ARGH! Hopefully this will show up after my afternoon update.
I started a new thread. I think in adjusting things I probably nudge an old seal in the CC water line pressure regulator that it's now leaking and causing pressure creep, if I let the machine set (even cold) for a while, eventually the espresso machine side of the line will creep up to full line pressure. Ugh! Might be time to replace.... On Friday, July 27, 2018 at 2:25:30 PM UTC-4, bmacpiper wrote: > > Agreed re: house pressure. Mine is at 105psi so I have a reducer at the > back flow preventer (street) that can be adjusted, and we’re at about > 50-55psi now. Even at that, I regularly blow up garden hoses, etc. from > overpressure. > > As to the pressure in the machine—if flowing water through with the pump, > the reading is meaningless unless you use a backflush disc to let pressure > build. If you’re really wanting to see the pressure on the mains, you could > use a backflush disc and lift the lever to the first position—that will let > water flow but not engage the pump. In the end, though, you really just > need to know what pressure is during brewing, targeting around 9 bar. > > Back to the pressurestat question, I don’t recall the pinouts but you can > certainly just disconnect the steam boiler and it will then never get power > from the pressurestat. That will guarantee it never heats and never > over-pressures again. You’d then just direct wire to the brew boiler I > think, so that a failed/failing p-stat wouldn’t cause your brew boiler to > be cold if the p-stat stuck the wrong way. Also, you would no longer need > the switching capability that prevents the brewtus from powering both > boilers at once, which would over tax a typical 110V circuit (don’t recall > where you are, i.e. 220V, etc.). > > best, > bmc > > On Jul 27, 2018, at 11:09, bonner <[email protected] <javascript:>> > wrote: > > First, I’d worry about the house pressure. Normally this is kept around > 60 psi and I believe the building code requires 80 psi max. If your city > pressure is really 110, you should install a pressure reducing valve if you > do not have one already. Otherwise, there is the risk of leak from many > sources around the house and substantial damage secondarily. > Then fix the Brewtis. > Beeg > *From:* 'Mike Walsh' via Brewtus <[email protected] <javascript:>> > *Sent:* Friday, July 27, 2018 7:37 AM > *To:* Brewtus <[email protected] <javascript:>> > *Subject:* Re: Brewtus II - hissing x 2 > > I haven't ended up having to buy a replacement yet, but just searching WLL > with "exobar pressure" I found one that is $40 and looks just like the one > that's in the machine. Tim says they have no issues with them, and they > are a bit more than 1/2 the cost of the Jaeger. Mine hasn't stuck again > yet, so Tim said just wait until it does. > > I did find the wiring diagrams on how to switch off the steam boiler and > it's fairly easy, I will probably do it at some time. Just lazy. Probably > will wait until the pressure stat goes and do that to keep the machine > running since I really only pull shots. > > My next adventure is going to be to look at my water line pressure > regulator. They just jumped our municipal water pressure from 70 psi to > 110 psi, and as close as I can tell by the cold brew pressure gauge my > standing water line pressure post-regulator is still about 2 bar or a bit > below. But, the water pressure regulator has a gauge and I've tried to > verify there by the instructions, however when I run the water through the > group, that gauge drops to zero instead of showing regulated water > pressure. I'm really wondering if I installed it backward 8 years ago, > though it's working fine, and I'm pretty careful about that. The guy at > Chris said if the front panel brew gauge when cold shows 2 bar, don't worry > about it. > > On Thursday, July 26, 2018 at 2:11:17 PM UTC-4, StevieG. wrote: > > Hey Mike, what was the alternate pressurestat to the Jaeger? > > > > On Monday, July 23, 2018 at 12:37:04 PM UTC-4, Mike Walsh wrote: > > I talked with Tim at WLL today and he suggested resetting the high limit > button, but I think that would be indicated if the boiler wasn't heating. > > Otherwise he said all the current operation sounded good and to just watch > it for now, he didn't recommend spending the money on a new pstat just > yet. He said they would have me put in the same part, that they don't see > any premature failures and it's about 1/2 the price of the Jaeger for what > that's worth.... > > He said the variability I see in turn off pressure was fine, as was the > cycle time on the steam boiler running. > > I wouldn't doubt that at some point the pstat will get stickier, but he > said for now to watch it and that it's not a dangerous thing. If I have to > replace, I guess I'll decide on the brand then :) > > Tim didn't have any quick kluge to not power the steam boiler (ie. run > only the brew boiler) in case the pstat does go bad, so I'm still in search > of an easy kluge. > > I've got the cover and everything back on, so if there is any extremely > minor leaking going on, I definitely cannot hear it anymore. > > On Sunday, July 22, 2018 at 4:46:48 PM UTC-4, herman dickens wrote: > > I didn't have any trouble getting the wires to fit. It's been a couple of > years at least since I put the last one in. I'm not sure I ever replaced > the vacuum break but I've replaced the o-rings several times. It's an easy > fix to remove the pressurestat and put the new one on. > > Herman > > On Sun, Jul 22, 2018 at 4:31 PM 'Mike Walsh' via Brewtus < > [email protected]> wrote: > > Greetings all, > > Thanks for the encouragement and help. > > I pulled out a couple of crescent wrenches and disassembled the vacuum > breaker valve, and replaced the o-ring without any issues. The old one was > pretty shrunken and dry as you'd image. There really wasn't much crud or > scale that I could see, so I quickly hit it with a scrubby but didn't go > too crazy. As easy as that was, I'll just keep doing that until the bag of > 10 is gone, and then trade out the whole part with the spare I have :) > > And no more pstat sticking so far, but I know if it sticks once, it's > probably going to get worse, not better. I'll get on the phone with WLL or > CC tomorrow to look into a new psat. > > Q: I assume the pstat is fairly easy to change out? > > Q: With the Jaeger, the wiring point locations are different, do the > existing wires reach OK, or did you have to extend