have much idea about it save to blame the user for build-up. I can't see it can have been anything other than blackened or oxidised ally?

On your other point, there aren't any machines which either make the boiler easy to take out or treat it as a consumable which is going to need replacement every half-decade or so when used in places with a hard water supply?

 

[josephkk]

On Fri, 21 Nov 2014 10:32:03 -0800 (PST), Amanda Riphnykhazova
<licensedtoquill@gmail.com> wrote:

Yes, I had heard that you can irretrievably adulterate a coffee machine such that it can never be used for coffee any more if you put CLR in it. (But it definitely burns off all the limescale in minutes)

No one seems to have come across a CLR alternative (of which there are MANY) which doesn't do this.

I use a product called "Dip-it" in the US. It gets the job done and is
specifically intended for this use. (cleaning coffee makers)

This is as close as i could get to the MSDS:

www.reckittprofessional.com/customer_services/msds/dist/368928_r.pdf

?-)

 

[Amanda Riphnykhazova]

Actually I have some of that but don't use it because someone told me it is too harsh for espresso machines and was designed for drip coffee makers. I think I Wil try to rolll it out as, -with a formerly completely blocked machine, - there is no knowing what is in there!

 

[Amanda Riphnykhazova]

Actually I have some of that but don't use it because someone told me it is too harsh for espresso machines and was designed for drip coffee makers. I think I Wil try to rolll it out as, -with a formerly completely blocked machine, - there is no knowing what is in there!

 

[Amanda Riphnykhazova]

Actually I have some of that but don't use it because someone told me it is too harsh for espresso machines and was designed for drip coffee makers. I think I Wil try to rolll it out as, -with a formerly completely blocked machine, - there is no knowing what is in there!

 

[josephkk]

On Tue, 25 Nov 2014 08:13:45 -0800 (PST), Amanda Riphnykhazova
<licensedtoquill@gmail.com> wrote:

>Actually I have some of that but don't use it because someone told me it is too harsh for espresso machines and was designed for drip coffee makers. I think I Wil try to rolll it out as, -with a formerly completely blocked machine, - there is no knowing what is in there!

To the extent possible only use it on removable parts. Do not place it in
the boiler. I suppose you could support a cup to soak the nozzle in. It
normally gets the job done for me. Rinse thoroughly with both cold and
hot water, while rubbing the parts down.

?-)