Thank you Dave, I appreciate the thought.

A moment also to thank all you gents who responded to my plight with my ECM. As an update, I found getting a new boiler element very difficult. There are lots of companies who SAY they stock ECM parts, but in reality there are only two - Bella Barista and Doppio. I trawled the UK without success. I wore out two whole search engines,which are now lying in a pool of their own data, trembling, uselss, exhausted. Old before their time.

I waited and waited for one to arrive at myEspresso Machine pusher, without success.

I haven’t had an espresso since December!

So in desperation I turned to Germany, where ECM Manufacture Ersatzteile (see what I did there) are up to the gunwales. Got one sent over in just a few days.

AND YOU WERE ALL CORRECT! The Steam Boiler element was a gonner. The old one was caked in limescale. So much for using bottled water.

But the Steam boiler wasn’t filling up. Bella Barista were most helpful with telephone advice, and I removed and cleaned up the metal rod of the Filling Level Probe, which I found to have some limescale and light corrosion in the bottom 2 cms. Cleaned up, the Steam boiler filled, and heated to temperature. The Anti-vacuum valve was still pushing water into its drain tube, but when I operated the hot water valve I got a rush of steaming hot water.

For several seconds.

Then the OPV Safety valve popped up and sprayed water everywhere as I hastily reached for the off switch and mains p;ug.

I couldn’t find any deposits in the Anti-vacuum valve, but I replaced it anyway. It hasn’t stopped the drain bubbling out into the drip tray at a fqir rate of knots.

Meanwhile the steam boiler heats up but I have no pressure in the boiler. The gauge reads “Dead”. Zero. Nada. The water trickles from the Hot Water Outlet like wee from a 90 year-old.

And on top of all that I have confirmed that the water beneath the water tank area if a leaky valve. Which is saga in itself which I will share on another occasion. And the steam boiler isnt filling again.

So Im wondering if the OPV is now toast, and needs replacing. I had hoped it would auto reset, but I can find nothing on this component so far. Would that account for no pressure? But why would the OPV trigger anyway? Is there a blockage somewhere in the water systems? Is the solenoid suspect?

I keep telling myself this is a premium bit of kit. But I must admit I found myself pricing up a Profitec 700 this afternoon. So disappointed.

Any advice would be gratefully received.

Thanks for your help and support.

    CardinalBiggles If you had posted this last Tues or Weds, I have been surrounded by various piles of small ECM parts and could have picked up some for you.

    Photos identifying various parts are needed to understand what you’re calling things, plus the need for us to identify things for you to check.

    Contact me

      CardinalBiggles AND YOU WERE ALL CORRECT! The Steam Boiler element was a gonner. The old one was caked in limescale. So much for using bottled water.

      Out of curiosity…. What brand of bottle water have you been using over the past 4 years?

      CardinalBiggles Meanwhile the steam boiler heats up but I have no pressure in the boiler. The gauge reads “Dead”. Zero. Nada. The water trickles from the Hot Water Outlet like wee from a 90 year-old.

      What reading do you get on the display? Is there a lot of hissing and steam/water ending up in the drip tray constantly?

      Next time, turn the machine on etc with the top open and please produce a small video. If it’s the OPV, you should experience the symptoms as per above, and same for the safety valve. It’s strange however you are not getting any pressure build up however.

      CardinalBiggles I keep telling myself this is a premium bit of kit. But I must admit I found myself pricing up a Profitec 700 this afternoon

      Unless you change the water you feed the machine to something that’s non-scaling, I’d advise you against buying a new machine. It will end up going the same way unfortunately. 😢

              I’m on my phone, so short replies, but the problem coul be scale everywhere. Blocking hot water tap, covering temp sensor, vac breaker not closing etc etc

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                Hi Dave, I used the official ECM descriptors of parts, and include a highlighted illustration and nomenclature/part numbers of the Steam boiler pieces, also highlighted. The water tank reservoir valve is in the photo. Thanks for helping me with this.

                  CardinalBiggles Which of those parts is leaking.

