Parts manuals and support
My pump motor won't start
This is a indication of a bad capacitor, which needs replacing. The advantage of this is that they are relatively expensive.
If you have replaced the capacitor, with the correct microfarad, and it still doesn’t work. You first need to start to check if there goes power to the motor. If this is the case it is likely that your pump motor is broken and needs replacing.
You can not adjust the pump pressure on a Ulka vibration pump.
Adjusting the pump pressure on a fluid o tech pump is pretty straight forward. Untighten the locking nut on the side of the pump. Now you can move the adjustment screw. When you turn the screw inwards the pump pressure increases, when you turn it outwards the pump pressure will decrease. Don’t forget to tighten the locking nut!
No they are not all the same. The most common is the square shaft, this is used with most espresso machine brands. But when you have a espresso machine of Gruppo Cimbali you will find various models. The most common ones are the D shape and the small square shaft.
With this is it is the same as with the pump shafts. The standard pumps are clamped on the flange of the motor with a stainless steel clamp. But with the pumps used on espresso machines from Gruppo Cimbali you have pumps which are bolted to the flange of the motor. This can be a 3 hole flange, or a 2 bolt model.
No these pumps can not be rebuild. There are also no rebuild kits available for these pumps
On the pumps such as Fluid o tech, Procon and Nuert you will mainly find 3/8” BSP-G threads, but you can also find 3/8” NPT threads. For this you have special fittings, that are the brass 3/8” Male fittings and for the NPT model you have the nipple 3/8” NPT Male with 3/8” BSP
This mainly depends on how many brewing groups your espresso machine has. There 3 types of pumps, a 50, 100 and a 200 L/H pump. For a single group and a smaller 2 group espresso machine you can work with a 50 or a 100 L pump. When you have more then 2 brewing groups you do need to go for a 180-200 L/H pump. Price wise there is no difference between these pump versions.
There are in total 4 manufacturers of solenoid valves, ODE, ASCO, Lucifer and Parker. Where the brand Lucifer is part of the brand Parker.
There are 2 types used. A 3 way valve and a 2 way valve. The 2 way valve is used for controlling flows, such as a water inlet valve and a water outlet. The 3 way valve is solely used on brewing groups, where the 3rd outlet is used as a exhaust port.
This depend a bit on what brand of machine you have and where you are located. The most common voltage is 220/240V for most of the world. Where the US uses 110V coils on some of the machines, not all of them. But with brands such as Cimbali you also have 24V coils.
Well that is basically the diameter of the hole in the solenoid valve. The bigger the diameter the more water can flow true the valve.
This does depend on which model you have. In most cases you need 2 o rings. If you have the stainless steel Parker solenoid valves, these are not a option. For that you need the Parker stainless steel solenoid gasket set. These are not sold individually.
This does depends on what model you have. Some brands use shower screens which are held in place with the portafilter gasket, but you have also models which are held in place with a screw/nut.
With the friction fit shower screens you first need to remove the portafilter gasket before removing the shower screen. The disadvantage of this is that if you want to clean the shower screen on the inside you likely also ruin the portafilter gasket.
For removing a shower screen with a screw, make sure that you use a good screwdriver. A good screwdriver is a lot cheaper then using a incorrect one, which ruins the heads of the screws. There are 2 models, a Wera Philips head screwdriver and a Wera slotted screwdriver
This can have various causes. The most common one is that the capacitor gone bad, in most cases you will hear a humming noise. The advantage of having a bad capacitor is that they are relatively inexpensive. A other thing is that it is possible that the motor has been burned true. In that case the rotor or the stator needs to be replaced, depending on which one is broken.
It is possible that the bearings in your grinder got bad, which cause this noise. In most cases these bearings are replaceable parts and relatively inexpensive ones
In most cases this means that your capacitor gone bad, which is not uncommon. The advantage is that start capacitors are relatively inexpensive.
Yes this is quite normal. When you replace your grinding burrs on your coffee grinder you need to calibrate your coffee grinder. So you need to start from scratch again.
The handiest is to use the original screws which came with the old grinding burrs. Seen not all the thread sizes on the screws are the same. If you don’t have them order OEM screws. Yes they are more expensive, but you always know the thread pitch is the right one.
If you tighten the steam tube too much the ball inside the steam tube is stuck against the sealing surface. You need to untighten the steam tube nut slightly so that it can move freely, but still seals off the steam tube.
This can have various causes. The most common one is the most easy to resolve:
· Blocked steam stem. This is caused by not proper cleaning the steam tube. At some point the milk will block the steam holes of the steam tube. This can be resolved by removing the steam stem and cleaning it properly. In most cases this resolves the issue.
· Damaged valve component. It is possible that a valve component inside the steam valve makes it impossible to open the valve. Only disassembly and a rebuild will resolve this issue.
· Blockage of the feed steam tube. This is the most uncommon one, but it does happen. Is that the tube coming from the boiler to the valve gets blocked with scale. Cleaning and descaling can resolve this issue.
This is caused in most cases because of the valve gasket needs to be replaced. At some point these gaskets do need to be replaced, they are inexpensive and in most cases you can just do it yourself.
This can be a tricky one to find, the easiest thing is to use soapy water. With this you will see bubbles forming. It is always handy to solve leaks, seen the pressure switch won’t kick in because the pressure slowly drops.
