Lelit Bianca V3 - pressure issues and general advice

Spotter6080

yep, ive operated without the cam lever a number of times by sliding a piece of card in there, purely for speed as quicker than lifting and lowering the lever 20 times.

to be clear, the low pressure - that does seem new and its not a low pressure as such, that its base pressure before engaging the pump, I thought it could be line pressure as its plumbed in but we certainly don’t have 5 bar line pressure.

DavecUK

OK I’m going to give some thoughts on this machine which I assume has had minimal maintenance in 9 months because it’s a “new machine”

The O rings on the profiling mechanism have never been lubricated from new and they don’t have a lot of lubrication on them to start with from factory. This can lead to small pieces of O ring breaking off and partially blocking group jet https://coffeetime.freeflarum.com/blog/745-lelit-flow-control-valve-and-coffee-sensor-version Lubrication should be performed every 3-6 months depending on usage.
There are drain valves on the machine (not sure how many nowadays), look underneath to find them. They are a small black lever, usually with a red dot at the top on the side.
You keep actuating the lever, then the pump pressure seems to kick in, what happens if you just keep the lever up for 40 seconds?
There is a one way valve after the pump and this might be letting by, the pressure causing the pump to run dry and difficulties then priming it. Unusual though on a plumbed in machine as there is always a + pressure?
Does it exhibit this behaviour when cold?
Does it exhibit this behaviour when run from the internal tank?
When you put a blind filter in, what pressure is shown on the machines group gauge once it fills?

Please provide comment to all questions and ensure comments are numbered.

Spotter6080

Hi Dave and thanks for your questions

Correct - based on my reading I have ordered some molykote and will look at greasing these - also will order new o-rings as you have mentioned in the video from here https://simplybearings.co.uk/shop/p512590/BS010-1.78mm-Section-6.07mm-Bore-VITON-75-Shore-Rubber-O-Rings/product_info.html. I’ll also be buying some of the BS210 as I’ve seen those referenced (although I’m not sure where they will be going yet) are there any other sizes I should be looking to get as spares?
I don’t see anything obvious, maybe changed design slightly. see pictures

Haven’t tried this before but will give it a go and report
Not sure this was a question :-)
It does seem to happen only on first running of the day but I wouldn’t say it’s cold and we are using it in exactly the same way since we got it - Or are you suggesting I start from completely cool, turn it on and then see if it does this.
Haven’t flipped back to the internal tank to test this as yet but can do so if you think that might provide some clues
Goes up to about 10 bar

DavecUK

Spotter6080 It does seem to happen only on first running of the day but I wouldn’t say it’s cold and we are using it in exactly the same way since we got it - Or are you suggesting I start from completely cool, turn it on and then see if it does this.

Haven’t flipped back to the internal tank to test this as yet but can do so if you think that might provide some clues

Goes up to about 10 bar

Yes start from completely cold
It may…it could be worse, it might be better, you might notice water coming back through the pickup tube in the tank
Which means the pump is in good working order…and if the gauge on the panel reads the same, it means there isn’t a fault on that either.

Spotter6080

All testing still with plumbed in machine - plan is to change to tank but awaiting a stop valve to make my life easier.

I typed a whole response with new video and things were very odd - then realised that I had the flow control all the way closes so all testing bull and void - will need to wait for it to cool down again.

On a separate note, what’s the best way to descale the boilers? Is this only achieved by using the tank?

Stu

Spotter6080

Machine is now operating via the water tank so will see how it goes over the next few days, I took a few bits apart yesterday and all in all, looks in very clean condition with no signs of any limescale so my assumption is the filter is doing what it should be doing and no descaling needed but happy to be told otherwise - especially given the fact I had the issue with the water level probe in the steam boiler.

It does sound a little rough though - maybe I’m hearing things and don’t have anything to compare it too but video here

also a couple of pictures - this was prior to any cleaning whatsoever and in my mind looks good

I also took the flow valve apart and washers were fine, a little grease still present but a little dirty, still waiting for the molykote to be delievred so not able to clean and re-grease yet.

DavecUK

Spotter6080 It does sound a little rough though - maybe I’m hearing things and don’t have anything to compare it too but video here

Is that when it’s running from the tank???

Spotter6080

No that was when it was plumbed in

DavecUK

Does it still make the same noise when connected to the internal tank?

Spotter6080

The noises are not consistent either in reality so. That say it sounded particularly bad. I wasn’t consciously listening this morning (with water tank) but didn’t seem to be that noisy.

Will listen properly tmw.

Spotter6080

So, I did a mini service on the group head yesterday and took everything out, a bit of a learning curve but got through it. I did try changing the o ring on the mushroom valve with the B210 viton but seems like it’s a bit bigger than the one that was on it, certainly a bit thicker and stuffed and whilst it was easy enough to get on the mushroom, I couldn’t actually get the valve screwed all the way in to the thread. I probably could have gotten it in but would have taken a significant amount more torque than the green o ring so I just reverted back to the green o ring as was in good condition anyway.

Early reports since going back to the tank are that it’s behaving better but it’s only been a few days.

Not sure what this means though 🤔🤔

DavecUK

Spotter6080 Not sure what this means though 🤔🤔

It might mean the filter isn’t delivering the steady flow rate/pressure required.

Spotter6080

Based on the guage it’s just over 2 bar which is inline with the recommendations from the instructions 2-3 bar and the flow is pretty good as whilst we have had it unplugged we have been using it (with a valve attached to the end) to fill the kettle. Haven’t measured exactly but it comes out at a good rate to fill the kettle, certainly much quicker than the water comes out the fridge tap and given there is no flow from the tank other than a little gravity from the tank it’s hard to image this is the issue.

Have plumbed back in now (as part of getting the picture below) so will see how it goes.