# Bricoletta Low Pump Pressure Problem



## irishcoffee42 (Jan 31, 2014)

So I bought a used Bricoletta a few weeks back, and no matter what I did I couldn't get the pressure at the grouphead up past 6.5bar.

I've been having fun poking around it and getting to know its innards - there are some great resources out there, and I followed various posts on HB and CG to remove and clean the mushroom, adjust the OPV, descale the brew path etc. etc. All to no avail.

I've finally figured out what the hell is wrong and wanted to share in case somebody is searching for a fix in the future: the Bricoletta originally shipped with an Ulka EX7 pump, which bizarrely has a maximum pressure of 7 bar. I tripped across this thread in German that corroborates this fact: http://www.kaffee-netz.de/threads/bricoletta-mit-ulka-ex7-normal.27524/

I'm ordering an Ulka EX5 now to replace it, which has a maximum pressure of 15 bar, and seems to be widely used in espresso machines. So hopefully I'll be able to tune the OPV shortly to give me a nice tasty 9.5bar static reading or thereabouts, and put this problem to rest...

At least I know a lot more about how the damn thing works now anyway


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## jjprestidge (Oct 11, 2012)

We're running 6.5 bar extractions in the shop now. Colonna and Smalls are running 6 bar. 9 bar is not necessarily the optimum.

JP


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## JaymeeH (May 29, 2015)

My Bricoletta will be arriving next week and I was worried I'd missed this fact. I have the rotary pump version so I'm assuming it's not going to be the same.

Cheers for the link though, I'll have a look.

J


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## irishcoffee42 (Jan 31, 2014)

Oooh! Thank you, JP, that's certainly food for thought! Maybe I'm being hasty with the pump replacement - can you recommend any further reading on lower pressure extractions, I wonder?

And lucky you, J, with the rotary pump version. A beauty!


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## jjprestidge (Oct 11, 2012)

irishcoffee42 said:


> Oooh! Thank you, JP, that's certainly food for thought! Maybe I'm being hasty with the pump replacement - can you recommend any further reading on lower pressure extractions, I wonder?
> 
> And lucky you, J, with the rotary pump version. A beauty!


Try this:

https://colonnaandsmalls.wordpress.com

I'll be writing about this shortly on my blog (url below) as well.

JP


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## irishcoffee42 (Jan 31, 2014)

ooooh! suits you, sir!

nice blog, JP.









thanking you!


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## irishcoffee42 (Jan 31, 2014)

Update: I've just put in the Ulka EX5, and seeing a static pressure at the portafilter of 10 bar now, which I can adjust downward with the OPV, if so desired. Woohoo!


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## JaymeeH (May 29, 2015)

Nicely done. Relatively painless?


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## irishcoffee42 (Jan 31, 2014)

Painless enough - I'd even go so far as to say enjoyable ;-p

You'll have no such issue with your rotary pump anyway, J. Glad to have another Bricoletta person on here - looking forward to hearing how you get on with it!


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## JaymeeH (May 29, 2015)

I am intending to get on terribly with it at first; shout, moan, grumble to myself and generally think everything I make is awful. I'll rue all the money I've spent and throw in a little sulk. Then I'll probably get used to it and say it is the best thing I own.

Seriously though I do hope that I instantly fall in love and make something at least drinkable in the first week. Considering drinking at star*ucks beforehand so my coffee tastes batter!

How have your experiences been so far?


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## irishcoffee42 (Jan 31, 2014)

haha! well, doing my own share of head-scratching and grumbling at the moment, J., and trying to get my head around this HX cooling flush business. Had a few tasty shots with the 6.5 bar pump, but this morning's shots taste burnt - I guess bumping up the pressure changes the whole equation, so it's back to the drawing board again for me. I got a spare m6 cylinder head screw for the grouphead, which I'm going to drill a hollow in for a thermocouple - just to have some idea of what's going on with temperature at the grouphead. Hopefully it'll help me add a bit of consistency to this cooling-flush malarky...

First impressions, though, are that it's a major step up from the Gaggia Classic, and that it has the potential to teach me a hell of a lot. Delighted altogether with it!


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