If you talk about traditional touchpanels you have basically 2 versions. The first one is a circuit board where you have small push buttons soldered on them. The other one is a membrane touchpanel, the principle is similar to the touchpanel above.
In most cases this is the result of corrosion inside the touchpad. This type of touchpanels are made up out of several layers. The push section is a small metal or poly dome which, when pressed, makes the connection between the circuit which is in the lower layer. This item can’t be serviced
This type of touchpanel is made up out of a circuit board where each individual push button has push button key soldered to the circuit board. In most cases the doming spring inside corrodes why there isn’t good connection. Technically you can replace these individual push buttons, but if you need to pay someone else to do it likely it is not really beneficial.
In most cases the Italian manufacturer Gicar produces the touchpanel boxes and touchpanel menbranes. But that doesn’t mean that all the products used are from Gicar, but most of them are.
In most cases you can find the part number on the back of your touchpanel, there is a Gicar sticker located. Or A sticker with the manufacturers part number on it.
When you have a level regulator in your espresso machine but your water inlet solenoid valve won’t close this can be caused by multiple things. It can be caused by:
Yes in some cases it can work, you can always try. If it doesn’t work just replace it with the correct one. Make sure that you have the correct length and thread size, seen they can vary with each brand.
No, definitely not. You will almost always have a integrated level regulator in a dosing device. But the main function is to make it possible to have volumetric dosing. So that you have a touchpanel where the coffee selection can be made and which will shut down the coffee brewing procedure automatically.
The majority of the dosing devices is made by the Italian company Gicar, but various brands have them made with other companies such as Giemme.
No we don’t sell individual components of these circuit boards, except fuses and batteries.
No they are not the same. This does depends on which materials, coatings and fittings types are used. There are standardized flowmeters, but you have brands such as La Spaziale which have their own types of flowmeters.
Yes you can service some flowmeters. With the flowmeters of Gicar you can change the cover, impeller and the o ring. For the Digmesa flowmeters there are no spares available.
There are 2 brands which make flowmeters for espresso machines. The most common one is the brand Gicar, a less familiar brand is the brand Digmesa.
No it doesn’t, seen it is using a scale to measure the amount off coffee in the cup. Instead of the volume, a flowmeter does.
The most common size is the ¼” BSP-G thread. You will find this one on most Ma-ter, Asco and Parker pressure switches. There are also some pressure switches which have a 1/8” BSP-G thread.
On most commercial espresso machines the multi phase switches of Parker or Asco(previous Sirai) are used. In some cases you will find Ma-ter switches in various configurations.
No you can’t adjust all ma-ter pressure switches. In some caes they are fixed. The ones which are adjustable can only be set between a low and high limit. Note: the ma-ter switches cant be adjusted too much.
Yes they can be adjusted with a big screwdriver. But within a low and high limit.
No you can’t service this item.
In this case yes you can. There is a rebuild kit available for the Asco pressure switches
The reason for this is related in almost every case to the old portafilter and the portafilter gasket. Because the ears of older portafilters are worn down, which is compensated with a thicker portafilter gasket. Because of the thicker portafilter gasket the new portafilter won’t work. So it is handy to also order new portafilters with your portafilter to prevent this issue.
In most cases yes. But there are some brands which use various brewing groups, which don’t use the same portafilters. You can see this with brands such as Astoria, Wega, Cimbali and Bezzera.
Remove your portafilter basket from the portafilter and let the portafilter body soak in water with a detergent. Never soak the handle part. Seen the threads in the handles are made from zinc plated steel which can corrode over times, which can break your handle.
Well the most common one is the 3/8” BSP-G. But brands of gruppo Cimbali also use a metric size M16, with a fine thread.
The length is measured from the end of the heating element to the inside of the flange of the heating element.
The 2 most common heating elements manufacturers are the company Recor and Helkra. Besides that you have also companies like Becker which make stainless steel heating elements.
Well it all starts that or that there is no pressure build up/heating up of the boiler or that the breaker trips because of a short circuit. In most cases if the breaker trips this is caused by the heating element.
You can test the heating element with a multi meter. Measure the resistance of the heating element on the phase and null side. When broken this should give a reading of 1. Then you can also measure a phase or null to the flange. If this gives a reading this means that it shorts out against the body of the element. Which means it is broken.
Note: if there are multiple coils connected with bridges, do remove those first. Seen this makes a incorrect reading.
is an electrically controlled switch used to manage and control high-power circuits by allowing a low-power control circuit to operate it. It functions similarly to a relay but is designed specifically for switching larger electrical loads, such as motors, heating systems, and lighting. Contactors are commonly used in industrial and commercial applications.
A Solid State Relay (SSR) is an electronic switching device that allows a low-power control signal to switch or control a higher voltage or current load without using any moving parts like those found in traditional electromechanical relays. SSRs use semiconductor components to perform switching operations, typically utilizing a combination of transistors, thyristors, or triacs.
Contactors in espresso machines are used to control the power to the heating element. A good example are Rancilio espresso machines, these machine have pressure sensors. These sensors can’t control the power to the heating element themselves. This is done by sending a low voltage signal to the contactor true the main circuit board to turn the heating element on and off.
A SSR is used in combination with a PID, temperature controller. A PID will send a low voltage to the SSR which switches the heating element on or off.