Today my 1 Vesuvius sounded like the boiler either got too hot or it was out of water there was also a Boiler alert and the panel turned Red. When it happened it seems to be able to draw water in fine. Any ideas what is going on it seems like 2nd silicone pipe that is in the water tank has water coming back out of it that is hot like it is pushing a lot of that water through and there was quite a bit of steam coming out of the valve in front too. I've noticed that before this a bit of steam always came out of the front valve but never noticed it going back into the tank, especially not at the rate it was doing today. Will post a video of how it sounds. Also, there is a funky chemical burning smell maybe that's the boiler being too low on water and it was just burning some of the residue minerals there? After reviewing a few forum posts it seems like I have a bad temperature probe? Could there be an issue with my solenoid too, is there a way to check? Also, are there any other sort of longevity upgrades I can make while I'm here? WIFI upgrade or at a manual paddle would be fun? 🤣

Here is a clip of how it sounds: https://youtube.com/shorts/_ubw-2ecM9M

Welcome to the forum, just a quick tip…YouTube don't charge by the second for video. in the 8s your video ran, I managed to frame grab this: [upl-image-preview url=https://i.imgur.com/pvb0GSd.png] The green arrow is pointing to a combined vacuum breaker a safety valve..**this tells me that the machine is a fairly early model.** Can you tell us the year of manufacture? It always helps to know how old a machine is when giving maintenance advice, as you need to order some stuff and it might be worth adding things to the order to save on postage.. **It's also super helpful to know which country you are in**, especially if it's a 110V model, or you are in a country where ordering from ACS direct would be very expensive. **What water are you using in the machine as it again can be useful to identify problems, or have you descaled recently?** Next time you get that red warning on the panel photograph it and paste the image into the forum. There are a few reasons you can get that message and again it's super helpful. When I say not only super helpful in assisting you, but also to any others who follow on to read this thread with a similar problem. So some guesswork as to things you need to do and some I definitely recommend: * **Get a new temperature probe (these are standard items 1/4 inch thread)** * Have a good look inside to see if any connectors are burnt * Stop using the steam boiler until this is sorted. * **Change that combined vacuum breaker and safety valve (definitely)**, ACS have used a different fitment for around 5 years now. Photo below. 1 is the memory metal vacuum breaker (LA Marzocco started using them a few years later). 2 is the joining T piece, 3 is the safety valve and the green arrow shows where it screws into the fitting on the side of the boiler (after removing the old combined valve). It fits in the orientation shown, the black part upright. You use around 7+ wraps of PTFE to fit part 2 onto the boiler,…and on all other threads. Fitting it is probably easier by not having part 1 fitted when you put it on the boiler (although there might be room to turn the whole assembly, I can't remember). [upl-image-preview url=https://i.imgur.com/jda4lqf.png] This will stop the hissing and leaking into the tray and may well stop the hot stuff going back to the tank as the combined safety valve/vacuum breaker used to have a tube from the safety valve side back to the tank. You can check and confirm if that looks like the case e.g. 1 to the drip tray and another to the cold water tank?

It was a longer video but I decided to spare people from my shaky hands! I have a very early model 09/2014 and I'm in the US so 110V. Softened water(whole house) + Reverse osmosis with occasional mineralization using third wave water espresso profile for pretty much the life of the machine. > Have a good look inside to see if any connectors are burnt Do you mean in regards to the connectors inside the temperature probe or in general around the machine? For the safety valve assembly here are some additional pictures that may help: [URL=https://i.imgur.com/mAcvq2r.jpeg][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/mAcvq2r.jpeg[/IMG][/URL][URL=https://i.imgur.com/JUvJl0b.jpeg][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/JUvJl0b.jpeg[/IMG][/URL] Do these parts look correct to build up the new safety valve assembly? 1. B.2.029 - LA Marzocco vacuum breaker 2. T - Valve - https://coffeeaddicts.us/products/1-4-m-x-1-4-f-x-1-4-m-bsp-t-fitting?_pos=3&_sid=f1ccf5aa8&_ss=r 3. Safety Valve - Does this look to be the right one? https://espressocare.com/products/safety-valve-1-4-bsp?_pos=7&_sid=9cff08ab2&_ss=r In the new assembly does everything connect to the same tubing pathways as before? I did see one of the red blue wire pairs was slightly charred where the blue tape is you can see the two marks for where it was touching the brass(?) tube. To be safe I used a tie to move it away from the tube. Also in the same picture where the group head is connected I feel like I hear some very light hissing do I just need to tighten the connectors? [URL=https://i.imgur.com/93MAsrt.jpeg][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/93MAsrt.jpeg[/IMG][/URL] Thanks for the help so far Dave!

