# Saeco Espresso 2002 - My first espresso machine.



## supersim65 (Sep 24, 2012)

Just bought this down the market. I figured it wasn't a top quality machine, may well not be working, and I'll probably never find some replacement portafilters for it. But it was £15 so I impulse bought it before sensibility and logic took hold. I wanted something that needed taking apart anyway.

  

_1080858 by supersim65, on Flickr

I'm just about to plug it in and see if any part of it is working. Does anyone know anything about these machines? Will have a thorough Google later on.

Plan to update this thread as the saga continues.


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## jimrobo (Aug 5, 2011)

looks retro cool!


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## Southpaw (Feb 26, 2012)

It looks very much like my old gaggia cubika - buttons are square and as I remember in the same locations.

Good luck


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## supersim65 (Sep 24, 2012)

Cheers Southpaw, I've heard it's very similar to a Cubika Plus here on the forum.


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## supersim65 (Sep 24, 2012)

On powering it up, there was some noise, and some warmth coming off the top. Not much else though. As expected to be honest.

So I've got it apart and I'm starting to clean through everything.

So I got the pump out on the bench, hooked it up to some power, dropped the water collector in some water and made sure there was something at the other end to catch the output. When I switched it on, there was a lot of buzzing, but no water moving through.

I don't really know what's inside the pump, I can't get it apart, but I guess something is burnt out, I suppose there could be a blockage. Does anyone have any ideas? How might I find an replacement/alternative if not? It's been said this machine is like a Cubika Plus, although I can see it's not the same as the more recent models. I'm still looking around the internet to see if I can find an old Cubika Plus datasheet or manual.

Here's the pump anyway...

  

_1080868 by supersim65, on Flickr


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## supersim65 (Sep 24, 2012)

Also, whilst looking for pump specs, have found this...










Looks a lot like my machine, and Saeco and GSL were linked right? The pump is branded GSL anyway.


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## espressotechno (Apr 11, 2011)

Provided you can use the same rubber mountings, an Ulka vibratory pump (red plastic body) as used in Gaggias, etc should be a suitable replacement. Have a look on Ebay, etc...


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## HizerKite (Feb 25, 2011)

If you get stuck and can't get it apart, I can probably get it going so don't dump it. Am happy to have a go if you want to post the pump to me..

Richard


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## supersim65 (Sep 24, 2012)

Thanks Richard, had more enthusiasm today.

Success! Managed to get the circlip out the end using several of the wrong tools. It was a bit scaly in there, not too bad, but bad enough. De-scaled everything, polished everything, and spent around an hour and a half trying to get the circlip back in. Must go and buy some circlip pliers. Anyway, fully functioning pump now. And the brass bits are shiny too.

    

Next I need help with several things. I was just reading this on Engadget. Based on a theory that these guys have any idea what they are talking about, I'm understanding that the pressure with which the pump forces water into the boiler, results in the pressure with which the group head forces the water through the coffee? So in theory, the bigger the pump, the more power the group head has (limited by the level of pressure needed to blow the weakest gasket in the system of course)? How close am I with that?

Next, I'm going to clean and descale the boiler and group head. Below is a picture of the connections on top of the boiler, I've been studying the circuit diagram I drew when I was dismantling them so I'm starting to get an idea, but can someone talk me through what they might be? I'm guessing various heat sensors?


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## supersim65 (Sep 24, 2012)

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## rodabod (Dec 4, 2011)

Did you get any further with this? That's some good DIY.


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