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Rocket Giotto - Losing pump pressure during extraction

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  • Rocket Giotto - Losing pump pressure during extraction

    Hi everyone,

    Still new to this forum, but I purchased a used Rocket Giotto Premium Plus V1 in April this year from a user on these forums, who originally purchased it from another user here. It was serviced by CoffeeTalk prior to being sold to me, so I assume everything under the hood was running smoothly, albeit a very old machine. I've been making one coffee a day for the last 5-6 months and it has performed brilliantly with no issues until now.

    This morning during extraction, the shot started to slow to a trickle about 5-10 seconds in and then stopped, and the usual loud pump sound became a light humming sound until I lowered the lever. After removing the portafilter, lifting the lever is still able to release hot water from the group head, so it doesn't seem to be a flow problem.

    I am using the water tank (not plumbed in) and I don't see the green light flashing that indicates an empty tank or issues with heavily filtered water. I do use filtered water from a 3M filter and I live in Melbourne, so water is soft, but it's been working fine for the last half year. The boiler pressure stays at around 1-1.2 bar throughout. The hot water and steam wand work fine.

    If I put a blind basket into the portafilter, I can here the loud pump noises, and then after 5-10 seconds, the light humming sound will take over.

    If I put in a normal basket with nothing inside, it flows well.

    If I grind my beans much coarser (filter drip setting on my niche), it has no issues pushing water through, so I'm assuming it's got something to do with pressure issues.

    I can open it up and have a look, but I'm not entirely sure what I should be looking for.
    Anyone have any suggestions? Or what I can do to try and narrow down the issue?

  • #2
    Kinda tricky to confirm 100% but most likely your vibration pump is gone. The part is an Ulka EX5 and they are available from about $40 if you look around. The pump is not too hard to replace if you take your time and look at a good parts diagram.

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    • #3
      Agreed- most likely pump. Do it and the associated anti-cavitation valve at the same time.

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      • #4
        I've replaced the pump and the anti-cavitation valve. It's working great again!

        Thanks for your help, roosterben and Caffeinator

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