Elizabeth boiler leak, replacing gasket.

Elcarajillo

MediumRoastSteam Thank’s for the reply, I do flush wand before steaming but it still spits water.

Any other thoughts or recommendations ?

dfk41

Elcarajillo Frank, have you done all the changes in the manual I sent you?

MediumRoastSteam

Elcarajillo - as the machine reaches steam temperature, open the steam wand to drain the condensation off, then blast off some steam. Before steaming, do it again. Is it still wet?

Saying all of that - I never had a machine with proper, good, dry steam. Maybe my La Pavoni… but the steam is frankly rubbish compared to the Elizabeth.

The Pro-700 I had 9 years ago had the steam wet in comparison to the Elizabeth.

John_Yossarian

Elcarajillo "Thank’s for the reply, I do flush wand before steaming but it still spits water.

Any other thoughts or recommendations ?"

Most likely you have sorted it out by now, but I do remember when I had my Bezzera back then, the level of water in the boiler was crucial for the wetness of the steam. Lower boiler water level resulted in dryer steam.
I do not know what the options are on Elizabeth, but if you played with the water probe you might find the right dry steam for you.

Elcarajillo

dfk41 Thanks yes, I have it printed off in large type and coloured and in a folder.

Brainbox

Hi all,

After some more cleaning of the joint between upper and lower boiler part, I put it together with a new gasket and mounted the boiler into the machine. Before mounting all the housing elements, I did put power on the system, did the reset and switched on again. There is no leak anymore, so that part is successful. However, after the 40 seconds, the machine does not switch to normal operation. This was also the case before disassembling. After 40 seconds, the solenoid closes but the pump keeps running forever and the display does not start, stays dark. This goes on forever, hence I stop the machine to avoid pump issues. Next start continues the waterflow with open solenoid, looks like some signal is missing to stop the reset procedure.

While I dig the internet, any advice please?

Edit: I switched off the steam boiler after emptying it some time ago. Could the reset also wait for the steam boiler to fill up which just requires some patience? Still anxious to keep the pump running for a long time.

Cheers, Bart.

MediumRoastSteam

Brainbox - if you remember, when the machine is reset, or used for the first time, after filling the steam boiler, it dumps approx 500ml through the group. This step cannot be skipped. Is this what might be happening?

Brainbox

MediumRoastSteam Can’t remember the details of the first operation after I received the machine. Now, it ran water through the group during the first 40 seconds. Than a click, running of water through the group stops, but pump keeps running like forever. In the instruction video, the machine switches to normal operation right after the 40 secs, but that could be a situation where the steam boiler was already filled, looks like an operational machine they did the demo on. So I assume some additional filling of the steamboiler after the 40 secs is expected, up to 2 minutes I read, but after my 3 minutes the pump still running must be a fault …

Brainbox

I found it can take up to 2 minutes to fill up the steam boiler and ran the reset procedure for 3 minutes. Still not exiting the reset procedure. Since I descaled the brew boiler, this will not be the issue. The steamroller has been switched off for a long time and assuming the scale problem is also in there, I’m suspecting its fill sensor being dysfunctional. Will go from there unless there is a better suggestion.

MediumRoastSteam

Brainbox - 3 minutes? Yeah - something is not right. Check the connections and that everything is where it should be. Also make sure the fill probe is wired in properly, not broken, and the machine is earthed properly.

I’m not expert, but from what I read my understanding is that if those sensors are not earthed properly, they never close and will “think” the boiler is empty.

When that pump is running, where is the water going to? Can you check if the steam boiler is not overfilling?

Brainbox

Ha, I found it pumps water around back into the water tank. All boiler storage seems to be full, but undetected. Next step the steam boiler fill sensor indeed.

MediumRoastSteam

Brainbox - ok. Try to see which hose is taking the water to the tank. If it is through the steam boiler and ending up back in the tank - it has to be via the safety valve? Can you confirm (or not) that, please.

Brainbox

Removed the steam boiler fill sensor, it was rusty, cleaned it, put it back (with teflon tape sealing) but still the same problem. The steam boiler seemed to be filled up to about the level of the sensor. Weird. Dinnertime.

Brainbox

MediumRoastSteam I will, thanks. I also further looked at the fill sensor, but that is basically very simple, it just measures the electrical resistance. I checked it with a multimeter in a glass of water and the resistance is exactly the same trough the sensor as directly with the meter probes in the water. I mounted it without teflon tape to improve electrical contact, but no improvement. Now family obligations, still with downgraded coffee experience … :-)

Brainbox

MediumRoastSteam The water comes from the brew boiler pressure regulator … And based on the hypothesis that it can still be the steam boiler, either not filled or fill detection issue, I topped up the water through the fill sensor hole to be sure the fill sensor is reached. But still infinite pumping.

MediumRoastSteam

Brainbox The water comes from the brew boiler pressure regulator

Ok. So the steam boiler is not overfilling as such. So let’s assume the probe is good.

Which means… the pump is pushing water to the brew boiler for whichever reason. In order for the expansion valve to let water through, the pressure has to be above 9 bar (or whatever it’s set to).

When that happens, what reading are you getting on the gauge? Saying that, the Elizabeth measures the pressure at the group. So it’s unlikely you’ll have a reading…

Could it be a problem with the diversion solenoid? Maybe you disconnected and incorrectly wired it back?

If you disconnect the fill probe - what happens?

(Edit: I’m sorry I’m getting confused with the other Elizabeth thread where the machine is leaking). Bear with me if some is nonsense :)

Also - it can still be the steam boiler is overfilling. The Elizabeth has a connection to the steam boiler for hot water. So it could be water is going that way as otherwise it has nowhere else to go. However, if that was the case, I’d expect water also ending up in the drip tray through the vacuum breaker. Do you notice that?

Also, another way to check the steam boiler overfilling is if you open the steam wand - is water coming out of there?

Brainbox

MediumRoastSteam

Meh. I did not mount the housing and with that also not the tank water level coupling and switch that detects presence of the tank. Maybe the reset / fill procedure evaluates these half-baked leading to this behaviour? I will mount it just in case.

The gauge has no reading, it has an electrical connection, but not sure if that is for the lighting alone. But it makes sense that there is pressure, after the 40 sec click, the pump sounds like it is working harder to create pressure.

Re-checked all the wiring, no errors, but this way found the missing tank detections …

Disconnected fill probe (steam boiler) does not make a difference. I thought of doing the opposite, shorting it to mass / earth, but did not have the guts because the resistance if water is detected is still high, now way near 0 ohm.

No water from the steam wand. No water in the drip tray after 40 secs.

Your input is always better than my knowledge, thanks!

Next bet is the water tank stuff.

Brainbox

MediumRoastSteam

The water tank detection made no difference … :(

I think it is not a new failure, before I cleaned the brew boiler, the pump was also running indefinite during reset, the difference now is that the leaking stopped while it is doing that.

Let me sit back and bit, re-check everything and try to find more info …

MediumRoastSteam

Brainbox - I do miss Dave and his expertise. If Dave was here with us, this would have been solved a while back. 😢

Brainbox

MediumRoastSteam Yeah

Brainbox

Deleted

« Previous Page Next Page »