Thanks - I think the hose looks clean. Over the course of the morning the situation has changed somewhat, the safety valve is now constantly pushing out steam! So I think that the pressurestat is the culprit. I'm going to read through the material from Barry and report back.
Thanks! David On Sun, Mar 15, 2009 at 2:04 PM, Dennis Keating <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi, I keep a spare vacuum breaker valve (the shorter one, towards the > back). Although they can be serviced, they are only about $7. You should > clean and descale it also. > When my p-stat went bad, it made the safety valve release, as in your case. > I know your hose wasn't the problem, but wanted you to check it for > abrasion. The cover case will squish it against the edge of the boiler. > > Dennis > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Barry Luterman > To: [email protected] > Sent: Sunday, March 15, 2009 11:36 AM > Subject: Re: Soft sound and steam - a cause for concern? > That would be my guess. I will forward some info to you off list. > > > On Sun, Mar 15, 2009 at 7:23 AM, David Jacobs <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> OK, this just happened again (it happens about once an hour?) and it >> was definitely what I am calling the safety valve - i.e. the large >> valve that's closer to the front of the machine and is in the middle >> of the picture above. >> >> So, I need to replace the p-stat ? >> >> >> On Sun, Mar 15, 2009 at 12:42 PM, David Jacobs <[email protected]> wrote: >> > Thanks very much, everyone for the notes. >> > >> > The teflon hose does appear to be in good shape. >> > >> > There is some mineral build up on the relief valve, and with the >> > casing off I have observed a couple occasions where the steam is >> > released for 30-60 seconds. Is that normal? Along the inside back of >> > the casing, you can also see where the some minerals have built up. >> > Note I am referring to the "relief valve" as the smaller, lower, pin >> > further towards the back right corner of the case. It's not >> > immediately obvious to me (aside from Ben's description) how I would >> > tell the difference between the relief valve and the safety valve >> > (which is larger and closer to the front of the machine). >> > >> > I also want to respond to Barry's note: "Keep the cover off and watch >> > if the water is being blown out of the safety valve from the boiler it >> > is probably the p-stat" If I have, in fact, mixed up the relief valve >> > and the safety valve, then this would be the case. >> > >> > I am going to continue to observe. >> > >> > Thanks, >> > David >> > >> > >> > >> > On Sun, Mar 15, 2009 at 11:29 AM, Ben McCafferty <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> >> >> Hi David, >> >> My guess is that the steam vacuum breaker is letting out some steam. >> >> On the >> >> top of the steam boiler, it's the small pin sticking straight up. >> >> Basically, as the boiler cools, it opens downward to allow the vacuum >> >> to >> >> break. On mine, that periodically builds up minerals and fails to >> >> seal, and >> >> I get a gentle hiss more or less all the time, but sometimes >> >> intermittently. >> >> Since you have the cover off already, you can remove it for cleaning >> >> pretty >> >> easily (when the machine is COLD, of course) and put it back. I've >> >> also >> >> found that I can sometimes get away with blowing the minerals off by >> >> depressing the pin on a hot machine with a well-protected hand or >> >> implement >> >> (you'll be releasing steam straight up, and it will burn you if you >> >> don't >> >> use a glove, etc. >> >> >> >> I would also note, however, that I've never had condensation on my >> >> cups, so >> >> perhaps you have a larger leak in the boiler somewhere else, or maybe >> >> the >> >> seal on this part has failed partially. >> >> >> >> HTH, >> >> bmc >> >> "Faith will move mountains, but you'd better bring a shovel....." >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >>> From: David Jacobs <[email protected]> >> >>> Reply-To: <[email protected]> >> >>> Date: Sun, 15 Mar 2009 00:56:23 -0400 >> >>> To: <[email protected]> >> >>> Subject: Soft sound and steam - a cause for concern? >> >>> >> >>> I noticed this morning that my Brewtus was making a new sound, and the >> >>> cups in the cup warmer were all covered in steam residue. I observed >> >>> that every minute or so there was a soft sound coming from the machine >> >>> - it sounded almost like water being let gently out of a balloon. The >> >>> espresso shots were fine, however, and the temperature was mostly >> >>> stable at 95 degrees. Right after the "release" sound, the temperature >> >>> would drop to 93 and then quickly climb back to 95. I took the casing >> >>> off of the Brewtus and didn't see anything immediately out of order, >> >>> except perhaps that there was some buildup on on of the boilers >> >>> (picture attached) and the insulation was worn down. >> >>> >> >>> Can someone help me diagnost this problem further, or should I simply >> >>> not be concerned? >> >>> >> >>> Thanks, >> >>> David >> >>> >> >>> > >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> > >> > >> > >> > -- >> > [email protected] >> > (646) 244 9910 >> > http://hello.typepad.com >> > >> >> >> >> -- >> [email protected] >> (646) 244 9910 >> http://hello.typepad.com >> >> > -- [email protected] (646) 244 9910 http://hello.typepad.com --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Brewtus" group. 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