# Fracino Piccino Fault - whining noise & water coming through slow



## dougja (May 23, 2012)

Hi guys, my beloved piccino has taken a turn and wondering if anyone can help?

When I press the button to pump the water through the group head, it seems to struggle to come through and makes a high pitched whining/pining/'crying' sound whilst doing so. I think the last time I used it whilst it was working fine, I back-flushed after using it (usually 3 times for 5-7 seconds). I've just tried backflushing again (more briefly) but it's not made a difference. It sounds like pressure is building up inside whilst the water is struggling to come through so I'm not wanting to leave it running for very long anyway. Steam nozzle is working fine, although it also sounded like the pump was struggling to refill after I used it for a minute.

It's always had a water filter on it, although it took me rather a while to replace the last one. Hoping there is something I can do rather than sending it off for £££ repairs!?

(I'm yet to open it up and look inside as have lost my allen keys!)

many thanks

Doug


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## mremanxx (Dec 30, 2014)

You've not let something break off fro the old filter and it has got stuck in the pump? Was watching a vid about the Isomac I have and it gets shipped with a filter but they guy warned of making sure bits don't break off. How easy is it to get at the pump and remove the outlet pipe?


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## espressotechno (Apr 11, 2011)

If you're in a hard water area.....a descale may be overdue.


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## dougja (May 23, 2012)

So apparently you're supposed to clean inside your grouphead, the dispersion plate. Oops, wish I'd known this before! It was caked in grim oily residue. Just finished a thorough cleaning and it's back to good running order!


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## mremanxx (Dec 30, 2014)

dougja said:


> So apparently you're supposed to clean inside your grouphead, the dispersion plate. Oops, wish I'd known this before! It was caked in grim oily residue. Just finished a thorough cleaning and it's back to good running order!


Just done this yesterday for the first time, my first E61 machine, previous owner hadn't touched it bloody filthy it was.

Bet your glad though.


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## dougja (May 23, 2012)

mremanxx said:


> Just done this yesterday for the first time, my first E61 machine, previous owner hadn't touched it bloody filthy it was.
> 
> Bet your glad though.


Indeed! Feels like a new machine again, definitely noticed an improvement in espresso taste!


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## Jon (Dec 3, 2010)

Yum!


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