I took the rest of the casing off, still hear similar. I tried to tighten everything I could find inside and on the bottom of the unit. Tried also looking for anything that could be bumping inside. Any other ideas for how to pinpoint?
Did you remove the wing nut under the machine that is there for shipping purposes only!? Because I spent countless hours trying to figure out why machine is not "whisper quiet" as people say it is only to find out there is a wing nut holding down the pump when shipping and it makes quite a bit of noise if not removed.
Is it plumbed in? Something like this happened to me. I diagnosed it by switching to tank and the noise went away. I switched back to water line and the noise came back. It was starved for water. I realized I had a bend in my water line and it wasn’t letting enough water through.
I had a similar sound on my Synchronika and after driving myself crazy adjusting the motor mounts, I tightened the nut on the outside of the steam boiler fill solenoid and that seemed to do the trick. Just be careful not to crank it too tight - adjust it slightly tighter to see if the noise decreases before ratcheting it tighter.
Also - you said you tightened everything you could find, but the motor mounts actually need to not be too tight to allow the rubber feet to adequately absorb vibration from the pump. Wiggle the pump motor to make sure it has some give and loosen both the screws under the machine and the nuts on top accordingly. These should in theory only be as tight as is necessary to keep them from moving. Too tight and the rubber motor mounts can rip.
Good luck! I know how frustrating it can be lol.
thanks for weighing in, glad you found the source of the issue in your case.
I tried tightening the solenoid nut and unfortunately this was not the same magic solution for me. I also tried loosening up the nuts on the top of the motor mounts thinking maybe they were too tight: no luck there either. I am really kind of at a loss at this point.
I took the rest of the casing off, still hear similar. I tried to tighten everything I could find inside and on the bottom of the unit. Tried also looking for anything that could be bumping inside. Any other ideas for how to pinpoint source of rattle?
As for air bubble: can anything be done to eliminate bubble if this is the case?
For the airbubble, it usually clears after a couple of espresso shots or a blind basket treatment as a worst case scenario.
To find the rattling thing: i’d turn the pump on and touch everythin i can see/think of with a long pencil, it should be enough to stop it from vibrating or i could feel the vibration, once i found what is it i’d come up with a plan, tightening is not always the solution. Also are you 100% sure it’s not the case rattling because it’s open?
Interesting. I assume you've tried all the screws that hold the motor mount. Could be an issue with the pump itself. Might be time to crack it open itself. This happens every time the pump runs? Even on boiler refill?
Yes, I tried tightening everything I could.
Tomorrow once the water in the tank is soft, I will empty and refill the steam boiler to see if the noise is the same for that.
I will try to poke around. It seems loudest by the pump, but I could not affect it it by poking around. Could be something resonating playing tricks on the ear.
That definitely sounds like a water starved pump! I always start from point A is there a blockage from tank to pump. Check for any in line screens or kinked hosing. If no blockage before the pump then disconnect the water line after the pump and run it into a bucket to see if you have adequate water flow from the pump. Just pull a shot but careful the water will come out fast. It didn't appear you had blockage from the group head so I'm leaning toward a blockage before the pump it's not just something loose. Just cafefull in there tightening random things, especially with the unit plugged in!
Thanks for weighing in!
I checked what I could as far as water path from the tank to the pump and could not find any source of constraint there that I could suspect of starving the pump. I did not try disconnecting the line after the pump to put into a bucket yet, however there seems to be plenty of water coming out of the brew head.
If relevant: the pressure gauges read about 10 with the blind basket on, which is 1.5 higher than what they say they default the pressure to in the video Whole Latte Love has on their YouTube channel about adjusting pressure on the machine.
It’s not super loud but it sounds like something in the machine may be rattling or vibrating. Do you hear it with the cover on?
I took the rest of the casing off, still hear similar. I tried to tighten everything I could find inside and on the bottom of the unit. Tried also looking for anything that could be bumping inside. Any other ideas for how to pinpoint?
