ECM Casa V: No Water Flow At All

Learn what to do if you cannot produce hot water or steam from the group head, steam wand, or hot water valve on an ECM Casa V espresso machine.

• If the pumps runs, and no water is coming out, make sure that the water tank is seated properly into the socket on the water res support.

  • Remove the water softener if you are using one. Old filters can get mucky and may need to be re-filtered, or may need to be replaced. Try running the machine without a filter.

  • Try force priming the machine. These machines are just like semi-automatics, so they do not have a magnet sensor in the water tank that would need to be activated. Take a piece of tubing and slide it over the intake for the res valve at the bottom of the water tank. If you look down inside the water tank it will be present on the right-hand side. Attach the other end of the hose to either a prime ball, or a turkey baster filled with water. Plug the tank into the socket and turn the machine on, activate the pump and squeeze the prime ball or the turkey baster. If you are able to push water in you can remove the tube, fill the tank and put it back in and try running water through the machine. If the water level is not going down this could also point to either a kink in the intake hose, or a blockage is present in the machine.

  • If no water is being drawn in, remove the water res and look down towards the bottom of the water res support where the socket for the water tank is. Inside the socket is where you will find a plastic shaft that runs through the center of it. This is a molded piece of the socket that when the tank is inserted the shaft pushes on a ball bearing in the valve of the water reservoir and allows water to escape the tank into the socket. If this plastic shaft is broken or bent to the side, it will not make contact and not allow water to be drawn in. Make sure the socket itself is intact. The socket can snap, leaving only the top of it secured to the reservoir support, giving the illusion the socket is there, so when the water tank is inserted it just rests inside the remaining broken portion of the socket.

  • Underneath the machine are two 3mm Allen head screws that hold the res support in place. If you suspect that there may be a kink in the intake line you can remove these two screws from the bottom of the machine (one on each side towards the back of the machine under where the res support is). You will then be able to lift up the res support carefully, since the water line will still be attached to the socket. You can lift up the res support and move it around and tilt it forward to inspect the water line and make sure it isn't kinked in any way.

  • If the machine is still not taking in any water after everything is clear, you may have either a block in the system, a very seized pump, or a faulty pump.

  • Press in the brew button. Can you hear the pump?

    • No. If the pump does not come on, try to listen to if you can hear a slight hum; if the pump is displaying a low frequency hum it is either under pressure due to a blockage, or the pump is faulty.

    • If the pump does not activate at all it could be an issue with the brew button, a wire has come off of the switch, a wire has come undone from the pump, or there is an electrical issue with the machine.