It's the part with a single wire coming from it. All it does is short to ground when the water reaches it. Should be easy enough to diagnose with a multimeter.

Bruce

On 7/27/2015 10:57 AM, Benjamin McCafferty wrote:
Yeah, that's what I was trying to say. Not sure which part is the level sensor, will have a look.
b

Sent from my apple IIe

On Jul 27, 2015, at 10:54, Bruce J keeler <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:

Perhaps the level sensor needs replacing, or is somehow shorted to ground. If it was preventing the steam boiler from filling that could explain why your element burned out.

On 7/27/2015 10:37 AM, Benjamin McCafferty wrote:
Good lord, when it rains it pours.  OK, recap:
--Steam boiler wasn't firing, discovered that over temp switch was brittle and malfunctioning. --Totally disassembled machine, cleaned and descaled every part of it except teflon lines and chrome manifold.
--Replaced both overtemp switches and thermoprobe on the brew boiler.

--Steam boiler still not firing, figured out that the steam element was bad.
--Replaced both elements.

--Steam boiler still not firing, figured out that the pressure stat was bad.
--Replaced pressure stat, set pressure to 1.7 bar.

--Machine functioned normally for that afternoon, then the next morning the steam boiler wouldn't fire again. --Reset the overtemp switch, lowered pressure to 1.5 bar, machine functioned normally yesterday and today, except the steam wand was "spitting" instead of a nice smooth hiss.

--Today I flushed the steam boiler, i.e. ran all the hot water out of it to cycle the water. I immediately noticed that a) there was far less water than normal in the boiler, and b) the pump did not kick on to refill the boiler. Realizing that this would overheat and kill the new element, I turned the machine off.

OK, my techie instincts are that it is highly unusual for 3 separate parts of the steam system to fail at once, without some other mitigating circumstance. My best guess so far is that whatever switch/sensor is responsible for filling the steam boiler was weak or failed, and cause the boiler to run on whatever water was still in there prior to all this happening. Since my hot water line was clogged, I couldn't flush and therefore wouldn't have realized that the steam boiler was not refilling. The stuff in the steam boiler before cleaning was like oatmeal without the oats--thick goop. I'm still unclear, however, on why the steam boiler filled partially after all the recent service.

Does anyone have any thoughts or SWAGs on this? What is the next part I need that would trigger my pump to fill the steam boiler?

Sigh. Espresso-less again, but I have to be close and at least I've had a few great shots in the past 48 hours, right???

All the best,
Ben

Sent from my apple IIe

On Jul 26, 2015, at 16:14, Benjamin McCafferty <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:

The valve starts to gently hiss at 1.8, and blows off all the way just a bit over that, maybe 1.9.
best,
bmc

Sent from my apple IIe

On Jul 26, 2015, at 16:12, Todd Salzman <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:

Yes, that could be problem. I am a little surprised that he pressure relief valve did not start to blow off at 1.7 bar.
We set the steam boiler to run between 1.3 and 1.4 bar.

On Sun, Jul 26, 2015 at 4:59 PM, Ben McCafferty <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:

    Thanks, Todd.

    Since I just replaced both switches, I am not sure what to
    think. My best guess is that I had set the steam boiler
    pressure a little bit too high at 1.7, and so perhaps the
    boiler was going long enough to activate the overtemperature
    switch. I have turned the pressure back down to about 1.5 and
    things seem to be working normally again.
    Best,
    bmc

    Sent from my iPhone

    On Jul 26, 2015, at 03:27, Todd Salzman
    <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>>
    wrote:

    Most likely it is the over temperature switch.  If the
    pressure was set to high the pressure relief valve on the
    boiler would blow off before  the over temp switch would trip.

    You may want to try switching the over temperature switches
    between the brew and the steam boiler.  The brew boiler does
    not get as hot so the switch may not trip as much while you
    get a new over temperature switch.


    On Sat, Jul 25, 2015 at 12:01 PM, Graeme Burton
    <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:

        May be a silly question but did you adjust the
        pressurestat after installation?

        Graeme
        *From: *Benjamin McCafferty
        *Sent: *Sunday, 26 July 2015 00:00
        *To: *[email protected]
        <mailto:[email protected]>
        *Reply To: *[email protected]
        <mailto:[email protected]>
        *Subject: *Re: Steam boiler overprescribing


        Hi Todd and all,
        Got the new pressure stat in yesterday, and the machine
heated and functioned normally for the rest of the day. This morning, I turned it on and the steam boiler didn't
        heat.  I reset the over-limit switch (new) on the steam
        boiler and it's now heating.

Is there something I should be concerned about here? I'll see if it was a fluke, but not clear on why the new
        switch would pop.

        best,
        bmc

        Sent from my apple IIe

        On Jul 22, 2015, at 18:46, Benjamin McCafferty
        <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:

        Thanks Todd. Is the wire that provides power the common,
        normally open, or normally closed?  I'll grab a
        multimeter but if you know right off hand...I can be lazy...
        best,
        bmc

        Sent from my apple IIe

        On Jul 22, 2015, at 18:07, Todd Salzman
        <[email protected]
        <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:

        I would recommend, pulling  the wire off pressure stat
        that supplies the power to the  pressure stat and see
        if it keep over heating.
        If it turns off when you pull the wire you need a
        pressure stat.  If it keep heating you have another
        problem.

        On Wed, Jul 22, 2015 at 6:21 PM, Benjamin McCafferty
        <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:

            Doing a little reading, seems pretty clear that my
            pressure stat has failed also.  Quite a
            coincidence! Anyway, please send any other
            thoughts, but I'll order a new p-stat. It's been in
            there for at least five years; date of manufacture
            is 9/04 so it was on a shelf for at least 3 years
            before installation, maybe more.
            best,
            bmc

            Sent from my apple IIe

            > On Jul 22, 2015, at 14:44, Ben McCafferty
            <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
            >
            > Ahem. "Steam boiler over pressure"
            >
            > Sent from my iPhone
            >
            >> On Jul 22, 2015, at 14:30, Ben McCafferty
            <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
            >>
            >> Hi all,
            >>
            >> More parts arrived today. I have new elements in
            both boilers, new overtemperature switches on both
            boilers, new PID thermoprobe, new power switch.
            >>
            >> When I switch the unit on, everything looks good
            but the steam boiler continues heating on up to 2
            bar, and then the overpressure relief begins to
            blow so I switch the unit off and release some
            pressure from the steam wand. I have turned my
            pressurestat (jaeger) all the way down and no
            change. Any further ideas to help me solve this
            lingering problem?
            >>
            >> Thanks all,
            >> Ben McC
            >> Sent from my iPhone
            >>
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