I'll check mine the next time I pull the cover. Probably some crud in mine too. I did get one of the grind funnels that Ira mentioned today. I was using a paper cup with the bottom cut out. This looks a lot better! Love this forum.
Herman On Wed, Oct 19, 2016 at 5:49 PM, Benjamin McCafferty <bmacpi...@me.com> wrote: > Yes, the short copper line from solenoid to bottom of steam boiler. > Ironically, the copper line to the water wand was plugged with a thick > sludge last summer, and is clean as a whistle now (but I’ve been dumping > the boiler via that wand more regularly since I found that). > > My new tube isn’t perfectly smooth, so will probably clog faster again, > but I at least know how to make a new one! > > best, > bmc > > On Oct 19, 2016, at 14:47, herman dickens <hermandick...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Glad you got it going. Mine's been running almost 11 years and the only > internal part I replaced was a spring and plunger that lets the pressure > off the group. So far the rest of it is holding together. Is it the copper > line that connects to the solenoid that you replaced? > > > > On Wed, Oct 19, 2016 at 5:17 PM, Benjamin McCafferty <bmacpi...@me.com> > wrote: > >> My family said, “You better get that damn machine fixed soon…” I think >> the lack of daddy-caffeination was getting old. >> >> Anyway, back in business with a couple of lessons learned. >> >> First, the Mater p-stat ($36 at espresso parts) is a direct replacement >> for the original, and provides a good west coast option for those of us >> this direction. It is easy to adjust, using a top screw instead of the >> knurled knob. I expect the durability to be similar to stock, maybe a year >> to 18 months, but we’ll see. For the price, easy enough to have a backup >> on hand. >> >> As discovered after talking to Todd, the copper fill line between the >> solenoid and the steam boiler was nearly totally plugged with stone/scale. >> I cleaned out the fitting on the boiler, and looked in the boiler with a >> borescope, finding basically no scale at all; if anything, just the finest >> grey coat. The water line to the water wand was also perfectly clean. So >> I’m perplexed on why this one part was so bad, but perhaps the fitting was >> clogged a bit last year and I missed cleaning it, then low flow was letting >> it build faster? Anyway, I built a new copper tube with my dad’s old flare >> tool from the 50’s, and reassembled. The run-on pump is fixed, and I am >> actually shocked at how much quieter the pump is now! A good reminder how >> things creep up on you and you don’t notice the small differences >> day-to-day; like watching your hair grow. The machine is now almost totally >> vibe-free. >> >> A couple of other things I’d been chasing are still there—which are drips >> from the group, and drips from the bypass/overflow tube below the group. My >> house water pressure is high, so I’m guessing that some seal in the pump is >> slowly failing, allowing the bypass/overflow to drip all the time. The >> group also drips a bit all the time, but at a much slower rate. I’ve never >> replaced the internals there so it’s probably time by now, after 8-9 years >> in service I think. >> >> Heading over to Seattle soon to demo the small Slayer and the one-group >> Synesso. My wife, wisely, said, “You’re not allowed to touch them.” Doubt >> I’ll make that plunge just now, but who knows… Meanwhile, glad to have my >> almost-all-parts-replaced-in-the-last-year Brewtus back in action, >> making some very nice coffee. >> >> best, >> bmc >> >> On Oct 12, 2016, at 16:28, Benjamin McCafferty <bmacpi...@me.com> wrote: >> >> May have this one solved. >> >> The p-stat question was already pretty much resolved, I just included >> that for the next guy. Trying a Mater p-stat this time around, as it’s >> available locally and pretty cheap. >> >> As to the running pump. Todd gave me a call (thanks as always, Todd!) and >> we chatted about this. His three suggestions were to: >> —Ground the sensor wire for the steam boiler when the pump was running >> and see if it would stop the pump (did this, and it shut the pump down as >> expected, so the controls are working; I also pulled the sensor rod out and >> descaled/cleaned just to be sure it was conducting electricity easily) >> >> —Time how long it takes the pump to refill the boiler after dispensing a >> given quantity of water, and compare that to a new machine (it took just >> over 2 minutes, no matter what quantity of water I dispensed, and the >> machine would run for just over 2 minutes each time I turned it off and >> back on, even if