Hello, first post and a problem

Heron

Have been drinking espresso for 40 years from steam driven contraptions to La Pavoni and now ECM Puristika. I’ve always liked Dave’s attitude and contributions to the coffee world so happy to be a member.

After 6 months with the Puristika the pump has been getting noisier and today it won’t get past 4 bars of pressure and water never flows back into the reservoir, even with blanking plate in place and pressure valve wound right in. I’ve checked all the tubes and pipes and no kinks. Sound like the pump?

A second problem that’s been there from new is the taste of the water when it’s been through the machine, sort of chemical taint. I’ve used local tap water which is very soft in Cumbria, bottled and zero water; taint is always there. I do mineralise the water to get the hardness up as I believe soft water can affect s/s boilers. I phoned Bella Barista and was told machines need a lot of flushing. Any ideas before I call BB? I would appreciate any comments.

DavecUK

Heron After 6 months with the Puristika the pump has been getting noisier and today it won’t get past 4 bars of pressure and water never flows back into the reservoir, even with blanking plate in place and pressure valve wound right in. I’ve checked all the tubes and pipes and no kinks. Sound like the pump?

Welcome to the forum…The pumps should last a very long time, but sometimes they can go faulty very rapidly. It’s unusual but not impossible. If you have checked for kinks splits or blockages in the hose and you have soft water and no water is flowing back to the reservoir…then it does sound like the pump.

When you say you have had it 6 months, I assume that’s from new and if you purchased from BB, I am sure they would send you a pump to fit.

The taint is unusual, soft water doesn’t corrode stainless brew boilers….and any taint should have gone now…perhaps it’s from the pump?

Heron

Thanks for that advice Dave. Talked to B/B and they agreed it was the pump. Happy to send one out (saving the hassle of returning it)and a new ‘mushroom’ for the pressure valve in case it was needed. Didn’t have an answer for the tainted taste, let’s see if it was the pump.

DavecUK

if it was burning up inside…quite likely. It’s rare for them to fail so early, but it can happen if they were defective from the pump manufacturer.

Heron

Fitted new pump and after a bit of settling down seems to be working ok. Less taint with the water too; the elbow on the output side of pump really smelt strong so gave it a good clean. Good service from BB and from DavecUK

Rob1

You don’t need to bring the harness up. What are you using?

Heron

Bicarbonate of soda. I was under the impression that soft water wasn’t good for the boiler and coffee needed hardness minerals for taste reasons. I can taste salt if I’ve used too much but otherwise my old taste buds don’t notice the difference. If the boiler isn’t an issue then I’ll carry on with zero water as the water here can have a bit of a taint here.