Pump pressure regulator failed

[BobY]

Hello all - thought I'd share my latest repair experience.

I'd been noticing that my shots were tasting "off", and that when I hit the brew button without the PF in place (to flush the screens) there was a LOT more water gushing out than normal. I suspected that the pressure was out of whack, so I hooked up my home brewed PF pressure gage, and indeed the pressure was off the charts. I set the pressure when I replaced the pump in 2007, so I figured that it needed more than just a little adjustment... there must be something wrong with the regulator. Fortunately, it was easy to remove (after shutting off the water supply, of course!) since the pump/regulator are just behind the front cover.

After removing the regulator, it was obvious that some corrosion on the bore was preventing the small plastic plunger from moving freely. After cleaning it with some sandpaper, I reassembled it, adjusted the pressure, and all is good again.

Hope this helps anyone who has a similar problem. I'm surprised by how much corrosion there is on these brass parts... bad water in Toronto? Hmmm.

Cheers
Bob

[Endo]

Looks like scale to me. (Brass doesn't really corrode).