Time to get a new one?

[shadow745]

IIRC, Olympia makes their Cremina now with a spring lever, so extraction is by spring force and the elbow grease goes into compressing the spring.

Yep, but they still also offer a manual only. Personally wouldn't bother with a spring if I went that route again, but these days am quite satisfied with a pump.

 

[froze]

How will you heat the water without a heating element? Unless you are heating water with a firebox, as in old-school samovar heater, you will have to worry about an electric heater which has a coil and does need power. Some manual-fill boiler lever manual pump espresso machines (e.g., Olympia Cremina) have no electric pumps, but some do for auto-filling the boiler from a reservoir (Londinium, e.g.)

If the OP can open his machine and the cause for steam escape is obvious and fixable, then I would try a fix. Otherwise, search for a new machine. Money put into parts and even more, labor, might be better put toward a new machine with a warranty. Steam escaping is possibly a rupture in a water line somewhere with wetting of the boiler or some other hot surface. It could also be a failure of a solenoid or possibly of the pressurestat with boiler overpressure tripping the steam overpressure valve and boiler overheat safety switch.

What are you talking about? Is it impossible to preheat with hot water and then use hot water to make the espresso like the instructions tell you to do and has been done with manual hand pump espresso machines for the last 77 plus years? I guess so according to you.

 

[CHenry]

What are you talking about? Is it impossible to preheat with hot water and then use hot water to make the espresso like the instructions tell you to do and has been done with manual hand pump espresso machines for the last 77 plus years? I guess so according to you.

Please show me a true modern espresso machine with a manual pump that does not heat its own water. I'll wait.

 

[froze]

Please show me a true modern espresso machine with a manual pump that does not heat its own water. I'll wait.

Cafelat Robot, and the Flair do not have heating elements, you have to preheat the water. I hope you didn't wait too long.

Please show me a true modern espresso machine with a manual pump that does not heat its own water. I'll wait.

Do you like to argue just for the fun of it?

The three most popular manual espresso machines, the Flair, Cafelat Robot, and the Rok Presso do not have a preheating element or boiler.

The very expensive Elektra, and the La Pavoni have heating elements, but the expense to have that isn't worth it, and if a person is going to spend that kind of money for an espresso maker you might as well buy one so you don't have to pull a lever!

Gee, I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long, now prove to me that the ones I listed all have some sort of heating element or boilers. But I won't wait because I already know the answer.

 

[Philvk]

Back to the original post- Birv2- where exactly is your machine leaking?
AND, does it leak when the PF is not engaged?
Or when you are preheating for steam? more details please!

I repair these machines as a hobby, and might be able to sort out the problem, and advise how difficult the fix will be.
I have a lot of good info on my website. (thatsgoodmud.com) and sell carefully rebuilt machines too.
These Saeco machines are a very long lived and solid entry level machine.

Cheers!

Phil