Profitec Pro 500: Water Not Coming Out of Group Head

Below you will find troubleshooting steps for when you are not getting any water flow through the group head of the Profitec Pro 500 Espresso Machine.

If you are reading a pressure higher than 0 on the brew gauge you likely have a blockage somewhere within the flow path. These steps will help you find where the blockage is.

If you are not reading any pressure of the brew gauge, below this first set of troubleshooting instructions you will find a set for no pressure on the brew gauge.

Follow the instructions directly below if you have pressure built up on the pump gauge (right side) when you lift the brew lever:

Check grouphead screen for cleanliness: Ensure the grouphead screen is clean and not blocking the flow of water. Check out our guide on E61 Cleaning

Remove the panels from your machine.

Ensure you have proper flow coming from the pump: Do this by removing the braided line from the t-valve and running the hose into a cup. You should be getting about 2 oz in 6 seconds. You can do this by setting the water tank housing to the side with the water tank in place, then running the grouphead which will activate the pump for the following troubleshooting steps.

If you have flow out of the pump, you may be experiencing a blockage at the check valve: You can check for flow through the check valve by reattaching the braided line to close the system, then removing the copper pipe shown here and again checking for flow. If you do not have flow from the check valve, you should follow along with our check valve cleaning article here: Pro 500 Check Valve Cleaning

Check the gicluer in the top of the E61: If you still don’t have flow through the grouphead, check the gicleur in the top of the E61 for blockage. The center hole of the gicleur should be clean of any debris, along with the 4 holes around the outside in the body of the chamber. Use two wrenches to hold the larger, lower nut in place while you remove the top, smaller nut to reveal the inner parts shown below.

Follow the instructions below if you do not have any pressure build-up on the gauge when you lift the brew lever.

To make things easier to verify, you will need to remove the panels of the Pro 500:

Make sure there is no water leaking from the water inlet: The white inlet at the bottom of the water tank sleeve may potentially be cracked and have water leaking from it, not allowing proper flow into the pump. This will likely be combined with the pump making a rattling or "starving" noise, as it won't have any water going through it.

The pump has failed: The pump may have failed, you can verify if it's pushing any water by unthreading the braided line and verifying if the water flow will come out of the line. You can accomplish this by setting the water tank to the side and lifting the brew lever to allow the pump to turn on and try to draw water.