the boiler was full—I’m thinking the control board may >> have a 2 minute maximum to protect the pump, but that’s just a guess. It >> was consistently 2 min and about 3-5 seconds) >> >> —Check for debris on the steam boiler side of the solenoid, i.e. >> something clogging things and making it hard for the pump to fill the >> boiler (Being lazy, I pulled the copper pipe that runs from the solenoid to >> the bottom of the boiler to try to avoid having to disassemble everything >> to get at the solenoid, in case it was just something right in the end of >> the pipe. Wow—the adapter to the boiler was almost totally scaled shut, >> with just a tiny pinhole still through it. I pulled the hot water pipe >> next, i.e. boiler to hot water wand, and it was totally clear. So my hope >> is that I just need to clean out the adapter and be back in business. >> Weird; last year when I tore the machine down all the way, there was almost >> no scale anywhere after 7 or more years and essentially no descaling along >> the way. Now, in about a year, this adapter is nearly closed off.) >> >> Will keep you posted on the progress; pics attached if the list lets me. >> I’ll stick a bore scope into the boiler to see how scale looks on the >> element while I’m here. >> best, >> bmc >> >> Top/boiler side: >> <IMG_2467.jpeg> >> >> >> Bottom/tubing side: >> <IMG_2468.JPG> >> >> >> On Oct 9, 2016, at 05:47, hermandick...@gmail.com wrote: >> >> If you replace the internals let me know what parts you used and how it >> goes. Mine is on a timer so it doesn't run at night. Mine has the vibe pump >> too. Right now my power is out from the hurricane and has been since >> yesterday afternoon. Not sure when I'll get power back so I probably won't >> check my emails again for a while. Hope you can track down the problem. >> Herman >> >> Sent from my android device. >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: Benjamin McCafferty <bmacpi...@me.com> >> To: brewtus@googlegroups.com >> Sent: Sat, 08 Oct 2016 7:40 PM >> Subject: Re: Pressurestat and run-on pump >> >> Hi again to all, >> >> No ideas on the running pump yet, but a couple of new thoughts I’ve had. >> —The drip tray is pretty full in the morning—I’ve never seen a single >> drip, but it seems it’s filling. Maybe a leak in the group that’s dripping >> out the bottom? Or the return pipe? >> —Since the pump is running with the lever down, I’m thinking this must be >> the steam boiler causing the problem, yes? In other words, the water level >> dropping, and pump refilling. >> >> Still clueless, but thinking I’ll replace the (original, 8 year old) >> internals in the group and see if that helps the situation. >> >> Any other ideas? Todd? >> >> best, >> bmc >> >> On Sep 26, 2016, at 12:41, Benjamin McCafferty <bmacpi...@me.com> wrote: >> >> Yeah, it failed at 90 days, which is sort of understandable but the >> reaction I got was not cool. >> >> Ah well. We all have a bad day I guess. >> >> b >> >> On Sep 26, 2016, at 12:40, herman dickens <hermandick...@gmail.com> >> wrote: >> >> Don't blame you with the warranty issue. Part of it may have been the age >> of the part. >> >> On Mon, Sep 26, 2016 at 3:37 PM, Benjamin McCafferty <bmacpi...@me.com> >> wrote: >> >>> Could be. Maybe I’ll try again. I was as pissed about the lack of >>> warranty as I was about the early failure. >>> best, >>> bmc >>> >>> On Sep 26, 2016, at 12:13, herman dickens <hermandick...@gmail.com> >>> wrote: >>> >>> You should have better luck this time. I think they had a bad, or old, >>> batch and we both got unlucky. >>> >>> On Mon, Sep 26, 2016 at 1:05 PM, Ben McCafferty <bmacpi...@me.com> >>> wrote: >>> >>>> Thanks Herman. Yes, that's a vacuum breaker, and unfortunately not the >>>> cause of my moisture. I've heard the over pressure relief go off during the >>>> day also, and never have moisture in the cups otherwise--my machine comes >>>> on around 4:30 and I don't get to it until 6:30 or 7 so always dry. >>>> >>>> Good to know re jaeger, maybe I'll try one more. >>>> >>>> Best, >>>> bmc >>>> >>>> Sent from my iPhone >>>> >>>> On Sep 26, 2016, at 09:57, herman dickens <hermandick...