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Some elements aren't working as we'd hoped - some avatars didn't survive the transition, and we're still having issues with attachments that weren't added as inline images, but we're hoping to have that all sorted out soon.
Boiler overfill....my new kitchen water feature!
Had a strange fault with my new 1 group Diadema(single group,rotary pump, volumetric machine) today that I am hoping someone could help shed some light on.
Here is a breakdown of what happened....
1) Ran some boiler water into the cups to pre-heat as I usually do while I ground and dosed.
2) While running espresso I noticed a slightly diffrent sound from the pump than usual which caught my attention prompting me to check the brew pressure guage which read approx. 4 bar, down from the usual 9 bar.
3) I cut the shots short as I knew something was wrong and then noticed the steam pressure guage climbing to redline cracking open the OPV valve on the boiler spraying water everywhere.
4) I quickly turned off the supply tap under the sink as well as the machine while my wife applauded me on my two week old purchase
5) With the machine turned off I slowly turned the water on again but as I did so the steam pressure guage would rise until it cracked open the OPV. If I opened up the steam wand water would pour out like a tap keeping the pressure low enough not to engage the OPV.
6) During the nex 2 hours I stripped the machine thinking the cause was a sticky boiler fill solonoid so I swapped this out with the one on the hot water tap but still the problem remained. I also checked all wires/connnections etc. for something obvious but found nothing out of the ordinary. I even drove to a friends house who had the same machine and borrowed his electronic control box (Gicar) to see if this was the problem but still no joy!
8) I had almost given up hope when I thought about the problem a little more. The boiler was definately being overfilled as indicated by water pouring out of the steam wand and high reading on the guage. Changing the boiler fill soloniod or control box didnt help and all wires including the boiler fill probes seemed ok. Then it struck me. The control box only knows how to fill the boiler, not empty it so as a a last resort I emptied the boiler and turned the machine back on...IT WORKED!
The machine now behaved as it should and havent been able to fault it since. I am however a little nervous thit this might happen again so ask the question has anyone else had a problem similar and what was the cause? Is a "boiler reset" (ie. empty and refill) common practice amongst technicians to get things going again and what are the chances of the boiler fill solonoid sticking open temporarially on a new machine?
Well at least my kitchen no longer has a water feature!
Regards
Doug.
Here is a breakdown of what happened....
1) Ran some boiler water into the cups to pre-heat as I usually do while I ground and dosed.
2) While running espresso I noticed a slightly diffrent sound from the pump than usual which caught my attention prompting me to check the brew pressure guage which read approx. 4 bar, down from the usual 9 bar.
3) I cut the shots short as I knew something was wrong and then noticed the steam pressure guage climbing to redline cracking open the OPV valve on the boiler spraying water everywhere.
4) I quickly turned off the supply tap under the sink as well as the machine while my wife applauded me on my two week old purchase
5) With the machine turned off I slowly turned the water on again but as I did so the steam pressure guage would rise until it cracked open the OPV. If I opened up the steam wand water would pour out like a tap keeping the pressure low enough not to engage the OPV.
6) During the nex 2 hours I stripped the machine thinking the cause was a sticky boiler fill solonoid so I swapped this out with the one on the hot water tap but still the problem remained. I also checked all wires/connnections etc. for something obvious but found nothing out of the ordinary. I even drove to a friends house who had the same machine and borrowed his electronic control box (Gicar) to see if this was the problem but still no joy!
8) I had almost given up hope when I thought about the problem a little more. The boiler was definately being overfilled as indicated by water pouring out of the steam wand and high reading on the guage. Changing the boiler fill soloniod or control box didnt help and all wires including the boiler fill probes seemed ok. Then it struck me. The control box only knows how to fill the boiler, not empty it so as a a last resort I emptied the boiler and turned the machine back on...IT WORKED!
The machine now behaved as it should and havent been able to fault it since. I am however a little nervous thit this might happen again so ask the question has anyone else had a problem similar and what was the cause? Is a "boiler reset" (ie. empty and refill) common practice amongst technicians to get things going again and what are the chances of the boiler fill solonoid sticking open temporarially on a new machine?
Well at least my kitchen no longer has a water feature!
Regards
Doug.