@"Codababa"#p69066 Do these parts look correct to build up the new safety valve assembly? B.2.029 - LA Marzocco vacuum breaker T - Valve - Safety Valve - Does this look to be the right one? Look to be fine, for the safety valve, it's the rating that's important, I recommend a valve with a rating anything from 1.8 to 2.4 bar, any less and at 130C you are on the limit of it opening! The LM vacuum breaker if it's LM branded is ridiculously expensive, the same one is available without LM printed on it, see if you can find it. Also get a quite for parts from ACS in a single delivery, you may find it's cheaper overall to get all your parts from them, especially if you want to get any maintenance spares. In the photo below it looks like you have a leak on the steam (?) tap, unless you fixed it and didn't clean up the steel ledge blow. Search the forum you will find posts with fix advice for that (with photos). **This could be the source of the hissing, if it only does it with the steam boiler on, and not the pipes to the group. Does it hiss with the steam boiler cold and off?** If you need to tighten the group pipes they are a conical compression fitting, rarely if ever leak **and shouldn't be over-tightened.** [upl-image-preview url=https://i.imgur.com/dvhcKz1.png] In the next image, the red numberf pipes perform the function 1. Pipe returning steam to the water tank if safety valve goes off 2. Pipe taking fresh water to tank if mains plumbed attaches to inlet solenoid 3. Pipe pumping high pressure water from gear pump to machine 4. Pipe taking any expansion valve steam and droplets to drip tray So you will have to do some things, like loosing the Y piece and as the pipe won't fit replacing the pipe from solenoid to water tank. The replacement safety valve will be very tricky to add a pipe to, because the top is wider…you may be able to find a silicone one to get over it and if so, route that separately to the water tank (you need to figure out how to do that), or simply don't have a pipe. The pipe from the vacuum breaker to the drip tray should fit..if not you need a new one. Please note all these silicone pipes can be sourced from ebay for a few bucks.. [upl-image-preview url=https://i.imgur.com/J7liAir.jpeg] **lastly don't forget replacing the temperature sensor (they are a pretty standard part), they should have a pull apart connector part way down the length and the new one should have a similar connector on it.**

So, I’ve started getting some of the parts. For the steam safety valve since the outlet is huge does it actually have any sort of attachment for it? It doesn’t look like there is a way other than pulling a piece of silicone over the tip like something else we don’t want to spray everywhere inside 🤔. In hindsight I should have just ordered a bunch of parts from ACS as there was quite a few parts I ended up getting to also refresh the tubing but I wanted to get everything faster as I need my daily espresso hit! The prices vary a lot the vacuum tube, safety valve and temperature probe are all in the 30-120 USD range for the same part at different retailers!

@"Codababa"#p69248 It would have been better with ACS order (i have done it and they were brilliant), but as you say, a day without the dark, viscous, flavoured liquid is sometimes too much to take. Good luck with your repair.

@"Codababa"#p69248 You would have done better to get the lot from ACS.

@"DavecUK"#p69262 My last order from Maria took a whopping 17 Hours! From collection to delivery Not a typo. Hours!! Couldn't believe it.😎 DHL on rocket power!!

Ok, so I have everything pretty much rebuilt replaced all the items as suggested and turned on machine. The brew boiler works fine but the steam boiler is not turning on what am I missing?

@"Codababa"#p69415 [URL=https://i.imgur.com/PtD5Gud.jpeg][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/PtD5Gud.jpeg[/IMG][/URL] [URL=https://i.imgur.com/eX9BdL8.jpeg][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/eX9BdL8.jpeg[/IMG][/URL] I don’t see any red buttons on my vesuvius is this the reset button in the 2nd picture?

Vesuvius issues

Codababa

Is this it?

Codababa

Above i see when the SSR activates for steam boiler there isn’t much current at all as opposed to the brew boiler that i see gets a burst of 10 amp.