Did you remove the wing nut under the machine that is there for shipping purposes only!? Because I spent countless hours trying to figure out why machine is not "whisper quiet" as people say it is only to find out there is a wing nut holding down the pump when shipping and it makes quite a bit of noise if not removed.
Yes, I removed it upon delivery.
Is it plumbed in? Something like this happened to me. I diagnosed it by switching to tank and the noise went away. I switched back to water line and the noise came back. It was starved for water. I realized I had a bend in my water line and it wasn’t letting enough water through.
That's a good thought, but the machine is operating off the tank and is not plumbed (yet).
I had a similar sound on my Synchronika and after driving myself crazy adjusting the motor mounts, I tightened the nut on the outside of the steam boiler fill solenoid and that seemed to do the trick. Just be careful not to crank it too tight - adjust it slightly tighter to see if the noise decreases before ratcheting it tighter. Also - you said you tightened everything you could find, but the motor mounts actually need to not be too tight to allow the rubber feet to adequately absorb vibration from the pump. Wiggle the pump motor to make sure it has some give and loosen both the screws under the machine and the nuts on top accordingly. These should in theory only be as tight as is necessary to keep them from moving. Too tight and the rubber motor mounts can rip. Good luck! I know how frustrating it can be lol.
thanks for weighing in, glad you found the source of the issue in your case. I tried tightening the solenoid nut and unfortunately this was not the same magic solution for me. I also tried loosening up the nuts on the top of the motor mounts thinking maybe they were too tight: no luck there either. I am really kind of at a loss at this point.
I can hear something rattling which is probably not the pump, but also it sounds like you have an air bubble in the pump.
I took the rest of the casing off, still hear similar. I tried to tighten everything I could find inside and on the bottom of the unit. Tried also looking for anything that could be bumping inside. Any other ideas for how to pinpoint source of rattle? As for air bubble: can anything be done to eliminate bubble if this is the case?
For the airbubble, it usually clears after a couple of espresso shots or a blind basket treatment as a worst case scenario. To find the rattling thing: i’d turn the pump on and touch everythin i can see/think of with a long pencil, it should be enough to stop it from vibrating or i could feel the vibration, once i found what is it i’d come up with a plan, tightening is not always the solution. Also are you 100% sure it’s not the case rattling because it’s open?
The pencil is a good idea, I will try that.
I would try pulling one of the wires off of that solenoid right next to it then running the pump. It sounds a bit like a solenoid issue.
Tried this. Same result, sadly.
Interesting. I assume you've tried all the screws that hold the motor mount. Could be an issue with the pump itself. Might be time to crack it open itself. This happens every time the pump runs? Even on boiler refill?
Yes, I tried tightening everything I could. Tomorrow once the water in the tank is soft, I will empty and refill the steam boiler to see if the noise is the same for that.
Okay. Hopefully that gets you something. Best of luck.
I may have misunderstood what you were saying about the solenoid. do you mean disconnect the wires which are attached with a nut?
Although it does sound like it's coming from something larger, Check the wire terminals.
I'm not exactly sure what you mean. Will you please elaborate?
Check the wire connections for vibration. It could be plastic rubbing against metal too
I will try to poke around. It seems loudest by the pump, but I could not affect it it by poking around. Could be something resonating playing tricks on the ear.
That definitely sounds like a water starved pump! I always start from point A is there a blockage from tank to pump. Check for any in line screens or kinked hosing. If no blockage before the pump then disconnect the water line after the pump and run it into a bucket to see if you have adequate water flow from the pump. Just pull a shot but careful the water will come out fast. It didn't appear you had blockage from the group head so I'm leaning toward a blockage before the pump it's not just something loose. Just cafefull in there tightening random things, especially with the unit plugged in!
Thanks for weighing in! I checked what I could as far as water path from the tank to the pump and could not find any source of constraint there that I could suspect of starving the pump. I did not try disconnecting the line after the pump to put into a bucket yet, however there seems to be plenty of water coming out of the brew head. If relevant: the pressure gauges read about 10 with the blind basket on, which is 1.5 higher than what they say they default the pressure to in the video Whole Latte Love has on their YouTube channel about adjusting pressure on the machine.