espresso machine repairs

Like most people who enjoy coffee, I used to pay relatively little attention to how to make a good cup of coffee. Over the years I have owned and worn out many automatic drip coffee makers, grinders, and a $99 espresso maker. I would at times buy middle of the road whole beans and grind them just before brewing. I have worn out a Braun burr grinder in the process. Most of my drip coffee makers were also Braun. When I am camping I would make drip coffee manually with a simple pour over filter. The coffee were drinkable, but never outstanding but often better than most decent restaurants serve after a meal (yes they are typically less than acceptable given how much they charge).

About 5 years ago I begun to look for a better quality espresso maker. Like many would be semi-serious espresso DIY drinkers I was first drawn to a pair of low price Italian entry level machine combo.

rancilio silvia

rancilio rocky grinder

The total investment of the combo would comes to about $1000. While not a princely sum it is 10x the cost of the $99 toy espresso machine I bought previously.

Before committing to the purchase I read discussions for days on a few serious DIY espresso and coffee forum. Of the most informative is Home-Barista Forum. What I read initially troubled me. According to these people I have to spend significantly more than my tentative $1000 target budget.

Cutting to the chase I finally bought into their advise and ordered a semi-automatic espresso maker and a entry level semi-commercial quality grinder. Both of them were from Italy. I am glad I followed their advises, especially that grinder is the weakest link in coffee preparation.

For the espresso machine it is a Vetrano from Quick Mill. It is a heat exchanger machine based on the classic E61 grouphead design. The original design circa 1945. It cost more than most E61 machines because it can be plumbed-in.

The Mazzer Mini grinder is a true burr grinder made by Mazzer.

vetrano e61 espresso machine and mazzer mini grinder - plumbed-in in the kitchen with direct water supply and waste water drainage

And the total price tag came to around $2850, 2.8 times what I initially prepared to spend. I am very glad I made the plunge as it turned out my investment would be consider slightly above minimum entry cost for reasonably good machines.

It has now been 5 years and with 2 - 3 cups a day the seemingly extravagant spending has paid for itself comparing to the cost of the drink if purchased at the stores. In the process I learnt a lot about coffee. In my quest on coffee I found Home-Barista Forum being the best and highly recommend to those who are interested. While most of the focus are on espresso other brewing methods are also covered.

As with most complex machines eventually they requires service and the Vetrano is no exception. The best part about these types of Italian machines is they are built with commonly available parts. Many different brands use parts from the number of manufacturers and you can count on he parts being available for much longer than most consumer machines.

The first instance of service came about 3 years ago. One day the machine would not pump water and it was very easy to tell the rotary pump was not turning.

top cover panels removed; to the bottom of the picture you can see the plumbing for the plumb-in emerge from the silver grommet on the counter top

side panels removed - rotary pump at bottom left hand corner; the large cylinder is the heat-exchanger boiler; these machines are hand built by small companies

disconnect the plumbing tubing

the pump can either be rebuilt, or replaced with new

It turned out the pump shaft temporarily seized. I was able to free it by rotating and work it free. I re-installed it while waiting for the new one to arrive. I opt to purchase a new one so can rebuilt the old one and keep one as spare. It turned out 2 years later the old pump still function, and there is no water leak. Sometime the pump parts can get too tight and the induction motor that drives it cannot overcome the friction.

The other instance of service was the failure of the inlet water supply solenoid valve. The failure symptom was while the water pump runs, there is no water emerging from the grouphead when the brew lever is pulled open. At the time I only have a very cursory on the working principle of the E61 machine. I begun to diagnose the potential cause. While I knew a supply solenoid valve is involve, I had no idea if the cause is from a sensor, and if so which sensor. I eventually appealed to the forum for assistance and within a few hours the fault was isolated to the inlet water supply solenoid.

location of the inlet water supply solenoid (red arrow); note there is no consumer grade part used in this machine

It turned out the electrical coil of the solenoid developed an open from corrosion due to a very minute leak of the valve body to the solenoid's steel core. Again procuring a replacement part was quite easy as it is a very common part used by many machines from different manufacturers. I order one from the online store I bought the machine because they have excellent support and the price is very reasonable.

the failed solenoid; the brass fitting has two ports - one entry and one exit

the failed solenoid coil

So in all after over 5 years of ownership I consider the investment worthwhile. It take some confidence in my kitchen renovation to provision the plumbing and electrical outlet for a plumb-in espresso equipment and I was very confident that the commitment would not become obsoleted and disused, either due to they obsolesce or demise.

I know they would continue to make very good cups of coffee in decades to come, unless somehow I decide a better equipment is to take their place.

my latte art skill is far from good - but it is much harder to pour a good looking cappuccino than latte

double shot espresso paired with a shot of liquor - i learnt this at an italian cafe from my trip to paris; no guilt even in the morning

I had espresso in many cafes in Paris. I was taken by how poorly they are prepared while everything else they serve is generally quite good, even in a cafe ran by Italian that sells nothing but coffee, drinks and breakfast.

the vetrano espresso machine's higher cost is due to 1) ability for plumbed-in installation, and 2) quiet rotary pump with a commercial grade induction motor as opposed to cheaper vibration pump

While there are constant improvements in this category of semi-professional machines, this many years later I have little reason to replace them.

I you want to be able to prepare a good cup of good espresso, cappuccino, Americano, or latte I highly recommend you invest some time at  Home-Barista Forum.