Isomac Tea dying on me (tank filter broke and filled machine with softener crystals)

[a95johjo]

I just got my beloved 2006 Isomac Tea back from service. I'm told that it requires x amount of hours to clean up the mess that apparently the water softener filter thing (the red filter in the water tank) has gone broken and left crystals inside the pump and hoses with the consequence that the pump broke down.
Since I don't want to pay a service guy at 100$ / hr (yeah I know) to do this (I already payed them about 500$ for a new pump and trouble shooting) they told it's better to do this myself.

Has anyone had this or similar problem with an espresso machine before? Any hints on how to proceed. They told me to demount and flush everything in water so this is what I had in mind to do...

Buying a new machine has strucked my mind but itn't really the time to invest.

Tea is one of the bigger consumer machines of Isomac, similar models are Relax, Millenium etc..

 

[DirtyDave]

I've seen allot of Isomacs in my day.
They are kind of like the Saab of espresso machines.
They're always in the shop.

 

[stefano65]

It is possible that the softener inside screen broke or moved (possible during shipping) is not that uncommon,
most likely the beads from the softener didn't pass the ulka pump and the breeder valve BUT
you will not know for sure until you remove the above and inspect further down the line
to the "tee" where the line gets divided between heating exchanger and boiler fill
inlet solenoid valve,
one way valve
ultimately you can remove the heating element and look inside the boiler for trace of the beads and might as well for scale build up while you are at

 

[a95johjo]

Ok, thanks a lot for this information, I will give it a shot as I now know I'm not alone out there with this problem. The breeder valve was apparently destroyed (twice) during repair, now I have a third one so I will clean a lot for the beads not to end up there again...

Out of topic:Being built on more or less standard parts I assume this problem is not unique Isomac (there are lots of "Saabs" out there I guess ), but since Isomac Europe has gone bancrupt after the Pavoni aquisition there are hardly any repair shops here in Sweden that want to touch them anymore.

Thanks again for the info Stefano
Best regards
Johan

 

[DirtyDave]

My faux pas Johan, I didn"t intend to demean the products of your country.
Yes, the Isomac is a parts room device and should work better than it usually does.

 

[cece74]

Good info! Thanks!

 

[a95johjo]

topic continued.

Ok so I've finally taken the time to demount and wash and check and mount. Everything looked clean and I didn't find any scaling to talk about.
Now I seem to get the right sound and function from the pump and back valve. However I get some other problems which in the end gives too low pressure.
On top of the boiler tank there are two "valves", (see attached image), one is with a rubber cup around it and the other one is not. When I put on the machine and the water reaches boiling point there are some (spoonful) water coming out from the one to the left (without the rubber thing). Then when I pull the handle to make "an espresso" some water instead is coming out in the rubber cup. To me it looks like more water coming out than is healthy to have in an electronic device.

Do you have any idea how I should continue? Could it be an obstruction somewhere that makes the pressure too high in the boiler? Both the pressure meters in the front indicates lower than normal.

For information, neither me or the repair guys supposedly have touched the pipes near the boiler valves as my original problem was with the pump/back valve.

Best regards
Johan

 

[stefano65]

A little confused here, you say the machine was just serviced?
and the anti-vacum valve and safety valve overlooked?????

anyhow
the anti-vacum valve will "hiss" (or should) only while the boiler pressure is building up, or pressure drops way way low
then once .3 Bar or so is reached and all the negative air is released from the boiler it will seal and close,
no more hissing should be coming out after this point or until the machine gets shut off and cold and you start all over again from a cold boiler.

The safety valve ( called also over pressure valve) instead is a safety pressure device that is designed to open (or blow) once a certain pressure is reached above safety level,
normally they open at 1.8,
however some could start to open sooner, depends on the spring wear and also the calibration ( if somebody tinker with it)
if the above is not the case,
the problem is:
is your boiler/steam pressure climbing and doesn't stop?
what's causing the pressure to build?
2 scenario
( well let's just mention 2 simple one but there are more)
your pressurestat is not shutting off where it should ( on isomac I will adjusted no more them 1,2 MAX very MAX)
or if the pressurestat indeed stops and green light goes on way before the 1.6 mark then most likely you have a worn out safety valve

 

[a95johjo]

clearification

Yes I think I must be the victim of a repair guy cretin.

The green light turns on but water is literarly flooding out of the safety valves. It seems likely that the first flood (a guess is about 2 tbl spoons of water coming out) is at 0.3 bars like you say, then the boiler pressure stops at 1.2 which seems normal, then when I pull the handle about 2-3 tbl spoons comes out of the other valve. From what you say it's probably the safety valve that is messed up, just a bit strange both of them goes broken at the same time.
I got some boiling water also in the exit hose, not sure if that is also an indication of some sort.
Maybe the beeds ended up in the safety valves as well?! *aaaargh*

Anyways, thanks a lot for all the information you have given, without it I would be completely lost.
Best regards
Johan

 

[CCafe]

I'd pull the boiler level probe and make sure its perfectly clean. After that pull and replace the safety valve as well as the vacuum valve. There are rebuild kits for some of these valves but from past experience I just replace as its far easier and a whole lot less time consuming. Both of the valves appear to be common. I'd say check with Espresso Machines & Espresso Grinders - Espresso Parts and look up the valves under La Marzocco. To be 100% sure pull the valve first and measure the male thread fitting size to make sure its a standard 3/8.