                  Check part 15 is clean and free of scale….be very careful with the wires removing it, they can easily break at the base. If something is leaking into the tray it has to be either the safety valve or the anti vac valve. If the boiler has over filled, water will come out of the safety valve, then perhaps a piece of scale lodges in there. You have to be methodical to solve all the problems as some might be due to a different problem e.g. 6 problems might only be 3 things wrong. So start some basic sanity checks below, each one has a reason and “might” diagnose something you were unaware of

                  • when you turn the boiler on with the steam wand open…what happens as it heats up?
                  • is the water that dribbles out of the water wand hot and steamy/splutters, how long does it take before water will come out
                  • what is the temperature of the service (steam) boiler on the PID display
                  • Is the pump doing anything funny, like running a lot, even when you don’t pull water through the group
                  • what happens when you put a blind filter on the machine and run it to 9 bar (exactly what happens)
                  • is the water flow from the group poor with nothing loaded
                  • The gauge doesn’t move or only moves a little?
                  • You say water is coming out into the drip tray, which tube from the top of the boiler is it coming from vac breaker or safety valve? Use fingers to feel if one is hot
                  • are you getting steam from the steam wand, whats it like

                  Above is the basic starter for 10, if you can answer all those, it will start the fault finding process.

                  P.S. The reservoir valve can probably be fixed by a few O rings/washers. A full assorted EDPM kit of 300 or so o rings can be had quite cheaply. It can also be used to fix many other things including cartridge taps, save you a lot of money.

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                      MediumRoastSteam

                      Hi! I used various bottled waters from Sainsbury, Aldi & Lidl

                      I’ve been told that Waitrose is the stuff to get when this ECM is finally working again. I’ve also got a resin filter bag for the water tank on order & in the post to try out.

                      Our tap water is even worse. It kills kettles in a year

                      The Pid display reading is just temperature of the brew boiler and.steam boiler, of course. The pressure gauge is totally dead. No reading at all.

                      That’s a great idea about the video. I’ll have a go with my phone in the daylight.

                          DavecUK

                          I was wondering about that too. When I changed the element I had a look inside the boiler and although the element was caked the boiler lining looked good. The vacuum valve was brand new but still pumping out water into the drain hose.

                          The water tap was full pressure before the OPV blew, and it’s just been a dribble since. I couldn’t hear any pressure straining/ forcing noises in the outlet.

                          Is the over pressue safety valve self re-setting after she blows?

                          I’ll do a short video in the morning and hopefully that will make things clear.

                          I appreciate your help and advice gentlemen.

                          I will be thinking fondly of you when my ECM plumbing is lying dismantled in bits before me, soaking in descaling solution.

                              DavecUK P.S. The reservoir valve can probably be fixed by a few O rings/washers. A full assorted EDPM kit of 300 or so o rings can be had quite cheaply. It can also be used to fix many other things including cartridge taps, save you a lot of money.

                              I’d never heard of those, but a quick search was really informative. I tried to buy a gasket set for the Reservoir valvle. Bella Barista only sell the full valve for £20 or £30, and would’nt order the specific part numbers for me..

                              I can get all the innards of the valve (incl spring) for 6 Euros (retail) from Germany, but they insist on DHL courier. Would I best get metric specs? Amazon onlh seem to do rubber sets…

                              Cheers.

                                  CardinalBiggles - I know it’s not the cheapest option, but wouldn’t it be a good idea to send the machine to Bella Barista or someone near you to have it fully serviced/fixed?

                                    CardinalBiggles The water tap was full pressure before the OPV blew, and it’s just been a dribble since. I couldn’t hear any pressure straining/ forcing noises in the outlet.

                                    Do you mean safety valve? You must be precise, or spend loads of money fixing the wrong things as we advise you incorrectly. Best go through my list of questions and answer every single one, rather than do this by dripfeed.

                                    If you do yes it resets once the pressure drops.

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                                      Yes, the safety valve. Item 6 in the parts diagram I uploaded. It looks like this.

                                      Well, here goes! Photos and short vids taken today during the exercise.

                                      Specifically re your questions above:

                                      1. “Check part 15 is clean and free of scale….be very careful..”

                                        I was so careful I decided that as I’d only fk up the part, the coil or the PID wires I’d best leave it alone. But there is no evidence of leaking around the component, , nor the safety valve. The vac valve is brand new. The hose from the vac valve has bubbles visible in the clear tube. The tops of both boilers are as dry as a bone.


                                      2. “when you turn the boiler on with the steam wand open…what happens as it heats up?”

                                        ( the Brew boiler was turned on first, every wand closed. Warmed up to 93 deg no problems. Some water emerged into the drip tray from the overflow outlet, but there was evidence of water in the line before I began. Left Hand Guage reads ca 2.3 bar when warm but at rest. Steam boiler still on Zero.)


