Lelit Elizabeth Pump Running Frequently

cjscheit

I’ve noticed over the past 2 to 3 weeks that the pump for my Elizabeth V3 turns on and runs for approximately 5 seconds every 2 to 3 minutes. After the pump kicks off, there is water added to my drip tray but I have not noticed any leaks coming from the machine. I have isolated the problem to the Steam Boiler as it does not occur if I turn off my Steam Boiler. I also noticed that when purging the steam wand prior to frothing that there is a significant amount more water in the wand prior to getting steam, so my thought would be that the compression valve on the Steam Knob is leaking by.

How would I confirm that this valve is the cause of the leak? Is there anything else I am missing that could be the cause of this? I have not yet taken the top off since I am a little intimidated on messing the machine up further by accident.

I’ve had the machine for about 9 months and have used Lelit’s water softener always and have used Distilled Water + Third Wave Water’s Espresso Profile packets as my water source.

MediumRoastSteam

cjscheit I’ve had the machine for about 9 months

If you bought this machine new - it’s under warranty. Contact the retailer.

Otherwise, it looks like your boiler is overfilling, potentially due to a faulty sensor.

cjscheit

Working on the retailer as well. They have said it would be the Vacuum valve, Safety valve, or the refill probe has corroded. Trying to pinpoint the exact issue so I can potentially get the part sent via warranty as I do not want to ship the machine across the country.

The retailer also seems to think the TWW is a potential cause of the issue as they claim these water packets create overheating issues, which I am skeptical of. I’m affraid they are trying to use poor water as a reason to avoid warranty liability.

Is there a way to check if the sensor is bad? Or is this a throw a new part at it and see if it works type solution?
Would descaling potentially be a step to try in order to see if the sensor is obsucred?

MediumRoastSteam

cjscheit TWW is a potential cause of the issue

If it has calcium and magnesium in it - it will cause scale. A good indicator can be the group dispersion plate. Check that. If it has white marks in it… Then they might well be right.

cjscheit

Thank you! What would my alternative be for water then? I know distilled causes corosion, I do not have a water softener so tap water is not a good option for me, and bottled water doesn’t frequently give out their TDS breakdown. Is the Dr. Pavlis recipe a good option?

Then would a descaling potentially help this issue? Could scale be interferring with the reading the fill level sensor is receiving and causing this problem?

MediumRoastSteam

cjscheit - There are many ways. I personally use a ZeroWater jug, and then I remineralise it with 100mg/L of sodium bicarbonate. (edit: Dr Palvis recipe)

dndrich

I personally use tap water and one of the Lelit water filters that I change every 6 months. My machine is more than 3 years and works like a champ.

cjscheit

Coming back to this since I finally had some time to inspect. I did end up doing a descale just to be sure and have switched to Rpavlis water. The issue is still happening. I have taken the top off and do not see any of the valves leaking by. Everytime the pump comes on, the water is being dumped back into the tank. There is also an excessive amount of water coming out the steam wand when I purge. This points to me that the refill sensor is bad? Does that follow or is there something else that I should be looking at?

DavecUK

cjscheit This points to me that the refill sensor is bad? Does that follow or is there something else that I should be looking at?

I guess it could be an intermittently loose connection to the refill sensor, or from the sensor wire to the Gicar box, this is unlikely though. The refill sensor is simply a piece of wire with a cable on it, insulated from the rest of the machine by a Teflon sleeve

Have you taken a photo of the top of the machine (with the lid off) and pasted it here?

cjscheit

DavecUK I agree that it seems unlikely to be a wiring issue. The pump kicking on seems too consistent to be a wiring problem. Attached is a screenshot from a video that I took for the distributor. I did not see any evidence of water anywhere in the machine. I found the part that I would need to replace and see what you mean about it just being a wire. Is there a chance I could pull it out and clean it to fix the issue? Or am I better served just replacing it?

DavecUK

this is the level probe. you could remove the connector and check for any corrosion. If non, loosen the nut where the teflon part goes into (top nut). mark the metal of the probe…slide it out and give the metal part inside a clean it a clean. You may find it’s got a PTFE sleeve right down to the last 5 mm…just clean the metal tip. use a green or white scouring pad.
Then replace using the mark you made as an insertion depth guide. The nip up the top nut again…doesn’t have to be super tight (which can damage the teflon inner), just tight enough not to leak.

cjscheit

DavecUK Thank you! I will try that this weekend and see. The supplier also recommended I looked at the PID Sensor as well, is that the part to the left of the level sensor with the red wire?

DavecUK

cjscheit The supplier also recommended I looked at the PID Sensor as well, is that the part to the left of the level sensor with the red wire?

Don’t touch that, try not to move the red wire when you do the level probe. There is nothing wrong with the temp sensor, but there probably will be if you muck about with it.

cjscheit

DavecUK Thanks for the heads-up I will not touch it. The supplier is the same as the author of the video linked above, so it appears they think that the Third Wave Water created a film over the PID sensor and that’s causing the fill issues. @#p77120

DavecUK

cjscheit so it appears they think that the Third Wave Water created a film over the PID sensor and that’s causing the fill issues.

3rd wave water. For sure it will cause a film….

cjscheit

DavecUK Would a film cause the overfilling? The video seems to hint it would cause overheating which isn’t happening. If the level sensor looks fine is there a way to clean the level sensor?

I switched to the RPavlis water since these issues started so once I resolve these problems I should be good to go for the future correct

cjscheit

Thank you all so much for the help!. I pulled the refill sensor out and cleaned it. I also noticed the plastic sleeve was not allowing any real exposure of the probe to the water so I ended up cutting a small amount of the sleeve to expose more of the probe. Everything now works exactly as expected.!

Thank you all!