Quick Mill Andreja Top - getting her up and running

[Emille]

Hi all,

I have just picked up a Quick Mill Andreja Top machine for what I consider to be a steal, $100. I knew full well that it had some issues, but given the condition of the machine I thought it would be worth fixing. For $100, I thought I would take the gamble!
The seller said that they were told it required a new solenoid.

Long story short, I can get the pump to kick in to fill the boiler, however it is extremely loud and does not seem to be drawing any water, it either drew a little it of water, or there was already some in the boiler as it started to boil and get hot - good sign, but I decided to disconnect the element so I did not damage it. Occasionally, the pump would operate at a very quiet level which seems more normal.

Are these symptoms of a faulty solenoid? Is there a way to test the solenoid?

Any advice would be appreciated!

Thanks,
Emille

[Dragunov21]

Quick Mill Andreja

$100

Dude... what? Nice find.

Good call on disconnecting the element.

I can't comment on the solenoid (not without seeing an exploded diagram, at least), but as far as the pump goes, are you able to trace the water path? Might be worth testing the pump on its own if you can remove and possible obstacles before/after. It's possible that a solenoid is failing to operate and thereby give the pump a discharge path.

Just to rule the pump out.

[okitoki]

oh you lucky bugger... so u r the one who picked it up! haha... I was calling the guy this morning, and he just replied late this afternoon that it was gone!

oh well... you snooze you loose

good luck with it.

[Emille]

Dude... what? Nice find.
Thanks mate, I thought so too, definitely worth the gamble, even if I spend up to $500 on it, I think it will be a good machine.

I can't comment on the solenoid (not without seeing an exploded diagram, at least), but as far as the pump goes, are you able to trace the water path? Might be worth testing the pump on its own if you can remove and possible obstacles before/after. It's possible that a solenoid is failing to operate and thereby give the pump a discharge path.

Good idea - what is the best way to do this? I assume just bypass everything connected to the outlet and see if water comes through/

Just to rule the pump out.

oh you lucky bugger... so u r the one who picked it up! haha... I was calling the guy this morning, and he just replied late this afternoon that it was gone!

oh well... you snooze you loose

good luck with it.

Yeah, sorry mate! ended up getting it for $100 as I said, she said that they were told the Solenoid was busted, then when she called me back so I could go and look at it, she told me that there may be other issues too, so I asked if she would take $100, from the $180 asking price and she said OK.
The machine is in good condition inside and out, the typical scale around boiler connections but there is no rust. With a bit of a clean it will come up really shiny.

[Dragunov21]

Emille, yes, basically you'd trace the path from tank/plumed supply to inlet and make sure there was nothing in the path that could fail or otherwise inhibit flow, then do the same for the outlet (or just disconnect it, if it's convenient) and run it.

oh you lucky bugger... so u r the one who picked it up! haha... I was calling the guy this morning, and he just replied late this afternoon that it was gone!

oh well... you snooze you loose

good luck with it.

He did you a favour; you need to buy less machines :P

[Emille]

OK did a little more playing this afternoon..

I bypassed some waterlines to test the pump and no water came out even though it sounded like it was working.
So I took the pump out and took it apart.. It seems like it might have been a little seized up as after I put it back together and tested it, water came gushing out!
So I reinstalled it all and connected everything back up except the element.
I turned it on and the pump starts, it fills the boiler and then stops - AWESOME!
So i turn it off and connect the boiler again, turn it back on and the boiler starts to boil, it tops up the boiler as needed - awesome!

I test the hot water, boiling water comes out, I turn on the steam and powerful steam comes out..

Now here comes the but...

I switch the group lever on the pump kicks in but no water coms out of the group.

The group head is getting hot, so I assume the thermo syphon is working.

When the pump is working, the water gets pumped back into the tank when it is not coming out of the group.

This leads me to believe one of the following scenarios.
- There is either a blockage in the hear exchanger
- The solenoid is not switching correctly to pump water to the heat exchanger
- There is a blockage in the E61

I'm almost there.. Any ideas on how to troubleshoot this issue?

[Dragunov21]

Given that you were informed that the solenoid needed replacing, that should probably be your first port of call. That said, you should be planning to have the grouphead apart for cleaning anyway, so might as well get that out of the way first and give it another shot.

