Hey Howard,
I think you’re mixing up a couple of causes/symptoms. Here’s what happens
(normally) when the machine comes on.
--It senses whether the steam boiler is full via the ground probe that sticks
into the top of the boiler (and can be adjusted up or down, by the way).
--If not, it opens the solenoid (via relay in the giemme controller, I believe)
and starts the pump, until the water in steam boiler reaches the ground probe.
--It then stops the pump and the solenoid closes.
--The pump is now available to push pressure on demand through the brew boiler,
which only happens when the lever is lifted to its top position.
--The steam boiler heats first, and when it’s close to pressure, the vacuum
breaker you cleaned closes and makes a seal to let pressure build.
--The brew boiler heats second, to a preset temperature.
Now then, if you think about it, the vacuum breaker has nothing to do with
startup (it is not engaged until well after the problem you’re having). So
here’s what you check:
—Is the ground probe in the steam boiler connected and clean?
—If so, you would look to either a stuck solenoid or a failing/failed pump.
—Since you are developing 10bar of pressure, and the pump won’t quit, to me
that says two things:
—First, your pump is working, i.e. developing pressure in the brew
boiler
—Second, the pump is trying to fill the steam boiler, and can’t
—Because of these two things, I’d bet dollars to doughnuts that the
solenoid is stuck, and so no water is reaching the
steam boiler, and so the solenoid never closes and shuts off the pump.
Make sense?
So, check the easy thing first (ground probe and wire, both ends), and then
move on to ordering a new solenoid and replacing it.
Others may have additional thoughts, but I’ve been down this road and it wasn’t
this clear cut. The 10bar in the brew boiler is a dead giveaway, in my opinion.
Best of luck and keep us posted!
Ben/bmc
> On May 15, 2017, at 06:48, [email protected] wrote:
>
> I thought I had this problem solved after I took apart and cleaned the vacuum
> relief valve. It worked fine for the past two week but now the issue has
> recurred. When I turned the machine on yesterday morning the pump began to
> run and the pressure went up to 10 bar. The pump would not stop running and
> the pressure remained at 10 bar. I turned it off and tried starting it again
> several times thoughout the day but the behavior was always the same:
> constantly buzzing pump and pressure at 10 bar. Eventually a high pitched
> squeal developed along with the pump noise and I haven't turned it on again
> for fear of burning out the pump or causing other damage.
>
> Any ideas? I have a brand new vacuum relief valve that I will install
> tonight. If that doesn't help I'm stuck.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Howard
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
> On Apr 26, 2017, at 14:59, Howard Griffin <[email protected]
> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
>
>> I have had my Brewtus III-V (vibration pump) for almost seven years. Its
>> usual behavior upon startup has been to buzz for a few seconds (5-10
>> seconds) and then start to heat up. The buzzing usually terminates with a
>> very brief uptick in volume before stopping. A typographical representation
>> might look like this: [click on] rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrRRR [noise stops machine
>> begins to heat up]. Sometimes there would be no buzzing at all upon turning
>> it on and it would begin to heat up right away. This was its normal behavior
>> until recently.
>>
>> Now, when I turn it on the buzzing frequently goes on for a very long
>> time—up to three or four minutes before resolving in an uptick in volume,
>> like this:
>>
>> [click on]
>> rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrRRR
>> [noise stops machine begins to heat up]. Sometimes it still starts up with
>> no noise and begins to heat up right away.
>>
>> Is something about to fail on the machine? What should I check? Any advice
>> would be appreciated.
>>
>> Howard
>>
>>
>
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