@gmail.com> >>>> wrote: >>>> >>>> Ben I get the moisture in the cup thing for a few minutes every time my >>>> b II starts up but it goes away in a few minutes. It's coming from the >>>> valve in the top of the steam boiler that has the little o-ring in it. The >>>> valve opens when the steam pressure is down and then closes when it builds >>>> up. Every few years I have to replace that o-ring with one of the red ones >>>> and it works fine for another year or so. I have several if you need some. >>>> My steam issue is not from the opv. I'm guessing it's a vacuum breaker. I >>>> was having trouble with my pump not coming on last year and replaced the >>>> controller and it fixed it. Not sure if that's your issue but it may very >>>> well be. As to the pstat. I got another jager last year from Chris and it's >>>> been working fine. they had a new batch and both of ours that failed had >>>> old dates on them. Hope I helped. >>>> >>>> On Mon, Sep 26, 2016 at 12:49 PM, Benjamin McCafferty <bmacpi...@me.com >>>> > wrote: >>>> >>>>> Hey all, >>>>> Hope you’ve had a good weekend! It seems this morning is an active day >>>>> for the group, so might as well add my current issues with everyone >>>>> else’s, >>>>> and ask for the help of the braintrust. >>>>> >>>>> (B2, rotary/plumbed and PID conversions, about 8 years old I think) >>>>> >>>>> First, the easy one, mainly posting this for archives. I’ve noticed >>>>> moisture in my back right cup on the warming tray a couple of times this >>>>> past week, indicating the over pressure relief has opened on the steam >>>>> boiler. Red flag. A couple of days ago, the steam boiler wouldn’t heat >>>>> after dropping to .5 bar; I reversed the wires on the p-stat, but no love. >>>>> Switched them back and it began to heat. My likely diagnosis is that it >>>>> had >>>>> stuck, and me fiddling with it caused it to un-stick, so the wire reversal >>>>> didn’t yield anything. Working normally again now, but moisture on the >>>>> cups >>>>> again this morning, so it’s probably about to fail since it seems to be >>>>> sticking in both positions. Sigh. About a year old, once again. So, do I >>>>> buy another stock unit that fails quickly, or gamble another $60 on a >>>>> Jaeger that will either last 5 years, or 90 days, and not be warrantied by >>>>> Chris’ Coffee? Hmmm… >>>>> >>>>> The second problem is one I asked about a number of weeks back. The >>>>> first symptom was that the pump would occasionally just start running, and >>>>> continue for 60 seconds or more. This has mostly subsided, but now the >>>>> pump >>>>> will run waaaaaaaay to often, for just a second or two. At its worst, it >>>>> will run every 30-60 seconds, for a few seconds each time. At minimum, it >>>>> will run every few minutes. >>>>> >>>>> The only logical thing I can think of is that somehow the steam boiler >>>>> is losing volume to a leak, and causing the pump to refill it. But, there >>>>> are no leaks that I can find; no water under the machine, not even a >>>>> steady >>>>> drip from the group into the drip tray. Since I’m plumbed in, I also don’t >>>>> think I’m pushing water backwards to the water line, but perhaps? My house >>>>> pressure is about 50-60psi, so quite high. Since the steam boiler is set >>>>> to >>>>> about 1.5bar (about 22psi), it seems unlikely that this would be possible. >>>>> >>>>> I guess I did have one other idea, which was that the >>>>> volume-adjustment rod/sensor (the one that inserts into the steam boiler, >>>>> with a wire on top, to shut off the pump when water reaches it) might be >>>>> scaled and so making a poor connection/ground. I doubt this, however, >>>>> since >>>>> I had basically no scale last year when everything was torn down, and I >>>>> rarely de-scale the machine. So a year later I doubt this non-heating and >>>>> highly polished piece has accumulated much scale, if any. >>>>> >>>>> Otherwise, all is working normally (except the p-stat of course). >>>>> >>>>> Any ideas? Is there a logic board that could be failing and causing >>>>> this symptom? Last year, I replaced the giemme controller, the PID, the >>>>> solenoid, temp probe, both high-limit switches, p-stat, etc. It seems >>>>> unlikely that something electronic is the cause here, but perhaps. I did >>>>> not replace the solid state relay, and have been told it rarely fails. But >>>>> could it be the culprit? I definitely am out of my league on diagnosing >>>>> this one. >>>>> >>>>> All best, >>>>> Ben >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> 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 brewtus+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>>> To post to this group, send email to brewtus@googlegroups.com. >>>>> 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. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>> an email to brewtus+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>> To post to this group, send email to brewtus@googlegroups.com. >>>> Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/brewtus. >>>> For more options, visit 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