Lelit Elizabeth safety valve issues

pdionne

Hi all,

Since a couple of days, I have steam going back through the return line in my water tank on my Elizabeth (v1 i think?). I had the same problem last year, which I ended up changing the safety valve on the steam boiler to get rid of the issue. Now the problem is back, could it be the safety valve again? Is it normal to change this part every year or so?

I’m using Lelit water tank filter and change it every 4 months or so, backflush every week. The machine is at 26k coffees made, and i dont think it has been descaled…

Thanks for your inputs and help!

MediumRoastSteam

pdionne - if steam is going to the tank - that is the safety valve.

I have my Elizabeth for the past 5.5 years. Unlike you, I don’t use any filters in the tank - instead I filter the water before it goes to the tank. I never descaled my machine. It still sounds and works as day 1.

So answering to your question: no, it’s not normal to replace the safety valve this often.

Saying all of that - my machine made, at most, 4,000 coffees (average 2 a day). 26,000 seems like a lot of coffee! So it could be that there’s more wear and tear on your machine than mine - but the safety valve should pop or leak unless there’s a problem, like, maybe limescale build up. Just a thought.

pdionne

MediumRoastSteam Yes its almost 6 years old! We are 3 in the house that drink 2-3 coffees each, that runs up the count quicker!

I’ve performed the descaling this weekend and proceeded to replace the safety valve. So far so good!

pdionne

MediumRoastSteam

Unfortunately, the steam safety valve still opens under normal conditions, particularly at startup or when the boiler is being refilled. Since the safety valve is new, I’m not sure what would cause this. Could it be the temp sensor/fill probe? Thanks again for your help

John_Yossarian

pdionne I do not have Elizabeth, but what you mention might be the reason. The thermal probe, if not working, might let the pressure in the boiler to go above the safety valve threshold. I have recently changed the thermal probe on the service boiler of my machine as it was bringing the red alarm light on the screen, not “reading” properly the real temperature the system was overheating. I do not know which type of probe you do have but someone here with Elizabeth might advise. The water probe controls the level in the boiler as you know it well, but it would affect how “wet” your steam would be. I do not expect this to affect the safety valve.
Good luck with your attempt to solve it.

MediumRoastSteam

pdionne Unfortunately, the steam safety valve still opens under normal conditions, particularly at startup or when the boiler is being refilled.

To be clear - are you sure it’s the safety valve, not the anti-vac (vacuum breaker) valve? Are you able to confirm exactly which one of those valves is letting water through?

The safety valve will open when the pressure in the steam boiler is over 5.5 bar in the Elizabeth. Now… That’s usually caused by steam pressure. But in your post above, you mention when the boiler is refilling - which would imply cold water and the pressure being caused by, as John is saying, overfilling.

Be best way to figure this out is to undo the 4way connector which links the safety valve and the expansion valve - and let water go to the tank. Find out EXACTLY which one is letting water through. Report back.

See example of picture here: https://www.coffeeforums.co.uk/attachments/4-jpg.62267/

pdionne

MediumRoastSteam

My Elizabeth is a little bit different than what the picture shows, mines a v1, so the opv valve is not at the top. Instead of a 4 way connector, its a 3 way. I’ve disassembled the top cover to check and can see clearly steam going out of the safety valve back into the water tank.

I have yet to disassembled the temp/fill probe to check if it needs replacement or cleaning. Since the machine has served a lot, I think it could be that. My theory is that after the steam boiler is filled, water is being overheated, causing the steam valve to open.

The anti-vaccum valve close as expected when the boiler is up to temp, I hear no hissing and no water comes back into the drip tray, so thats why I think this not works as expected.

thank you both once again for your help!