Hi, Ive now had my Silvia for about 4 years and I think the pump may be on the way out. The flow rate is quite slow through the wand and brewhead. The pump is quite noisy. Ive stripped and cleaned the solenoid etc. But this does not seem to have solved the problem. The pump sounds a bit like its out of water (not primed) but not as loud as that, and there is water flow, but its only a trickle. Can anyone offer any suggestions of where to look next? Also what is the life-expectancy of a Silvia pump? many thanks, Pat
Is hard to predict the life of a pump, it depends also from what kind of water you use, you can have scale deposit build in up or just some sediment, get to the pump blow same air with a compressor with low to medium psi (following water flow) and see if this will take care of it
Many thanks for the thoughts Kristi and stefano65. I have been having problems with scale (calcium buildup) -- only in the last few months when I changed from spring water (we have a spring at the end of the road - but that's another story!) back to tap water. I did run some descaler through the machine then, but I dont think I did a very good job of it. Since then Ive had to open the machine up to clean away gunk (scale, I think) from the little hole that feeds into the group head from the solenoid: this bit of the machine Ill run some more descaler through the machine and if that doesnt work Ill look at blowing some air through the pump. Thanks again for your help. Pat
Gee Pat, beautiful picture!!!!! I was doubting that there was buildup in the pump itself but thinking that there was significant buildup in the boiler and that was making it sound like it was out of water... I would make up a strong solution, run it in, and let it sit overnight... Good luck! Kristi
Hi, Ive now had my Silvia for about 4 years and I think the pump may be on the way out. The flow rate is quite slow through the wand and brewhead. The pump is quite noisy. Ive stripped and cleaned the solenoid etc. But this does not seem to have solved the problem. The pump sounds a bit like its out of water (not primed) but not as loud as that, and there is water flow, but its only a trickle. Can anyone offer any suggestions of where to look next? Also what is the life-expectancy of a Silvia pump? many thanks, Pat
Hi Pat, the solenoid coil may be dying. If you can't find a direct replacement www.coffeeparts.com sells Parker coil ZB09, its a bit "heavier duty" than the standard one but otherwise OK.
Pat: My Zaffiro started doing the same thing a while back. Did all the flush/cleaning bit, but no joy. A call to Roger at Chris' solved the problem: choked intake screen. If the pump pickup tube is kinked or choked off in any way, you'll get these symptoms. Check this out before panicking. The pump is very happy now it has a free flowing intake.
HTH, Wayne
"Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most." A. Brilliant
fastfish Senior Member Joined: 10 Nov 2005 Posts: 6 Location: Area 65 -- France Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Silvia Grinder: Rocky
Posted Sun Nov 13, 2005, 9:02am Subject: Re: Silvia, noisy pump, low flow-rate
Well its been an interesting few days. I got some descaler, but it was really pretty toxic stuff -- cleaned out the machine, but left a terrible taste even with running _many_ reservoirs of clean water through and leaving clean water sitting in the machine pretty much all day and over night. So with a leap of faith, and screw-driver in hand I attacked Silvia. The boiler had a lot of loose limescale and a fair bit encrusted on the bottom and a bit on the heating coil. But a while later with the aid of some vinegar I managed to get it reasonably clean.
Unfortunately I got a bit carried away with my dis-assembly and cleaning and took the pump apart. Easy to do, but I didnt notice the ball-bearing till too late and lost it. At the moment Ive used a 3/16" bike ball bearing, but its not stainless so Ill have to replace it soon.
After this, putting in the PID controller I picked up on ebay is going to be a piece of cake! :-)
Posted Sun Nov 13, 2005, 12:34pm Subject: Re: Silvia, noisy pump, low flow-rate
Nice pics! and nice cleaning job! You're hired! But does it work better when you put it all together? I also thought it was possible to get ss bike bearings... but maybe I'm wrong. Good substitution, though! Yeah, putting in a PID is a piece of cake! Kristi
Well I only just had my first cup of coffee out of it this morning. Tastes OK! Its good to have the machine on line again. And getting rid of the quantity of limescale that I did should stop the problem of the top of the solenoid outlet blocking up (what is the name for this part?)
Im sure you can get ss bike bearings, but we are a little limited in whats available here in Bagneres de Bigorre (French Pyrenees). So I ended up getting a new pump on Ebay from Germany for €23, which didnt sound too bad.
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