Elizabeth leaking under the drip tray (!!)

erkal

Hi all,

My Elizabeth has been hissing a lot more often these days and I can see condensation build on the outside, just above where the excess pressure is released into the tray. However the weirdness part is that I am constantly finding a lot of water under the drip tray, when I pull it out. I am pretty certain my tray is not leaking and no its not overfilling either, so I have no idea how water keeps getting down there and its not a little bit of water either, it starts leaking out as well.

What shall I do?

Thanks!

MediumRoastSteam

erkal

The Elizabeth depressurises the group into the drip tray - as well as the small amount of water from the vacuum breaker during warm up.

If you have a constant drip in there, then this is likely to be from your vacuum breaker. It would also align with your comment saying the machine is hissing. If you operate the machine without he steam boiler on, and that still happens, then it can only be from the group.

erkal

MediumRoastSteam But how does it get under the drip tray?

MediumRoastSteam

erkal - either your drip tray is slightly forward (so the outlets end up outside the drip tray) or you have an internal leak - but if this was the case you would see water underneath the machine. I’m assuming this is not the case?

Or there’s a hole in your drip tray - which is unlikely, but would be easy to verify.

erkal

MediumRoastSteam Hi, I woke up this morning and the there was quite a bit of water under the machine, it switches on automatically and it had pretty much lost all tank water onto the counter, but this time there was none under the tray for a change.

It doesn’t seem to do it all the time though so I am thinking it is as you say, something is happening when its first heating up.

I will open it up and report back.

Thanks guys!

Clodius

You will need to take the top cover off to see where the water is coming from. Loads of great YouTube videos on Lelit Insider channel to guide you.

MediumRoastSteam

erkal but this time there was none under the tray for a change.

I think that is a red herring. The water was just making its way there somehow. When you got to the machine and the great flood - was the machine still on? Did it have the “no water” sign on? was the water on top of the counter hot or cold? the reservoir of the Elizabeth holds two litres; Even 500ml of water on top of the counter is A LOT of water. Something that you can’t just miss, so to speak.

If the water from the tank has gone in the process - that means that you either have a leak in the tank, or the pump keeps calling for water because you have a leak in the circuit somewhere. To diagnose, if you can’t spot when you open the machine up, start by turning the machine on in ECO mode - see if it happens. Then turn the steam boiler on. Does that happen? And go from there. I wouldn’t be using the machine in the mean time, and would be doing those diagnoses with the top cover OFF (BE CAREFUL, DO NOT EVEN THINK OF TOUCHING THE INTERNALS OF THE MACHINE WITH THE MACHINE ON OR PLUGGED ON THE WALL) so you might be able to spot where the water is going.

erkal

MediumRoastSteam

Hi,

The machine wakes up very early and I came down late, so water on the counter might have cooled by then. I have taken out the tank and tested it, it’s definitely not leaking, I had a leaky tank before and this is a new one. Yes, the water was completely finished and the screen showed it as well.

Above is all the evidence I could gather.

I will switch it off and then on when it cools and see what happens but I it seems that its leaking as we speak..

Edit: I have turned it off and cooled it down a bit and turned it back on with the E on. None of the above is happening, nothing dripping into the tray or at the back, its completely quiet etc. So I guess the steam boiler is the issue, but what is wrong with it and can I fix it at home?

erkal

Hi again,

Unfortunately I cannot see a whole lot when I open the top.

Except there is steam coming out of the back left corner where I presume the boiler is, I am pretty sure that didn’t happen before.

Also lots of water under the tray again and I have made a video of that as well. There is constant steam coming from where excess water is dumped into the tray.

I can also just about see tiny drips from the corner where the boiler is, thats where its also leaking water out onto the counter as well, both rear corners.

I feel like this might be something beyond my repair capabilities, I really hoped I wouldn’t have to send it back to Bella Barista.

MediumRoastSteam

erkal - OK. Next time, turn the machine on and watch it. With the steam boiler on. Do you hear the pump calling for water frequently? (i.e.: there is a leak in the steam boiler).

erkal

MediumRoastSteam It’s on at the moment. I can turn on the steam boiler on now and see what happens.

But I do not see anything unusual at the top. So it must be under the boiler, are there any connections there?

erkal

MediumRoastSteam I turned on the steam boiler and it pumped some water but that was it, doesn’t seem like its pumping any more often than usual. However all the bubbling and sizzling started immediately, it was completely silent before. Also all the steaming is back:

MediumRoastSteam

Ok. So:

If the steam boiler is off: there is no leak. Machine operates as normal. No water underneath the machine. Is that correct?

You turn the steam boiler on: you see steam coming through the machine and you see water underneath the machine. You do not hear the pump running constantly on and off, say, for 20 minutes.

Now - if you don’t hear the pump running more frequent than usual - then I do not understand how the water is leaving the tank. You said the tank is not leaking - but theirs is only one way for the water to leave the tank, and that is when the pump sucks water from the tank through the hose.

I’m puzzled, unless there’s something missing here.

You need to really keep an eye with the machine open and figure out where the water is building up, and where it’s coming from.

Dry it all up and watch carefully.

erkal

MediumRoastSteam Hi, Yeah sorry I am confused as well and it all seem inconsistent due to the fact that I have not been able to replicate the leak which has been happening before I wake up almost every day.

But the facts are: when the steam boiler is OFF, nothing happens, it’s all clean and very quiet.

As soon as I turn the steam boiler ON all the steam escaping and the constant hissing comes back. This wasn’t the case before.

The videos show steam coming out from the inside when I take off the top and also constant stream of steam coming into the drip tray, these are new and unusual.

I suspect there might be something leaking from the bottom of the steam boiler (as shown in the image) as I cannot see anything wrong from the top.

I also suspect the water collecting under the drip tray might be due to the constant stream of steam coming out of the 2 exit holes into the drip tray, which create a lot of condensation and collect at the back of the drip tray and eventually turn into a big puddle under the tray.

MediumRoastSteam

erkal - I think you are in the right track. If there is steam constantly venting into the drip tray from one of the two outlets (one is for the group, the other is for the anti-vac valve) - then you may want to replace that valve. It’s an easy job - Lelit Insider on youtube is your friend. That’s the easy part.

The hard part is that you now need to find how is the water ending up at the bottom of your machine, underneath the steam boiler. This could be due to a leaking boiler - maybe a seal has perished.

erkal

MediumRoastSteam I had already replaced the anti-vac valve about a year ago…. :/

Which seal do I need to look out for?

MediumRoastSteam

erkal - if the leak is at the bottom of the boiler, I’d assume the seal for the heating element. But you should assert that first.

Now saying that… you said it only happens when the steam boiler is on. Which would imply that, if there was a leak there, it would be leaking whether the element is on or off. So whatever is happening is only happening when the boiler gets hot. Maybe due to expansion?

I’m afraid you’ll need to do your own investigations. You’ll need to find where the source of the problem is first - otherwise it’s all guesswork. It could be a damaged hose/outlet, it could be a cracked boiler. Who knows.

MediumRoastSteam

Also - coincidence or not - there’s another thread reporting a leak with the Elizabeth: https://coffeetime.freeflarum.com/d/3591-elizabeth-boiler-leak-replacing-gasket

(However, that’s the brew boiler)