Greetings Coffeetime, it’s been a while since I was active on any coffee related forum but used to be active back in the day. I remember DaveC and it’s great to see he’s still active and helping the community. I was part of a green coffee bulk buy way back before Bella Barista started selling bulk green and remember traveling down to Halifax (Pennine Tea and Coffee, maybe?) to collect some sacks for those in Scotland who were involved in the buy. Anyway, on to my issue…
I’ve had a Mk1 Vivi for what must be close to 20 years and generally been able to fix/replace any issues to keep it running like a charm over the years. However, I now have a problem that I can’t seem to get to the bottom of, intermittently (although becoming more common) the grouphead temperature drops (I have a thermometer installed) from what I believe is a lack of water in the grouphead. When it gets like this and I see the temperature anywhere from 65-85 Celsius I lift the lever it can take 20 seconds plus before any water exits the screen, I then have to leave the machine and let it get up to temp before I can make my coffee.
I’ve rebuilt the grouphead from the Bella Barista kit and replaced any of the components that weren’t in the kit too. I’ve even tried replacing the pump. The machine has been regularly back flushed and I descaled recently too to try and troubleshoot the problem. The most recent attempt to resolve the problem was to disconnect the tube and L-shaped connector coming from the boiler to the group and reconnect again adding new plumbers tape to the theards, this helped for a few days before the problem arose again. I can see no leaks anywhere so I cannot figure out what might be happening, would appreciate any advice at this point.
Having said all that it might be excuse I need to finally get a new machine and the ECM Puristika seems to be the ideal candidate for me as I gave up steaming milk a long time ago. I know there are a few people who’ve had issues with theirs but I’m hoping these are isolated incidents and that there are happy owners who can put my mind at rest if I decide to go down that road?
Thanks in advance, Steven.