Alternatively/afterwards, you could pull the solenoid, disconect the pump/element and flip the brew switch and listen for the solenoid operating. If there was nothing and you could do so safely, you could attach a DMM/voltmeter to the leads running to the solenoid and confirm that it was receiving voltage as designed when the brew switch was triggered.

[Emille]

The solenoid works to some extent, because the boiler fills and everything else seems to be working.
I will take the solenoid off and just make sure that when it does operate, it pumps water to the correct outlet. I am hoping it is just a blockage somewhere. I want to ensure that things are definitely broken before I replace them, otherwise it starts to tarnish the bargain aspect of it! haha

I sent a list of parts through to a vendor and they came back with a price tag of 280 Euro including shipping - that included the solenoid and a new double group handle.

[Meetim]

I was also after that machine for a friend, and missed it.

If you think something is blocked, unscrew the small nut on top of the group and check the jet. it could be blocked by scale.

If the restrictor jet is blocked, pressure may be being pushed out the expansion valve. Check to see if water is being dumped into the drip tray while the pump runs.

See this post: http://coffeesnobs.com.au/brewing-eq...tml#post523301

[Emille]

Thanks Meetim.
Water is being pumped back into the tank, not the drip tray there are 2 hoses that go into the tank, one for intake and one for over flow.

When you say small nut on top of the group, which one do you mean? The one t the very top of the group?

Strangely today, I saw a drip out of the release valve at the bottom of the group.

Water as to be getting in somewhere as the group is heating up so that means the thermo syphon is working.

[Meetim]

I assume you read the post by Coffee Machinist I referred to. Many thanks to him. Yes it is the small nut on top.
Attached pics:
1) the small nut on your machine (soon there will be a big nut trying to get it off... sorry, Dad joke)
2) the restrictor jet on a Treviso, complete with scale blockage. That was after a soak in citric acid. Prior to that, you couldn't tell there was supposed to be a hole. To those ignorant in the ways of e61's such as myself, it looked like a plug, so I looked elsewhere for the problem.

If you check the jet and it seems fine, try the test that Coffee Machinist suggests, and remove the big nut too. That way you will find out for sure where the problem is.

Regarding the drip from the release valve: at least you are aware it is a release valve. I had no idea and discovered by accident that when you push the lever down instead of up, the stored pressure is dumped to the drip tray. I assume if you run the pump (lever up) then all the way down, and water comes out, it would indicate that at least pressure is getting to the group.

[Emille]

Well, I removed the small nut and there was a fair amount of scale. I stitched on the machine and activated the group - water sprayed out everywhere! Awesome, no issues with the solenoid or any internal blockages in the HX.
I removed the big nut and there was a lot of scale!
Anyway, long story short, I ended up dismantling the entire group and it was horrendously filthy some places with scale, but mainly black gunk that looks like coffee that has worked its way through the system.
I removed the group off the machine and soaked everything in a citric acid bath and all the components are starting to look a lot nicer.

I have just finished putting the machine back together.

SUCCESS!! Water now comes out of the group!

So all that is left now is to clean up the chassis and the shell and put her back together.

Thanks for all of the help!

[Dragunov21]

So basically you got a kickass HX machine in working order for $100 that just needed a little TLC?

That's one helluva success. Ver' narce!

[Emille]

So basically you got a kickass HX machine in working order for $100 that just needed a little TLC?

That's one helluva success. Ver' narce!

Indeed!. I needed to purchase only the following parts: A new Shower Screen, Group Seal, Double basket and a double spout to convert the single PF into a double. The parts cost me $64 and the Citric Acid cost me $5.46. so about $170 all up!

[Emille]

What is even more awesome, is that many years ago, I had a Nemox Del'Opera. I had a Pullman Tamper made for it.
Anyway I swapped the Nemox for a Playstation 3 with my Aunty. Anyway, I gave her the Pullman Tamper as part of the deal (silly me).
Anyway, she later sold that machine in favour of a Nespresso machine. She gave the tamper back to my mum for some reason and my mum is giving it back to me! So yet another $100 or more saved on purchasing a tamper!