Common reasons a Delonghi La Specialista stops pumping water?

[Thomas Martinez]

Saw a list of reasons why the La Specialista might stop pump water. Thought it’d be worth getting a discussion started on this since these are not cheap machines and people often panic and tries to replace the pump right away.
The usual suspects include a few items: Power/tank seating, descaling, reset, checking for inlet and internal components, and lastly the actual hardware of the machine such as the internal water pump or flowmeter.

 

[Apa]

flowmeter 100%. Had one come in last year with the brew side of the machine completely dead. Customer was convinced it was the pump. Found the flowmeter had gunk in it and cleaned it. Worked perfectly after.
People always skip over the flowmeter because it’s so easy to think the pump is the problem. However it’s the most common issue (in my opinion). Ulka pumps are tough and will fail eventually but not as easy as people think.

 

[Shado]

descale first, always. If you haven’t descaled in 6+ months that’s your answer 90% of the time.

 

[Attractive A]

wait so the flowmeter actually stops the pump from running? or does the pump run but the machine ignores it

 

[Apa]

wait so the flowmeter actually stops the pump from running? or does the pump run but the machine ignores it

The pump will run but the machine will think there is no water going through. On some models it will buzz for a second then stop.

 

[Attractive A]

The pump will run but the machine will think there is no water going through. On some models it will buzz for a second then stop.

ahh ok. So is there any way to test the flowmeter without disassembling the machine? can you hear the pump try to start?