them Herman? > > Q: Since I rarely use the steam boiler anyway, if the pstat sticks again > is there an easy way to "disable" the steam boiler and just run the brew > boiler? I can dig in the archives, but if the answer is as simple as "just > pop off one of the connectors on the element on the bottom", that would be > great to hear and avoid the searching. > > Q: I swore I could hear a very, very faint continuing steam leak, but > maybe now a few hours later the o-ring has softened and settled because now > it's dead silent And of course my "cycle time" of heating the steam boiler > is WAY better (it's been as short as 90 seconds with the bad o-ring). Now > when it heats it'll generally turn on at about 1.05 bar and then most of > the time turns off at 1.25, but I've seen some variability up to sometimes > 1.3, 1.35. It'll typically settle around 1.2, then slowly decrease over > about 4m45s until it turns on again. Does that sound reasonable? > > Thanks for any and all continued help. > > PS: Adam, if I get to pulling the Brewtus apart at all and you want to > come on down to Cary, you are welcome to come by, I'll let you know. An > extra set of hands is always helpful, and it sounds like you are a bit more > advanced on the plumbing side than me > > -mike > > On Sunday, July 22, 2018 at 8:26:40 AM UTC-4, Adam Meade wrote: > > Hi Mike, > > I'm in Raleigh and last fall, I was attempting to fix a steam leak and > broke the part that comes out of the steam boiler on my Brewtus IV. I > called around and end up taking it to the Appliance Service Center on Peace > Street. However, I can't say that I'd fully recommend them. The owner did > not communicate well and when I dropped it off, I wasn't sure if he had > experience with espresso machines as the place was strewn with old junk of > every sort and no signs of espresso gear. However, he was somehow able to > source a part that WLL had back ordered and did get it put back together. > On the other hand, he didn't test it before I picked it up so there were > multiple steam leaks and I ended up disassembling everything on my own > anyway and putting in high-temp plumbers tape. He also put the steam > gauge back on crooked. On the whole, I wouldn't go back there unless I was > really desperate and I'd first try to fix it myself if I could. The crazy > thing was when I went to check on it once, someone else had dropped off an > identical Brewtus IV there! > > Good to meet another Brewtus owner in the area. > > --Adam > > On Saturday, July 21, 2018 at 6:14:42 PM UTC-4, herman dickens wrote: > > Mike the red high temp o-rings seem to work fine on mine I've had it since > the month the BII's came out and I can't even tell you how many times I've > replaced it. You could have a pressurestat sticking. Mine did and the same > thing happened. I got the Jaeger Pressurstat from Chris coffee and it > worked a lot better than the one that came on it. The first Jaeger lasted 8 > years, 2nd 8 months, 3rd is several years old. I think I got a bad one the > second time. I don't know of anyone around Raleigh but I'll ask around. I'm > just north of Louisburg so not too far away. Keep us posted if you have > problems. > > Herman > > On Sat, Jul 21, 2018 at 5:54 PM 'Mike Walsh' via Brewtus < > [email protected]> wrote: > > All, > > Grateful for any help. I've had this Brewtus II for years, and I'm > probably the 2nd or 3rd owner of it. To my knowledge, no maintenance of > any kind has ever been done on the machine. I fire it up twice a day, and > pull a shot - I rarely use the steam boiler. I've had no water leaks or > anything else significant to this point. > > I turned on the machine to warm it up today, and sometime WELL after it > would have come up to temp we heard a very loud sound (I honestly thought > our pug dog had passed really loud gas), and the sound of steam coming out > of the Brewtus under the cover. I quickly turned it off, gathered some > tools, and took off the cover. I then turned it back on, and waited to see > what happened. > > I found I've got hissing from the vacuum breaker valve, but I've had that > for years. I've had a full replacement valve (the kind with the white > insert), as well as a bag of the little o-rings as another option, but life > got busy and I've used neither.... Let's hold on that thought. > > The safety value was hissing as well this time, so I popped it DOWN, and > it seemed to settle. If it is hissing at all, I can't tell it over the > vacuum breaker valve. I've let it cool a bit and warm back up a few times, > and have not had the big problem reoccur, and the brew gauge shows a very > solid maximum of 1.2 bars, so I don't think it's an out of control pressure > stat or anything. I grabbed a pair of pliers and worked it UP against the > spring pressure and rotated it a number of times just to make sure if there > was any crud I broke it up or moved it. > > So... > > 1 - any thoughts or concerns on the safety valve? Is this just some weird > one-off? Anything I should do or watch/listen for? > > 2 - Obviously I need to get off my rear and do something about the vacuum > breaker valve. > > - I assume just put on the full assembly one I have rather then messing > with repairing the other one's o-ring? > > - Any precautions I need to do like holding the lower part of the > assembly to keep it from rotating when I wrench off the vacuum breaker > value, or can I just take a wrench and spin off the vacuum breaker valve? > I don't want to break anything. If I need to hold it, is a pair of pliers > sufficient? > > - STUPID question: do I have to move the fridge and crawl back there to > turn off the plumbed-in water line before doing the repair? > > I'm hoping this is fairly quick, and I'll go back to good operation. I > appreciate any advice! > > PS: I imagine at some point this machine will need real maintenance, does > anyone know anyone in the Raleigh, NC area that works on these machines? > > Thanks, > Mike > -- > 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. > 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. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected] <javascript:>. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] <javascript:> > . > 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 [email protected] <javascript:>. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] <javascript:> > . > 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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