Greetings OzAaron and all. Thank you for all the great advice. It turns out, the problem was indeed the thermostat as OzAaron suggested. I replaced it and everything is back in business. Thanks to all of you with your suggestions to help narrow down what the problem was.
On Tuesday, February 2, 2021 at 5:26:52 PM UTC-6 winnipegger65 wrote: > OzAaron the tech...or detective. Good advice and thank you. I am going to > skip the swapping of the thermostats between the boilers. I'm just going to > buy a new one and see what happens. DeLuca's coffee is the only game in > town that sells anything espresso and I've got a call and email to them > asking if they've got such parts in stock. I even used your photo you > included in one of your messages. DeLuca doesn't carry Expobar but I'm > thinking that the thermostats are pretty generic so maybe one size does fit > all. > > They didn't get back to me today (Tuesday) but we'll see tomorrow. > > I will let you know more as the saga continues. > Bruce in Winnipeg > On Tuesday, February 2, 2021 at 3:01:41 PM UTC-6 OzAaron wrote: > >> Hi Bruce, >> >> Bingo! I think you may have found your issue. The thermostat should never >> have any appreciable voltage across it; that is unless there is a >> temperature fault (I think it is set to something like 160C or 320F). If >> you are getting 120V across it I'd say that is your issue. As a quick test >> you can swap the thermostats on your boilers, so the brew boiler gets the >> dodgey one and the steam boiler gets the good one. You should notice your >> steam boiler behaving properly then (brew boiler may click out early after >> the swap). >> >> I've only got a Bii, so not sure how the newer ones are wired, but on >> mine, the orange light is in parallel with the steam boiler heating >> element; this means if the thermostat trips out, the light goes out with >> the heating element (even if the pressure isn't up). The switch would >> bypass this issue; which it does in your testing, so I think a faulty >> thermostat should completely explain all the symptoms you are experiencing. >> >> Once you confirm the problem follows the thermostat, you should be able >> to easily source a new one (or maybe 2 to replace both if they aren't too >> expensive). >> >> Let me know how you go! >> >> Cheers, >> Aaron >> >> On Wednesday, February 3, 2021 at 7:00:36 AM UTC+11 [email protected] wrote: >> >>> OzAaron...more to your suggestion...The orange light is off meaning the >>> steam boiler is at pressure. Although, the steam boiler is NOT at pressure. >>> The brew boiler is not getting heat and temperature is in the 70s C. >>> >>> At this point I took the voltage reading on the thermostat as you >>> suggested. It reads the full 120V steady. Then, I turn off the steam boiler >>> toggle switch on the front of the machine (left hand one). Now the brew >>> boiler is getting power. Again, I take the voltage reading on the >>> thermostat on the Steam boiler and now it reads zero. >>> >>> Not sure if all these factors are narrowing down the problem or not. >>> >>> >>> On Tuesday, February 2, 2021 at 10:50:28 AM UTC-6 winnipegger65 wrote: >>> >>>> Thank you for all your suggestions. Herman...I did try the reset >>>> button. That was not the problem, as it was not 'triggered'. Very good >>>> thought though. >>>> >>>> I notice some other odd behaviour. Sometimes all is well. Steam >>>> pressure good and brew temp up to 96C. I'll pull a shot and the steam >>>> boiler engages. Then, the brew boiler just never heats up again and will >>>> drop into the 70's. If I turn off the left hand toggle switch (steam >>>> boiler), then the brew boiler starts to heat up again. Recall I said the >>>> steam boiler did not react to adjusting the gear on the pressure stat. >>>> That >>>> is true SOMETIMES. Sometimes, I can turn the gear clockwise and the >>>> pressure does increase just as it should. Something else too. I have >>>> noticed very loud and rapid clicks from what I would say is the pressure >>>> stat. 5 in a row sometimes. That is not accompanied with the pump coming >>>> on. Just some random clicks. >>>> >>>> Ira...you had some advice on 'jumper the supply and steam boiler >>>> wires'. I'm not sure what that means. Which wires am I to connect? >>>> >>>> OzAraon, I think I did that test. When the steam boiler was heating and >>>> engaged, I took a reading off of the thermostat. The voltage was positive >>>> but pretty small...about half a volt or less. >>>> >>>> Thanks for your ideas all and I appreciate them continuing to come. >>>> >>>> Bruce in Winnipeg >>>> >>>> On Sunday, January 31, 2021 at 9:33:23 PM UTC-6 Ira wrote: >>>> >>>>> Hello winnipegger65, >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Sunday, January 31, 2021, 4:12:39 PM, you wrote: >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Thanks as always for your thoughts Ira, >>>>> If it's really bouncing around then it would seem to follow there are >>>>> bad contacts in the pressurestat. If you jumper the supply and steam >>>>> boiler >>>>> wires does it get hot? Pay attention, because the pressurestat is the >>>>> thermostat on the steam boiler, so don't walk away. >>>>> >>>>> -- Ira >>>>> >>>> -- 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]. 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