DavecUK

I can’t tell clearly from the photo as I can’t see what’s written against the connections on the board but it looks OK. Of course they are only the control voltage wires for the SSRs Your measurements are more useful as it indicates no current draw for the steam boiler. I think the small reading is because the wire has become live.

Logically it must be:

Failed heating element
tripped safety stat
bad connection

The next thing to do is disconnect the heating element connectors from the steam boiler, run the test again and see if the readings are the same. Also to check for voltage at the steam boiler heating element connectors (which you might find easier to do with probes, before disconnecting them?

Be very careful, as even with the pathetic voltages used in the States, it can still kill.

Adrianmsmith

DavecUK

@Codababa

Haha

Just hurts at those voltages, usually 🤔😎⚰️

Just be careful not to ground anything as well with the probes

Whilst doing that with the wires disconnected from the heating element, check the resistance across the heating element.

Just seen about the ssr. We must have posted at the same rime, sorry

Codababa

I actually swapped the SSR modules and the steam powered up fine with the other one and then however the brew boiler did not heat up so it looks like one SSR went bad that’s the one with the dimmer LED light.

I managed to shock myself lightly while tracing a wire 😮‍💨so i’m paranoid now

Codababa

Is the tube coming out of the steam boiler setup usually pretty warm i never noticed it before but i also usually don’t remove the tubes from the water tank as often as i have been either…

the steam boiler feels silent now for the water draw i thought it wasn’t drawing water but later i checked the water level and the temperature probe was still submerged so it must be?

i still don’t know what to do re-safety valve i don’t want it spraying hot water everywhere 🤣 did anyone install any sort of shroud before?

Codababa

Ok, I replaced the SSR I suspected to be bad everything is working again. The original SSR was discontinued so I used another 25A rated one that had similar spec.

When removing the SSR I noticed that the burnt plastic smell was emanating from it so that was likely the cause of the burning and smoking I mentioned in the very beginning as I couldn’t find anything else that was damaged on the machine strangely 🤔 Maybe the actual switch portion was burnt as the LED still worked albeit being on the dimmer side.

I noticed after all the changes that my steam is on the wetter side but everything else is working better than before no leaking, a generous amount of teflon tape is needed especially on the tubes that connect the steam boiler to the front.

I have to say I hope they improved on the panels in the current version of the vesuvius everything was so sharp!!! I had a small cut on every finger and the back of my hands and arms 😳.

I will report back when I find a solution for that safety valve!

Codababa

Steam is back to normal there was some debris from refitting the piping behind the steam tap that made its way into the steam wand tip.

So I was looking at my setup and thinking from this earlier image:
Image from DavecUK

In the next image, the red number pipes perform the function:

Pipe returning steam to the water tank if safety valve goes off
Pipe taking fresh water to tank if mains plumbed attaches to inlet solenoid
Pipe pumping high pressure water from gear pump to machine
Pipe taking any expansion valve steam and droplets to drip tray

Work-in-progress
I don’t need to attach this one right as I manually fill my tank. This gives me a tiny bit of extra space to work with for the safety valve.
Stays the same
Stays the same

Would there be any issues if I connect 1 & 4 together and route everything to the drip tray instead of having 1 go back to the tank. Because I see most solutions is a cup surround the safety valve to just catch the water and let the water naturally run down. Since the tank entry is above the safety valve it would just stay in the tube as nothing is pushing it.

Adrianmsmith

Codababa

What year, serial is yours.

Have tou already rerouted any pipework .

This is a 2018 and the plumbed water goes directly to the tank .

Obviously the factory developed things alone the months .

What is your actual current issue and what are you trying to achieve by rerouting as you suggest.

Codababa

Mine is quite old from 2014. I don’t have plumbed water so I figure I would just remove it for now.

Prior the plumbed water was paired with the safety valve exit but right now there is nothing connected to safety valve after I rebuilt it based on DavecUK’s instructions. It looks to be the same on your unit where if the safety valve activates it just shoots water inside your unit 🤣, so after the change there was an extra hanging tube along with the Y connector for the inlet, I just removed that piece.

Now my current issue is the safety valve and how to catch any water coming out from it and where to route it to.

DavecUK

Codababa Now my current issue is the safety valve and how to catch any water coming out from it and where to route it to.

well it shouldn’t be going off, but route it back to the tank, exit tube under the water level

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