Todd, I've got an issue with my Brewtus II (purchased 12/26/07 from WLL) that is stumping me.
I've got a slow drip out of the E61 group. I've got an intermittent gurgling sound in the bowls of the machine. I get an occasional over pressure of the steam boiler, which causes the pressure relief valve to open. And, lastly, if I've left the machine on all day, when I come home from work and pull a shot, I hear one of the boilers refilling (not sure which one) before the shot will start. I also note what appears to be more water than normal in the drain pan. Today I pulled the cover off, started up the Brewtus from "cold irons", and watched what happened. 1. The steam boiler heated up normally. Once up to pressure, the heat cycled on at about 1.2 bar and off at about 1.4 bar. I noted that the dripping from the E61 group started once the boiler hit about 1.1 bar. The dripping was continuous after that. The dripping was from the bottom valve of the E61 group with the handle in the full-down position. If I put the handle in the mid position, the dripping will come from the portafilter. 2. The water boiler heated up normally after the steam boiler came up to pressure. The water boiler reached 95 and then the water and steam boilers cycled on and off normally to maintain temperature/pressure. 3. The gurgling sound appeared to emanate from the steam boiler. While listening to the noise I noted bubbles going through the plastic tube between the heat exchanger outlet on the steam boiler and the inlet on the water boiler. If I disconnect the pump control switch (so that the pump will not come on with the handle in the full-up position), the gurgling sound increases appreciably, as does the flow out of the portafilter. Eventually the flow will go to nothing but steam. The plastic tube between the steam and water boilers will have nothing but steam in it. If I re-engage the pump, water will again flow through the plastic tube, but it will take 10-15 seconds to get water flow at the portafilter. 4. I get random occurances of over-pressure on the steam boiler, resulting in the pressure relief valve opening at around 2 bar. There is no apparent pattern to when this will happen. 5. My habit patter when I pull a shot is to first pre-heat my cup with water from the steam boiler and then pull the shot. When I come home from work (Brewtus has been left on all day) and open the valve for hot water to pre-heat my cup, I'll get immediate flow of hot water from the wand, but then I'll hear one of the boilers refilling for about 20 seconds. I'll also note that the drip tray seems to have more water than expected from my normal routine of shot pulling. I had thought that perhaps there was a crack or a pin-hole in the heat exchanger which was allowing boiler pressure and steam to migrate into the water boiler and group head. However, if I put a blank in the portafilter and run the pump, I do not see a concurrent increase in pressure in the steam boiler, which should occur if there were a crack or hole in the heat exchanger. I'm stumped. Hope you can help. I figure the p-stat at a minimum needs to be replaced, but the dripping and gurgling and water consumption has got me scratching my head. Sincerely, Mike -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Brewtus" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/brewtus?hl=en.
