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EM6910 Steam pump audibly trying, but nothing happens until minutes have passed...

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  • I bought an EM6910 on 18 March 2012, paid $575, grinder included. Used once per day, 2200 brews for me and wife at $0.13 per cup. Beans and Milk probably $0.30 x 4400 =$1300.00. If I had bought coffee from shop I would have paid 4400 x $4.00 = $17600.00. The machine has paid for itself.
    I now have this very problem. I am going to try and fix it given I have this unbelievably excellent set of instructions.
    Thank you so much, all of you, particularly spoco2 for his photos and details. I am sure it is within my level of expertise from what I have learnt here.

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    • That first coffee after fixing tasted SO GOOD!

      I just fixed my EM6910 as well. I didn't even see that there was a page 2 & 3 to this thread. That may have saved some time! My symptoms were no steam at all. I now know that this was starting to happen months ago. Anyway, I tried something that hasn't been mentioned and that was descaling the steam Thermoblock while it is cold. After stripping the copper pipes I pushed a plastic tube over the inlet (bottom) and outlet (top) and found that I could only blow very little air through. My thinking was "if I cant blow air, then the pump is going to have a hard time with water". I set up a large jar on top of the machine, with the recommended dilution of white vinager. The lower tube (connected to the bottom inlet) of the thermoblock I set up to drip into a bucket. I then syphoned through the thermoblock the solution (I used a syringe to start it). The syphoning was very slow, maybe one drip per second. I let it go all night. In the morning the syphoning had obviously finished, so I set up a little more (water this time) and it ran out. I refitted the pump and found it was still struggling. I stripped it out again and used high magnification viewing glasses. That is when I saw the small valve at the end of the pump piston. I got my finger nail under the edge, and yes it was sticking. I decided to immerse all of the whole pump parts in vinager. It was very slow and didn't make a lot of difference. I then used SEPTONE Aluminium Cleaner that contains phosphoric acid and a little (2%) Hydroflouric acid. Before any one starts on the danger of Hyrdoflouric acid, I will say that at this level it isn't considered dangerous (I used to sell chemicals). Wear gloves and eye protection though. 5 minutes in the acid, cleaned all the parts, I reassembled the pump and OMG. I swear it was better than new. It now steams a jug of milk in less than a minute. It seems to me that this valve is critical to the pumps action. I am sure that this allows the pump to pick up the next amount of water on the down stroke. If it isn't functioning properly the pump won't lift the correct amount of water. Thanks to this thread, I saved about $400. Someone asked above for parts stockist, I found this place.

      spares.bigwarehouse.com.au/product_info.php?products_id=1648691&gclid=Cj0KCQj wl7nYBRCwARIsAL7O7dF7RMQkpyFcUgZu2YBqJrzUHZ8vTd5tN x93ZvhHztU_iDNXJbT7hx8aAklKEALw_wcB

      They also have installation tips on the page, where people have installed parts. I found this useful as it can lead you to other parts.

      I hope that this is of some help to others. Happy Coffee making!

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      • I tried unblocking the thermoblock by injecting descaler with a syringe but it would block again within a month. I read many posts and came up with this method. I used a tree pump sprayer with a 7 mm hose which I connected to the thermoblock inlet, placed descaling liquid in a jug under the steam spout and operated the pump sprayer. This drew descaler through the spout, tube and through the thermoblock and after flushing with clean water the steam flow is excellent. I have some photos but unable to attach because of my account limitations.

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        • I back flushed the thermoblock as per my previous post and then used this method to flush in the normal flow direction. Disconnect power when working on machine.I opened the side panel to be able to access the wires powering the thermoblock heater in the next step. I took out the anti calc cartridge and filled the water tank with descaling liquid. Powered on the machine until all leds were lit. Surfaces are hot, wear gloves.Turned off power , then disconnected a wire on the thermoblock thermistor and turned power back on within a few seconds and not letting the block cool down.The purpose of disconnecting the wire is to stop the heater from switching on during flushing. Placed a bowl under steam wand and opened steam knob to max. Flushed the thermoblock and connecting pipe work with about 1litre of descaler and purged again with clean water. Fitted panel back and machine is as good as new. Thanks for all the posts on the coffeesnobs site which helped me with the method described. I have a photograph of the cable that I disconnected but will attach it when my account restriction has been removed.

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