I know the first time you take a new machine out of the box and turn it on, the PID shows "Fill". I am assuming the boiler heater element is not turned on until the "Fill" message goes away. What about when you drain the boiler completely (let's say for storage) and then want to fill it back up? Do you turn the machine on, just like you would if it were new (glass tank full, boiler empty)? Would the same "Fill" message show up again and prevent the heating element from starting up? Or would the heater blow?! I have not been able to find an answer to this, and would really appreciate your input! Thank you!

Alfred, just found this https://support.clivecoffee.com/en/ecm-puristika-espresso-machine-setup-guide relevant extract is pasted below, is that what you were looking for or have I missed your point?: **Step 3: Turning on your machine and filling your boilers** Insert the power cable properly into the socket and turn the on/off switch on the back of the machine down to the “-” to turn the machine on. The orange light will illuminate indicating it's on. After a few seconds, a pump noise should occur which indicates the machine is filling the boilers. The PID will light up and display the temperature. Once it reached 93°C (which should take about 10 minutes), the machine is fully heated and ready to use. To accelerate the heating process and to ensure the group head is fully heated, lift the brew lever for about 10 seconds and allow water to run through the group.

Thanks Tom, no, these are instructions for first time use, I am interested in refiling the boiler after it has been drained completely. I am not sure if the machine will display the "Fill" message a second time or whether it will just start heating up before the boiler has had a chance to fill up, therefore burning the heating element. Also, I think Clive's instructions fail to mention that the machine won't fill the boiler without the user engaging the brew lever.

If the puristika has a similar pid setup as the synchronika the following should get you to the advanced settings. There is a Fil setting which when set to 1 should activate the boiler fill on the next startup. 1. Press + and - simultaneously while the machine is switched off and switch the machine on. Release the keys only after “F.01” is being displayed. The temperature of either boiler is not important for programming, as both boilers are inactive during programming. 2. Press - to select the different parameter which are displayed in order. As soon as you have reached “ECo” and have again pressed - you will start with “F.01” once more. 3. Press + in order to progress to the submenu of the currently selected parameter. 4. Quickly press + to increase and - to decrease the desired value. 5. After the set-up of the desired value please wait a short amount of time until the initially selected parameter (e.g. “F.01”) appears again. 6. To change another parameter, start over with step 2 again. 7. Turn off the machine once you have finished programming. 8. Wait at least 10 seconds before switching the machine on again 9. The programmed values are now saved. Both boilers are activated (successively).

@"PartySausage"#p46867 Exactly what I was looking for! Many thanks!

@"AlfredB"#p46868 I don't think this will prevent the heating element from activating while the boilers filling. There is a way to go back to the commissioning procedure and that's the press in the right hand button of the pid as you power it on this will reset the machine to factory settings. At this point the machine will then go through its fill process assuming it could have an empty boiler and it will do that without turning the heating element on. What you will have to do of course is making note of your favorite pid settings if you have tuned them or change them, and then make sure after the factory reset, and the boiler has refilled, you re-input your preferred settings. The only other way around it, is to disconnect one of the heating element wires, so the heating element can't come on. When it has filled the brew boiler, then you can power the machine off, unplug it and reconnect the heating element.

@"DavecUK"#p46885 @"AlfredB"#p46865 As per Dave's comments. The other way is... Fill in the boiler manually. I am not sure what you did to drain the boilers, but you could remove one of the fittings and manually fill it up before you turn the machine on.

How would you refill the boiler after you have drained the Puristika?

PartySausage

DavecUK Yes I’ve accidentally done that one before when I didn’t press the ‘-’ properly when trying to get to the settings. Fortunately it wasn’t too onerous to put my settings back in.
Handy to know though in case you inadvertently change one of the PID parameters that screws up the temp control

Again I’m only coming from my experience with the Synchronika here but I’m pretty sure the boilers, well the steam boiler at least doesn’t heat unless it’s full. I know the orange light on mine goes out when the steam boiler is filling, which I believe indicates it’s heating. There’s also the switch under the drip tray, which I turn off when refilling the steam boiler after I’ve drained it periodically just in case. belt n braces so to speak. I suspect but can’t say categorically that the brew boiler doesn’t either.

Anyway I’ve strayed off topic & I don’t know how this would translate if at all to the single boiler setup on the Puristika

AlfredB

DavecUK

That is great, it makes everything super easy, thanks, Dave!

On the other hand… What if I reset the machine to get back to factory PID settings, but my boiler is full? Is there any danger for the machine to go through the “Fill” procedure on a full boiler? I am assuming no, but I tend to be a little paranoid : )

Thank you!

DavecUK

AlfredB even if it goes through the fill procedure the worst that can happen is you to open the group lever and drain a certain amount out of the group, no damage can be caused.

AlfredB

MediumRoastSteam

One of the four wires on top of the boiler? Sorry, I am still learning the ins and outs of the machine : )

Thanks.

MediumRoastSteam

AlfredB - No, not wires, but a whole fitting (i.e. : a temp probe, which then you can use that hole to fill up the boiler).

Unless the puristika has drain valves, I was not sure how you were planning to drain the brew boiler.

AlfredB

MediumRoastSteam

The Puristika has a drain valve at the bottom.

MediumRoastSteam

AlfredB - Right. That makes sense :-)

I’m surprised the manual doesn’t have a procedure to refill the boilers. Or maybe it does? May it is, as Dave said, is to reset the machine to factory settings?

DavecUK

AlfredB The Puristika has a drain valve at the bottom.

You are correct, I forgot…..so many machines.

Here are the photos of mine…I should have checked (drain valve top right).

AlfredB

MediumRoastSteam

The manual is mediocre at best. A lot of information is missing, no mention of instructions how to drain the boiler, no mention of the tech menu, or on resetting the machine, etc.

MediumRoastSteam

DavecUK - good to see it has two limit stats (thermal fuses) too. 👍

DavecUK

MediumRoastSteam good to see it has two limit stats (thermal fuses) too. 👍

Michael believes in that for safety….especially with brew boilers….plus a variable expansion valve on the front panel!

MediumRoastSteam

DavecUK - I’m glad that belief is shared amongst most coffee machine manufacturers. 😉