                                        I opened the steam valve and turned on the Steam boiler. Noting happened initially at the wand as the Steam boiler warmed up. As temp and pressure increased some water ran out of the steam wand and the overflow outlet. This then became wet steam, then normal steam as temperature rose to 122 deg

                                        There is a video of this, but I cant get it to load here. I’ll try loading vids in a separate post

                                        Whilst the steam wand seemed to work as normal when at temp, the overflow outlet dribbled constantly into the empty tray.


                                      3. the temperature of the service (steam) boiler on the PID display is 122 degrees

                                      4. “Is the pump doing anything funny, like running a lot, even when you don’t pull water through the group”

                                        No, pump only works when Group is open, stops immediately when brew group lever is shut. Noise is the same as it always has been

                                      5. “what happens when you put a blind filter on the machine and run it to 9 bar (exactly what happens)”

                                        The pressure in the Right Hand gauge rose beyond 9 bar. It started at 10 bar and increased to almost 12 bar, the overflow outlet ran freely into the drip tray.

                                      6. “which tube from the top of the boiler is it coming from vac breaker or safety valve?”

                                        From the Steam boiler.

                                      7. “are you getting steam from the steam wand, whats it like”

                                        once the ECM is at normal working temp steam from the steam wan is good pressure, good volume, with little evidence of water in the previously empty jug

                                      8. “A full assorted EDPM kit of 300 or so o rings can be had quite cheaply”

                                        I’ve a had a trawl on the internet, but can only find rubber O rings in kits of that size. Could you recommend a source, please?


                                        Thanks for taking an interest in this.

                                        Kind regards,




                                        CardinalBiggles Left Hand Guage reads ca 2.3 bar when warm but at rest. Steam boiler still on Zero.)

                                        Left hand gauge is the steam/service boiler gauge. Right hand is the pump pressure (brew circuit).

                                        With the machine on after 20 minutes, steam boiler on, does any water drip constantly into the drip tray? This is without turning the pump on. Reading your comments, you say so. You also say the anti-vac valve is brand new (the one attached to a hose on the steam boiler). If there’s a constant dribble of water on the drip tray with the pump off, then it’s coming from there. Did you replace that valve?

                                        Looking at your photos it seems your pump pressure is set too high, hence why you see water ending up in the drip tray when while the pump is on. Turn it down so it reads approx. 9bar with a blind filter.

                                            CardinalBiggles

                                            The gauge seems to be working, I thought you said it wasn’t??

                                            I checked because not all of my questions have been answered. Is the water constantly dripping into the drip tray from that little outlet, or only when it warms up. If it’s constantly dripping, is it coming from the vacuum breaker.

                                            When did you fit the vacuum breaker and what is the water you’re using since fitting it?

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                                                MediumRoastSteam

                                                MediumRoastSteam does any water drip constantly into the drip tray?

                                                It drips steadily with the brew group lever closed and the pump (therefore) off. That increases to a constant trickle when the pump is working and a shot pulled with the blind filter in

                                                MediumRoastSteam Did you replace that valve?

                                                Yes, I replaced the complete valve a few days ago. I can see bubbles moving in the hose from that valve, showing water flowing. The Brew boiler hose looks dry.

                                                MediumRoastSteam Left hand gauge is the steam/service boiler gauge. Right hand is the pump pressure (brew circuit).

                                                Bugger! I got that very wrong. That also explains why the RH gauge remained on Zero when I turned on the steam boiler.and it warmed up. The brew boiler wasn’t active. I’ll turn down the pump to get 9 bar peak.

                                                Does 2.3 bar for the steam boiler gauge seem a bit low?

                                                          DavecUK I checked because not all of my questions have been answered

                                                          If you check again you will see that I attempted all the tests specified and answered all of the points in your post in the numbered paragraphs

                                                          The only test I didn’t complete was removing the black capped compnent in the centre of the steam boiler, as I explained

                                                          DavecUK Is the water constantly dripping into the drip tray from that little outlet, or only when it warms up. If it’s constantly dripping, is it coming from the vacuum breaker.

                                                          It drips when both Brew boiler and Steam boiler are warming up. I speculated in my post tonight that the ECM is clearing the water already remaining in the clear hoses from the last session.

                                                          It trickles steadily when pulling a shot with the blind filter in. The video shows this better, but I can’t see how to upload it here. Its 19 secs, yet too big for the upload facility here.

                                                          I bought a whole new vac valve assembly, and replaced the old one on Thursday night.Since fitting it I can still see air bubbles passing along the hose from the vac valve as the outlet trickles steadily into the tray.

                                                          I’m going to descale before I commission it for use, so I’ve run maybe a litre s through it in total, in two sessions since then to test it, using ordinary tap water.