Hi All, figured I should share my fresh memories of pump change on my b2. I'm writing these notes for you but also so I can find them the next time the pump goes out.
One day for no reason the brewtus was unable to produce more than 5 bar. Pump got quiet and sort of hummed. I checked the hoses and they weren't crimped so figured it was the pump. My b2 takes an Ulka EAX5, I've replaced it once before so sort of knew the drill. Purchasing: It is easily possible to go on the internet and spend $85/$60/45+shipping for an EAX5, sometimes needing to ship internationally. For my past experience I found one on amazon so was happy with total price. So I went to amazon and searched for EAX5 and it found me parts for $70 with 1-2 month delivery. Was pretty surprised and that delivery time was not acceptable. Luckily I searched using bing for 'ulka eax5' and first thing was an amazon offering for 'recamania ulka eax5' for $25 with free shipping. Back to amazon and search and can't find it. Weird. Ordered the $25 from amazon, arrives next day. Replacement: The pump is held in place by 3 rubber angles. Each angle has an allen head bolt from the bottom, then a washer and nut on top. Brass pump output rotates in pump so you can't unscrew pump from pressure relief valve without removing entire assembly. Steps I took: let machine cool remove water tank remove side cover/tank holder undo poly line to pressure relief valve on right side of machine (12mm compression nut) peel angle cap off end of pump on left side turn machine on side with bowl to catch small output from steam boiler. Loosen the 3 allen bolts holding the rubber angles Remove nuts from bolt, catch the washers if they fall free, account for all parts! Rotate pump so electrical spades are exposed, disconnect spades. Looking from left side of machine the blue wire is on top. Gently coerce pump assembly out of machine unthread pump from pressure relief valve (12mm and 14mm wrenches) new pump: make sure it has water in it, instructions suggest fill with syringe move rubber angles from old to new pump connect new pump to pressure relief valve connect spades to pump rotate pump so spades are at bottom gently coerce pump back into place, ensure pressure relief lines up with hole behind drip tray (remember the brass pump output rotates in pump) rotate rubber angles roughly where they should be over their holes now part that was tricky for me, bolt for innermost rubber angle accessed from right side of machine: stack a magazine where machine will sit upright push allen bolt through hole in bottom of machine, through innermost rubber angle hole press allen bolt head with finger to keep it from falling out rotate machine upright onto magazine. magazine will press against bolt head, hold bolt from falling out using forecept (or small needle nose), use bomb defusing skills to place washer over bolt threads, now same for tiny nut gently reach in with finger, rotate nut onto bolt threads, finger tight rotate machine upright and press bolt with finger, then tighten head of bolt from bottom of machine, its tight! roughly repeat above if necessary for other right side rubber angle left side angle is easy to access, just assemble and tighten Snap cap of input line onto left side of pump gently reconnect poly hose to pressure relief valve, I use a wrap of teflon tape (I broke flange from my poly end long ago, it is necessary for compression nut to hold line, I gently tease a new flange from line by squeezing and squishing using needle nose. if flange isn't held the poly line will pop free... :( ) test: Install sheet cover place heavy surround around machine from back to support filled tank filled tank into machine with machine power switch off: plug in machine lift brew lever so water can flow through pump turn machine on, listen for happy pump, run for 20 seconds or so then close brew lever let tanks fill and for pump to stop pressure test a few times with blind basket, watch that right hand line isn't leaking! power off, unplug, reassemble machine Done! Machine heats up. Works like a champ. Indeed pump was at fault. I'd forgotten quite a few of these steps so above took me about an hour to re-figure. Lets hope I didn't forget anything in my description. One thing I notice is how much heavier the machine gets each year. It wasn't so heavy 15 years ago... I disassembled old pump. Don't see anything clearly wrong. Given its an hour of tricky work there's no way I'd install a 'repaired' $25 pump to test it. -- 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/6d9349b1-e842-4344-be3d-abf418748defn%40googlegroups.com.
