Guigui Senior Member Joined: 14 Aug 2012 Posts: 5 Location: Quebec City Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Tue Aug 21, 2012, 2:29pm Subject: Re: What if it's not the pump?
So I took my machine to a shop nearby to get it cleaned and finally it does need a new pump... and new gaskets. The guy charges me 120$ for everything (cleaning, pump, gaskets, time). I can probably do all this myself but I wonder if the price of the parts is worth it. I paid the machine 50$ used.
brianash Senior Member Joined: 9 Nov 2012 Posts: 1 Location: Woodland, CA Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Fri Nov 9, 2012, 3:17pm Subject: Re: What if it's not the pump?
I have the same machine, and it works perfectly. I just bought a Gaggia Classic as an upgrade. The Splendida is a nice and hefty machine with really nice rocker switches, but I wanted a larger 58mm portafilter, and something with an OPV (the Splendida does not have one).
If you are interested, I will sell you my Splendida for $100 + shipping. If you are near Sacramento, you could pick it up or check it out first. I will include my rattleware aluminum tamper:http://www.espressosupply.com/catalog/tamper-aluminum-53mm. I have modded the machine by wrapping a length of copper tubing around the boiler/grouphead, allowing the water to pre-heat - this allows it to have better temperature stability, and faster time between shots. If you have your current machine for spare parts, you will be pretty set if anything ever goes wrong on this one.
Regarding fixing it yourself - I don't know how much a pump by itself costs, but if you are moderately handy, you can replace the pump yourself. It is really just simple plumbing, with pressure-fittings. I had a little bit of a hard time finding the right pressure fittings when I added the copper line, as everything is metric - i.e. not available at home depot. The pump is a standard ULKA pump, which is in most home machines, so you shouldn't have too much of a hard time finding it.
As far as your question about not being able to fill the portafilter - mine has that same lame bolt sticking down, so I have learned how much coffee I can put in the basket before tamping so that the puck is not disrupted by the bolt. Pretty lame design flaw, but you can work around it by using less coffee in the basket.
Please let me know if you are interested in purchasing my machine, or if you needed any tips on yours.
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