Hi Everybody.
My VBM has been getting very noisy of late when the element is running (Creaks, knocks, rattles, etc). I thought Id pull it apart & see if I could spot anything obvious. No such luck but while I was there, I had a go at dropping the brew temp. Mine is a 2004 model & has always run too hot. A little while back, Chris was good enough to have a go at it. It apparently caused him no end of grief but he did improve it a little. Unfortunately the boiler pressure had to be dropped just a tad. Since then, the cooling flushes have been getting longer & longer.
I disconnected the pipe going from the HX to the group & located a 5mm brass restrictor. I figured I was on the right track so I cut up an old SS showerscreen & made my own additional 3mm restrictor. I sanded a little off the brass one & fitted them both together.
I then increased the boiler pressure back to 1.1Bar & gave it a test run. Still early days but it seems to have tamed it even with the higher boiler pressure. The noise during warm up has also improved. It only seems to occur after the boiler refills now. Time will tell.
Id be interested to hear opinions from others regarding my mod. Im not even sure that Ive attacked the correct part of the machine! :-/
What have others done to tame their beasts!
Evan.



My VBM has been getting very noisy of late when the element is running (Creaks, knocks, rattles, etc). I thought Id pull it apart & see if I could spot anything obvious. No such luck but while I was there, I had a go at dropping the brew temp. Mine is a 2004 model & has always run too hot. A little while back, Chris was good enough to have a go at it. It apparently caused him no end of grief but he did improve it a little. Unfortunately the boiler pressure had to be dropped just a tad. Since then, the cooling flushes have been getting longer & longer.
I disconnected the pipe going from the HX to the group & located a 5mm brass restrictor. I figured I was on the right track so I cut up an old SS showerscreen & made my own additional 3mm restrictor. I sanded a little off the brass one & fitted them both together.
I then increased the boiler pressure back to 1.1Bar & gave it a test run. Still early days but it seems to have tamed it even with the higher boiler pressure. The noise during warm up has also improved. It only seems to occur after the boiler refills now. Time will tell.
Id be interested to hear opinions from others regarding my mod. Im not even sure that Ive attacked the correct part of the machine! :-/
What have others done to tame their beasts!
Evan.





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