erimille Senior Member Joined: 16 Jan 2013 Posts: 10 Location: columbus, oh Expertise: I like coffee
Posted Wed Jan 16, 2013, 3:27pm Subject: francis francis x1 issue
New (to me) Francis Francis x1. The unit is an older one that I'm guessing has been refurbished some where down the line (brass boiler). The condition and price were good enough to convince me to move on this even after reading all of the review and lack of access to parts... now 3 weeks later i'm feeling a bit like a sucker ;)
Unit worked great (being used in small office setting w/ only pods) until I left the unit on accidentally over night. Before leaving it on I was able to cinch down on the Portafilter to create a tight fit. Now, I'm afraid its simply no longer a tight fit. Water is no longer forced though the coffee pods, but seems to rather happily travel every place else.
I know parts seem to be hard to come by, but was wondering (a) what this gasket might be called so i can more effectively look for this and or (b) a pointer to sed part and or (c) a pointer to an alternative gasket that might be the right fit.
thanks in advance,
--eric
ps: fwiw, i really enjoyed the 3 weeks worth of espresso that came from this machine before things stopped working. missing it already.
A quick call to Illy (and now armed with the knowledge of what to ask for) and a new group head gasket + o-ring is on its way. Total cost about 4$ for parts + shipping runs around $12.
Hopefully (in 7-10 days depending on shipping) we should be back to brewing ;)
erimille Senior Member Joined: 16 Jan 2013 Posts: 10 Location: columbus, oh Expertise: I like coffee
Posted Sun Jan 20, 2013, 9:07am Subject: Re: francis francis x1 issue
New group head gasket + o-ring have been installed. After being told it would be 7-10 days, they arrived only 3 days later. The portafilter now creates a tight fit, but I'm afraid the problem still exists. Attempting to brew Illy ESE pods after a couple of seconds they explode / implode and coffee and water just streams out everywhere. While no longer spiting out of the top of the portofilter as it did before (due to new gaskets), the result is still, well, less than useful.
Would leaving a unit over night cause any sort of malfunction that would result in increase the water pressure / volume? I'm grasping a bit, so any thoughts or additional suggestions would be most appreciated.
I'm afraid if there is a difference between the top and bottom of the francis francis x1 head gasket I can't tell. I don't see any logo marking or bevel on either the old or new gasket. Thanks btw for the suggestion.
I've flipped it (just in case) but the results are the same. The Illy ESE pods explode / implode after about a second and coffee and water just stream out.
Thinking an increase in water pressure / volume (simply by leaving this on) might be unlikely, I'm wondering if the problem might be with old pods. I'm testing this with pods that have expired. I had assumed expired pods would simply not taste as good, but is it possible that they also loose some integrity over time?
MochaJoe Senior Member Joined: 31 Oct 2012 Posts: 66 Location: Omaha, NE Expertise: Just starting
Espresso: Gaggia Classic Grinder: Baratza Preciso
Posted Sun Jan 20, 2013, 8:21pm Subject: Re: francis francis x1 issue
I 'm not sure if I read this or not, but are you using the correct portafilter/basket? Im not sure if Ff machines use the same pf and a different basket for pods, or a separate pf for pods.
erimille Senior Member Joined: 16 Jan 2013 Posts: 10 Location: columbus, oh Expertise: I like coffee
Posted Mon Jan 21, 2013, 7:34am Subject: Re: francis francis x1 issue
MochaJoe Said:
I 'm not sure if I read this or not, but are you using the correct portafilter/basket? Im not sure if Ff machines use the same pf and a different basket for pods, or a separate pf for pods.
Thanks for verifying. At this point i'd be happy to find out its user error. Anything to get back to brewing ;) The FF 1 machines have a separate portofilter for ESE pods as one for regular grounds. I have both, but have been only testing this with pods and using the appropriate portofilter.
It worked fine before, brewing 4+ espressos from ESE pods a day. After leaving the unit on over night however.... well, i'm still not sure what the problem is.
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