Hey Bill! I didn't catch that you're in the northwest. You'd be in good hands with Bruce; I'm also willing to help if you're closer to me. I'm in Bainbridge Island, west of Seattle. I have the tools for the boiler element change, if that proves necessary.
I tend to agree that you may have a couple of things going on, and definitely would suspect the high-limit switch. I made a magnificent spark resetting mine once; there is no question that this part can fail, especially with the pressure, etc. that you describe. As to why it would take a few seconds to trip the GFI, not totally sure. I do know that GFI outlets are not always the most well-manufactured things on the planet, and perhaps it's taking a few seconds before the machine sends current to that part of the machine? Or, as Todd suggested, maybe just when it finally tries to heat the steam boiler? In my opinion, if one of the high limits is bad, I'd replace both--the red plastic breaks down and it's a very cheap part. Also extremely easy to replace. If you're lucky, it's just that and the pressure stat--both easy to replace and pretty inexpensive. All of this is tested pretty easily; hopefully one of us can get with you and sort it out. best, bmc Sent from my apple IIe > On Jun 15, 2016, at 00:25, [email protected] wrote: > > Bruce, > > Yes, when I checked the continuity of the pressurestat, I pulled all three > connectors off before checking with the VOM. > > I think you may be onto something with the possibility of the high-limit > switch having shorted to ground. Having gone from the original problem of > having no power to the steam boiler, and yet the brew boiler heated up and > pulled shots (which, as Todd noted, is sort of bizarre) to the power being > restored to the steam boiler but tripping the wall outlet ground default > interrupter makes me wonder if the high-limit switch might be the problem. > When I pushed the small allen wrench into the hole in the high-limit switch > where the red reset button used to be but isn't anymore, it hit something > solid that felt sort of "crunchy," for lack of a better way to describe it. I > was uncertain of how much pressure to apply, and I may have pushed on the > allen key too hard and mashed the electrical contacts inside the switch. > > When I turned on the Brewtus after that and saw the red steam boiler light > turn on, I thought I might be home free, but three seconds later the ground > fault breaker in the wall outlet blew. Why three seconds rather than > instantly? I don't know. I'm beginning to suspect, however, that the heater > coil inside the boiler might be OK, and that some other electrical part > broke. If it's the high-limit switch, I have no idea how difficult that would > be to replace. > > Your offer of help is very kind. I have friends in Portland that I'd love to > visit, so making the 3+ hour drive would be fine. Do you really think that we > (uh, you) might be able to figure out what part failed? Perhaps you could > email me at my main email address — [email protected] — and we can discuss > the options. > > Thanks! > > >> On Tuesday, June 14, 2016 at 11:47:17 AM UTC-7, Bruce Keeler wrote: >> On 6/12/16 5:24 PM, [email protected] wrote: >> > Todd and everyone, >> > >> > Thanks for the replies. I'm beginning the troubleshooting process, and >> > it's a little strange. >> > >> > My VOM doesn't have a dedicated continuity setting, so I used the 200Ω >> > resistance scale. Although the readings bounced around some, I got >> > basically 1.0Ω between both COM and NO, and COM and NC, implying >> > positive continuity in both circuits. I'm not sure how to interpret >> > that. With positive continuity in both circuits, are they closed or open? >> > >> That's with the wires disconnected? If not, perhaps it's finding some >> other path between the contacts. >> >> > Then I checked the high-limit safety over-heat cutoff. On both >> > boilers, the tiny red reset switches have broken off (due, I suppose, >> > to years of prolonged heat). One broken red reset was lying on top of >> > the brew boiler. The other is gone. I used a very small allen wrench >> > to push down inside the conical housing of the steam boiler's high >> > limit switch (which now has a tiny open hole). Then I hooked up the >> > Brewtus and turned it on to see if the red boiler light (indicating >> > power to the steam boiler) went on. It did, and then three seconds >> > later, the safety fault detector in my electrical wall outlet tripped. >> > I reset it and tried again. Same result. >> Check to make sure you haven't accidentally pushed a wire into contact >> with the case or a boiler or something. Or maybe the high-limit switch >> is mashed to the point where it's somehow shorting to ground? >> >> I live in Portland. If you fancy a trip to the city, I could take a >> look. Maybe we can figure it out together! > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Brewtus" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/brewtus. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Brewtus" group. 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