It takes a bit of searching, but there are some posts in here about changing out the solenoid valve (with pictures) and yes, to my memory, it involves taking out the steam boiler. The other thing I seem to remember is that due to how you have to align things, you don't necessarily get to tighten down all the connections, so a bit of teflon tape and luck seemed to come into play. Once I got my valve "loosened back up" and the piston supposedly "back in the right alignment" I've never had it happen again, but it sounds like if yours doesn't settle back in fairly soon it might be worth doing the searches here in the forum. I'm second owner on my machine, and I've never had to do significant maintenance on it (just vacuum breaker washers and one pstat), and I have a feeling if anything significant breaks I'll probably tell my wife "crap, it's broke, well I bought it used and saved a ton of money, I'm going up on WLL and replacing it with something new", and then shuttle the machine out the back door to sell to somebody handier than me. But, I think it's one of those things where if you dive in, and have the right tools at hand, and are willing to swear a fair bit, that it's all doable. Best of luck.
On Wednesday, October 7, 2020 at 8:54:19 AM UTC-4 wsmckenz wrote: > I do the same thing now. I pull about a cup of water once a day. I agree > that it's probably the value. Which is both a little pricey and a real bear > to get at. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it means taking out the > steam boiler completely? I run my machine 24/7, and after replacing the > vacuum value recently, the machine gun attacks are more random and don't > come that often. It's probably best our wives never meet. > > On Monday, September 21, 2020 at 9:09:48 PM UTC-5 Mike Walsh wrote: > >> It's a little hard to confirm with the audio clips, but I strongly >> suspect that solenoid valve. The valve is not opening, so water can't flow, >> and the pump makes an awful racket. It would do it about 1 in 5 times on >> my machine after some years of ownership, and given my timer turns on the >> machine at 5am and we sleep in a downstairs master bedroom, the "machine >> gun" noise was not welcome by my wife. That valve is apparently a huge >> deal to replace due to where it sits, so every time I pull a shot with my >> machine, I pull some water from the hot water wand to activate the solenoid >> valve and refill the boiler. Doing that daily seems to be keeping that >> piston loose and moving, and cross fingers it will stay that way. I'd >> suggest do the same for a week or so, and see if that "loosens" it up. If >> not, you might be looking at replacement of that valve, that's no small >> project. >> >> On Monday, September 21, 2020 at 12:48:40 PM UTC-4 jjk3 wrote: >> >>> Bill, >>> >>> Just wondering if you ever resolved this issue. I think I may have a >>> similar issue and also suspected the solenoid valve. >>> >>> On Monday, August 17, 2020 at 4:50:37 PM UTC-4 wsmckenz wrote: >>> >>>> So my rotary pump just started getting really noisy, but only when it >>>> is filling the steam boiler. >>>> >>>> It is a BIII circa 2007. >>>> >>>> I attached short sound clips. The one named steam.mp3 is of me opening >>>> the water wand for a second and then the sound of the pump topping up the >>>> steam boiler, where you'll hear the rattle. The one named brew.mp3 is the >>>> sound when I just run some water through the portafilter for a couple of >>>> seconds. Much quieter. >>>> >>>> I thought it might be the vacuum relief valve, so I took it apart and >>>> cleaned it. Now it is just hissing all the time; so much for cleaning. So >>>> I'm ordering a new vacuum breaker. But I don't think it is the culprit for >>>> the noise. It almost sounds like it's coming from the 2-way solenoid >>>> valve. >>>> >>>> ideas? >>>> >>>> ~Bill >>>> >>> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Brewtus" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/brewtus/f06c9ff1-f40e-474b-85e7-1896256ce005n%40googlegroups.com.
