Minima pump upgrade to Lelit Silent

simonc

Here it is. The now silent Minima. Well not quite but definitely improved.

Instructions on how to do this will follow

DavecUK

simonc as you’re clearly the strong silent type, it’s tricky to get a reference point. 😉

Macca

simonc hey Simon, did you ever write up a how to on this? I just replaced the stock pump that died, and got a silent green, but now it’s back together it doesn’t want to pump! Other than the contacts being opposite to the minima pump, it all seemed identical really…..

simonc

DavecUK haha. I guess I needed a before video for best comparison.

DavecUK

simonc You need to talk over the pump, for comparison.

simonc

Several days of use later and I’m definitely pleased I did it. It’s noticeably quieter and my wife can continue conversations happily with the children whilst I’m pulling a shot in the kitchen.

It’s clearly not silent but it’s a worthwhile upgrade.

Cuprajake

Good job well done 👍

DavecUK

Cuprajake Good job well done 👍

Got to second this, because the Minima pump is not the easiest of pumps to replace. Mainly due to its location hidden under the boilers.

simonc

DavecUK now he tells me 🤣

DavecUK

The pump is directly operated by the brew switch/or level sensors in tank/service boiler. Is it not working when you flip the brew switch, or when autofilling the service boiler.

Of course if the autofill isn’t happening, then the brew switch operation of the pump is locked out. Check by grounding the autofill probe wire briefly…does the pump run?

Macca

DavecUK thanks David, I was able to find a nice Italian espresso machine terms translator, and figured out the autofill. Bit of a wiggle and it kicked in!

Macca

Yeah it’s not autofilling.

I haven’t been able to find any wiring diagrams for this machine, so it’s not immediately obvious to me which is the autofill wire!

Macca

Ok, scrap half of that. It auto fills now, but the pump won’t switch on with the solenoid.

DavecUK

Macca Ok, scrap half of that. It auto fills now, but the pump won’t switch on with the solenoid.

Check the 3 (I think) wires are correctly connected to the solenoid and not loose.

Macca

DavecUK the solenoid is opening, and water dripping out (presumably just excess pressure leaking off due to the boiler being heated), but the pump doesn’t engage.

Although, I now feel that I have a slightly bigger problem, as the PID has stopped displaying, the solenoid is not switching, and the autofill won’t fill…

DavecUK

Macca You probably don’t want to hear this, but it’s very likely to be a self induced fault. If you can find out what you “may” have done wrong…there’s the fix.

Is power getting to the machine, are the spade connectors at the back of the power receptacle properly inserted

Macca

DavecUK yes I’m quite sure it’s self induced, but I can’t work out how… everything appears to be connected, including the power at the back of the machine. It appeared to lose power as I was bolting the black control module back down, which made me think I knocked something in the process, but I can’t find anything obvious… other than something inside the box? But that would be difficult to disrupt by simply moving it, I’d have thought

Macca

So apparently the house lost power at the same time I was doing all this, and I didn’t realise 🙄

Anyway, pump fills when I pull the autofill probe wire, solenoid opens when I flick the brew switch, pump doesn’t run when I flick the brew switch.

Macca

@DavecUK found the problem, hadn’t hooked the optical sensor back up properly. Thanks for your assistance though!

DavecUK

Macca The Minima is a very mature machine now and the componentry is generally pretty reliable….After a certain amount of time manufactures discover all the Gotchas in a machine and engineer them out in design and production.

Then sadly they often discontinue them…a mystery to me, I sincerely hope the Minima keeps being produced for a long time, especially as it has the same exact boilers as the Vesuvius, Evo2 and Vostock 1 group. Boilers that are bigger than most dual boiler machines. And of course a very low maintenance group!!