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My Elektra
also discussed at www.greencoffeebuyingclub.com


What's new at Sandpiper coffee? My Elektra. I ended up purchasing a used Elektra 1 group espresso machine. I wasn't particularly looking for an espresso machine since my Bezzera BZ99 had been doing it's job just fine. But when I saw a post on craigslist for a restaurant closing that was selling an espresso machine for $200, I couldn't resist. I was a little skeptical at first, so I called the number on the ad and asked what brand name it was, the lady said she didn't know but that she would check and get back with me. 5 minutes later I found out it was an Elektra, one of the machines I have always wanted, maybe a Synesso or La Marzocco would've been the only other's that would've made me more happy. The only catch was this was located in Ramona which is about 45minutes from my house. So off I went with cash in hand wondering what could possibly be waiting for me that only costs $200. When I arrived the machine wasn't in the best shape but it was cleaner than I had feared, more importantly this was no cheap Elektra, this is a T-1 which cost about $3000.00 when new, complete with electronic shot dosing. The unit was missing a leg and when I peered into its guts I did see some evidence of possible water seepage at various locations, I told her I would give her $180 since its missing a leg and she agreed.
Well I knew of a local commercial espresso machine repair shop so I took the Elektra to them, what I didn't know was that they were the authorized Elektra dealer for my area. I requested a cleaning/descaling and a general test of the components. So they ended up taking a lot longer than the day they quoted me. The picture to the right is the Elektra on the shop table at the repair shop. It was soon discovered that the pump was bad and that a few lines needed descaling and/or replacement, the hot water valve wasn't working properly, plus a few other minor repairs.
By the time I brought it home, I had a naked porta-filter, a working machine, and a water filter for my plumbed in line. I had saved all my parts that were replaced: Hot water tap valve, fluid-o-tech pump. When I got everything home I just couldn't stand the look of the non-stock water valve so I decided to try and fix the old one. I found some phosphoric acid and quickly started descaling the old valve and while I was at it I just started descaling everything. The more I took apart the more I realized I needed to descale more than I thought, at the service shop they just descaled what was completely scaled shut or seized. The phosphoric acid made short work of every scaled line and part including the boiler, group, etc. It wouldn't be too much longer before I made a costly mistake. Already working on this much longer than I had planned or anticipated, I started rejoicing on an early victory of clearing out the pump to where it wasn't seized, cleaning all the scale from every line, and the most important thing which was restoring my original steam wand valve and hot water tap valve. This alone was going to save me $140 since I would be able to return the newer valve they replaced. Unfortunately my rejoicing would prove to be too early. Relying on the confidence that I posses in years of Aircraft maintenance that the US Air force trained me in, plus my many years of working on my own cars just for the fun of it, I quickly started putting all the last descaled pieces together to wrap it up at around 11:30 pm. In my rush I had forgot to mark down how the coil that opens the valve to let the water flow through the group was wired before I unplugged it. Upon a quick inspection I looked at the wires one was red one was what appeared to be green. There are three plugs on the coil, two for power one for ground, I didn't give it a second thought and I placed the "green" on the ground and the red on one of the power tabs. Plugged it in and prepared to taste the perfection that is Elektra! Well I plugged it in turned it on, pushed the brew switch and....POP! Sizzle...and electronic burn smell. That sinking feeling when you know that you have worked on something way too long and you know you made a bonehead mistake hit me. I started recalling all the warnings the espresso techs had warned me about how the Gicar shot dose controller can be burned out with any short in the system, so much so that they removed an LED that is common to short. Not only is this controller quick to break but it isn't cheap either- $300. It was amazing to tell you the truth that I was able to diagnose my problem so quickly, I peered at the Green wire and I soon realized that it was a faded blue wire, not good. I did have to replace the controller but I saved some money from fixing and returning parts I didn't need anymore and so it ended up net costing me around $150. But now a month or so later everything is very repeatable and she works great, the extra down time allowed me to really clean out every nook and cranny and there was some really small holes in the group that benefited from the extra cleaning. She works great and after the sale of my other two Bezzera espresso machines I made some money from the purchase.