Grinding pump(?) noise - Rocket R9 One

[tranquil grove]

Hello everyone

At the beginning of the video, when turning on the pump there's a grinding noise that disappears after 2-3 sec
It will do that periodically, not necessarily every time but it seems to be more and more frequent. At first it was once per day, or few hours, now it's at least during the first shot and then every 2 shots
It happens with or without the portafilter inserted
Any idea what this noise might be ? Scaling ? Damaged pump ?

This is a gear pump. And the machine is only a few months old (March 2023)

Thanks!

[grizzled comet]

That does sound a bit weird yeah.

Although I’ve had quite some odd sounds from my Rocket R8V’s pumps aswell so maybe it’s just.. the nature of the beast

In any case I’d ask your dealer since it’s so new

That first part is weird tho. It’s like it’s trying to turn the gears but the magnetic coupling isn’t allowing it?

It could still be scale making the pump screechy and stuck. First I’d try a descale

[tranquil grove]

Thanks for the answer! I'll try contacting the dealer, I should've done that first but I'd like to avoid sending it back

How would you go about descaling ? As it's not recommended to do it with those machines because the boilers are never emptied so the descaling product stays in there
Should I do it and then disassemble & clean everything?

[grizzled comet]

No descaling with a normal procedure is completely fine.

Especially within warranty do not attempt to open it up yourself. these machines are quite a compact hassle of tubes. (I’ve done my R8V)

You need quite some knowledge, tools and materials to build it back up properly.

Yes it will take a lot of flushing to clean everything out. But that’s normal

You could remove the shower screen from the group & the shower thingy from the hot water wand so they don’t clog and prevent flow.

Also use a good descaling agent like Calcinet. Mix it properly in lukewarm water so it’s completely dissolved

[grizzled comet]

.

[tranquil grove]

Right, I shouldn't risk it then, thanks 🙂
I'll contact the dealer, and descale in the meantime

Thank you so much, I'll update here once it's done

[tranquil grove]

Well descaling did the job...
Strange to have this problem after a few months of usage with only 3-4 coffees per day, regular backflush and double water filtration....
On top of that, every rocket instruction specifically warn against descaling, including in the r91 manual

Anyway, thanks again, I hope it won't be a recurring problem..
I'll do some investigation on the water I use

[grizzled comet]

Yeah the micro gear pumps are quite tiny compared to a vane pump.

Also the stainless gears are way less forgiving than the plastic vanes.

Definitely do check the water tho

But good you got it running smoothly again 🔧