oooOOOOOOoooOOOoo <Lightening flashes and strikes Javaphile and the lightbulb over his head goes on> Ive been laboring under a false assumption! Ive been assumming that the HXs are being fed with boiler water! <MANY things suddenly start to make sense!> Thanks FC!!!
Yes mauricem I did actually tear my Cimbali all the way down. And I do mean *all the way down. By the time I was done there was nothing left on the frame but the electrical harness.
However, it was not being torn down trying to find some problem. Rather it was a complete tear-down, cleaning/descaling, and rebuilding. Starting with a working unit.This was my first ever espresso machine (Ive owned several small pump units that claimed the name but werent) and when I finally got it after 3 years of back and forth between its now former owner and myself the only problem that prevented it from being used (and which the previouos owner had been attempting to fix for those same 3 years) was a leak. A leak I diagnosed and fixed less than 5 minutes after my friend and I had lugged the monster in and dropped it on my kitchen counter. LOL
After Id fixed its only problem I then decided to tear it all apart, clean it, and put it back together as good as new. I followed the water paths and while there were a couple of questionable areas I *thought* I had them all figured out until FC threw a wrench into that! Knowing now that the HXs are being supplied with fresh water rather than boiler water I now know that the valves work a bit different than I had assumed (based on boiler water being fed to the HXs).
A couple of head itches have now been cured thanks to this info! Such as why the steamed milk would taste of stale water but not the espresso. And why the temp of the water coming out of the head could drop so much if you ran a lot through it. And like why there was that other valve there when it really didnt appear to be needed! Nice!
Goes to show what happens when one makes ASSumptions!
Java "*pets* his newly lit over-head lightbulb" phile

It would certainly put a hell of a lot of water through the machine.
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