Chosen Solution
I have read everything on this forum regarding this issue and taken action on everything without exception. My Problem: water doesn’t flow through my Portafilter - sometimes at all, but sometimes just too slow. What I’ve Done: replaced the pump, removed and cleaned the boiler - looks every good inside - cleaned the machine with descaler - removed the brew head and cleaned everything inside the one-way valve - rebuilt the portafilter with new springs, parts. Symptoms: priming the machine with the steam wand has plenty of pressure. heating the boiler seems to work fine and without the portafilter I get a steady flow of hot water from the brew head into a pot. If I place the portafilter on the brew head with no coffee grounds, it doesn’t seem to build enough pressure to flow water so it only drips and doesn’t flow water. Naturally with coffee it’s worse. Question: how can I gauge whether the new pump is putting out enough pressure? does anyone know how much water flows from the brew head without the portafilter in place? does anyone have a way to tell me the volume of water I should be seeing without the portafilter or some other way of gauging the pressure from the pump? I’m thinking the pump just isn’t putting out enough pressure and perhaps it’s those complicated little valves in there even those they are all new.
The pump is new so it’s unlikely that is your issue, especially if replacing it didn’t change anything. The only way to test it’s pressure is to hook up a pressure gauge; I have a portafilter that I modified to include a gauge that I use for this purpose. The most common causes of weak flow from an empty portafilter are a clogged brew screen or coffee basket ,or a dirty or malfunctioning portafilter. When running the machine with the portafilter in place, does water leak from anywhere, such as around the edges of the portafilter or from the steam wand? I would also open up the brew valve again and double-check that you installed the silicone nipple in the correct orientation, ie. facing up towards the boiler. There’s very little else that can effect the brewhead pressure in these machines.
Gaskets? O ring failed and it plugged a hose? Cracked housing on a part you can’t see without removing it? I’m guessing possibilities. If your brewer gasket was bad, I think you’d see water or steam.
Hi Micheal, did you manage to resolve your Portafilter issue? If not, which coffee machine do you have? I’m currently using a Breville Barista Express machine and haven’t encountered any issues. I did recently purchase a Joefrex pressure gauge just to check the pressure it’s producing which may be helpful in identifying your issue.
