@DavecUK @Doram
Hi, I am running into a issue.
After I rerouted the tubing, I’m putting the water tank back in place and turning the machine on to check for any leak. At machine startup, the pump is running non stop, and I have no idea if this is normal. I guess not, I feel like air is preventing it to push water where it should…
I always wake up the machine with a wifi power outlet in the morning, I have no idea for how long it runned before to compare.
Thanks for helping…
Buz_Light - do you have a video? That would help. When you say non stop… what’s running? The pump?Water through the group? Is water going anywhere? Is the machine cold? Is it hot? Does the machine work? When does it stop? Can you actually brew a coffee? Is there water going from the tank into the pump? Are any of the hoses bent or kinked?
We need more details, and a video would help immensely.
Please see here for more details on what I am dealing with : https://www.coffeeforums.co.uk/topic/63911-marax-no-pressure-to-group-heap/
Buz_Light - Saw your video.
My vote is that you must have plugged the wrong tube somewhere.
Can you show us the internals of where all the hoses are going?
MediumRoastSteam
As explained in my other post, everything is now back to original route. Here is how it looks like. Still facing the issue though
I watched your video, but you kept moving away from the guage.
Make another, plonk the camera facing the gauge and the group….then don’t move it. I want to see the gauge and the group all the time. I don’t care about seeing anything else at this time. I can always ask you if anything is going into the drip tray (I trust you).
If the machine is trying to autofill the boiler…let it for 40s (unless the steam pressure starts going above 3 bar, or water comes out the bottom). and don’t move the camera so I can see the gauge
DavecUK - One strange - for me at least - thing with that video was that, after running the pump for ages, the user puts the lever down. The pump stops briefly, and then starts up again (with the lever all the way down) and you can see the pressure gauge moving above 3 bar. Almost as it’s filling the service boiler. Very strange.
Buz_Light - Maybe you have inadvertently knocked the control box and disconnected some cables? Worth making sure everything is connected properly.
DavecUK
Here is the 40 sec. no filter shot
Here is the 40 sec. blind filter shot - we can see some pressure change at the end, almost 1 bar. No drip tray discharge
Here is the hot tap discharge + autorefill
@MediumRoastSteam - I’ve checked the control box cable and everything seem fine.
MediumRoastSteam One strange - for me at least - thing with that video was that, after running the pump for ages, the user puts the lever down. The pump stops briefly, and then starts up again (with the lever all the way down) and you can see the pressure gauge moving above 3 bar. Almost as it’s filling the service boiler. Very strange.
I saw that, but unfortunately the camera was on the move… I just want to see the lever, the group and the gauge…all the time.
On your first video, before you lift the lever, the pump has started by itself and pressure builds. You then lift the lever and the pressure goes back to 0. Something very strange going on.
1. Here is the 40 sec. no filter shot
2. Here is the 40 sec. blind filter shot - we can see some pressure change at the end, almost 1 bar. No drip tray discharge
- Here is the hot tap discharge + autorefill
OK for the following vids
Now I will explain what I think is happening. …See if you feel it makes logical sense.
In the first shot when you switched on the machine, it started autofilling the boiler, or trying to…It could only get a little bit in, It reached the probe tip eventually, the autofill has a timed overfill. Because the pump seems unable to make any pressure the fill rate is painfully slow, the group rate is slow to as it fights against the Gicleur (jet in top of group).
The group itself didn’t have a very powerful vent action showing the pressure within it is low. The pressure gauge is the first device after the pump, so if that’s low pump pressure output is low.
With the blind filter the machine probably stops trying to autofill and eventually you get a little pressure rise…but the pump can’t do much more than that.
The final video shows a very small amount of water from the boiler before it’s starts autofilling, proving that even those the pump ran and ran, it didn’t put very much in before. The probe tip must have been covered as the pump only trued to run after you drew water. your camera angle was very high, but clearly it took a really, really long time to fill. If that amount of water really had been going in, the boiler would have cooled down significantly, and it never did. so only a small amount of water went in. The camera was high, but I saw that small rise in the end when the solenoid snapped shut, so not sure if it was completely full or what happened…but the pump run on showed it incapable of making much more than a few bar.
So the question is why is the pump not able to make pressure? and I’ll bet the water level in the tank hardly drops when it does those long autofills.
One thing to try, is to disconnect pump tube from bottom of tank…check it’s clear……then put it in a glass of water and see what happens.
P.S. You have tried removing the softening filter haven’t you??
DavecUK
Yep, filter is disconected, first thing I tried.
For the first video, I think the pump is running before I pull the lever because I pulled it just before and forgot to record. I just prepared the machine to intake from a glass of water instead of tank, I’ll reshoot the test videos in this configuration.
Ok, machine is now running from a glass of water. Water tank to pump tube is fine. Valve at the bottom of the tank is working correctly too. I also measured intake of water as it may help (or not)
Some thougths :
Checking the hose is blocked could be worth it, but i would,d check the inlet hose first on the left side of the pump and the inlet to the pump.
I will be honest, I think the pump may have gone bad…where did you purchase it from?
Will double check hose and inlet on left side, and I’ll also disconnect and reconnect on right side just in case.
Is sucking water out of the pump by its intake with a syringe a good idea? (any potential damage if water flows backwards?)
Machine was bought from a local retailer in Quebec, Canada. Still under warranty, just hope me playing in it won’t affect it… Anyway, pump replacement can’t be crazy expensive
Just don’t do anything where the dealer can claim you damaged it….nothing you have suggested should cause any damage and you can show him the 3 case on videos you did of the pressure gauge as evidence.
The pumps sadly cost your Canadian retailer more than a standard pump, but Lelit will most likely remove the amount from his next order, or he may well already have maintenance stocks. I feel fairly sure, when you fit a new pump in there, the problem will be solved.
Definitely fit the pump yourself, it’s very easy and will ensure you don’t get the machine damaged, because in every other respect the machine seems to be working really well.
The pumps mounts twist out of the case, I think clockwise. the baseplate has to holes with slightly curved channels, the pump rubber have nibs on them that slide along the channels and then come out the larger holes.
Look underneath and you will see what I mean. That long screw thing near the pump outlet needs to be removed as it prevents the pump untwisting during transit. The new pump will most likely come without the blue thing which is the thermal fuse, just remove it (gently trying to ease it out at the front), and put it on the new pump.
Interestingly I have not seen a black Quiet pump before, all the ones I have seen are green, so might be a country/voltage thing? The pump should be pretty quiet. If the retailer sends you a standard Ulka pump, insist on the correct quiet pump, you can use an ULKA as a temp replacement of course.
Buz_Light - Just to say I am not ignoring your message. Had a very busy day at work and now reading through all the messages and watching the videos and replies with interest (haven’t finished yet, and need to go out for a few hours so will probably only continue tomorrow).
I already saw that your issue is beyond my understanding. This is a case where I would call DavecUK and @MediumRoastSteam to the rescue, and I see both are already on your case - so you are in the best hands.
The only contribution I can make at this stage DavecUK and @MediumRoastSteam is re your comments about the pump starting “on it’s own” in the first video (published on the other forum). To me it looks like Buz_Light is manually pressing the button behind the lever with his finger, is he not?
Anyway, I need to rush out now so will read the rest when I get a chance.
Thanks for your insight.
Few more details from the last check I did.
Machine is behaving in the same way.
Will call customer care this afternoon
