Dec 6th, 2021 Update: I’ve ordered a new heating element for the Brewtus IV-R’s steam boiler from WLL ($75). When it arrives, my friend who is mechanically adept will install it. If that fixes the problem, fine. If not, also fine. I think I may be done.
I got out my 11-year-old Brewtus II from storage. It was working when I retired it in 2019, but not anymore. The steam boiler heats up to 0.7 bars, then shuts off. I’ve changed the pressurestat twice and tried adjusting the pressure with the notched ring on the Pstat, but to no avail. The steam boiler shuts off prematurely, which means that the brew boiler won’t heat up at all. Now I have two dead Brewtuses. I’m tired of this, and I think my long espresso hobby may be at an end. I went from steam toys in the 1990s to a Starbucks Barista, then a Gaggia Classic, then two LeLit PL041s (one without PID, one with), then the Expobar Brewtus II, and finally the IV-R. That covers about 30 years. Here’s the thing: I don’t drink straight espresso. Heck, I don’t even like it. I like milk drinks — cappuccinos, lattes, flat whites. And for those, I really don’t need an e61 prosumer double boiler espresso machine. When the Brewtus IV-R went down last month, I bought a $16 moka pot and a $23 countertop electric milk steamer-frother, and I’ve been perfectly happy since then. Combined with my home-roasted fresh, single-origin beans and good grinders (I have three — a Baratza Vario, Baratza Sette 270, and a Compak K-3 Touch Advanced), the coffee I’m making now is as tasty as anything I’ve ever had, and this includes from coffeehouses in Seattle. Nothing against the Brewtus, but these machines tend to be unreliable, to break, and require repair fairly often. If you’re an engineer or a skilled mechanic (as many Brewtus owners on this group are), that’s OK. Not so for me. I don’t live where there are repair facilities (formerly the Oregon coast, now the middle of Missouri), I’m not wealthy and don’t want to ship 70-lb hulks off to WLL, and I’m often not skilled enough to repair them by myself when they break. Yeah, I’ve watched hundreds of videos, and this forum has helped me numerous times over the years, for which I’m grateful. Still, I’m old, disabled, and fed up with the hassle. Yes, I could afford to buy a Profitec Pro 300, a Lelit Elizabeth, or even a Lelit Bianca or ECM Synchronika, but why ask for more trouble? Are those machines bulletproof and guaranteed not to break? No. So, thanks for all your help, but I think it may be time for me to retire from this game. On Friday, November 26, 2021 at 8:33:20 AM UTC-6 todds wrote: > Most likely the hot wire and neutral wires that come in for your plug are > reversed on the back of hte main power switch. And the heating element has > ver tiny crack in it and is using the water as a ground. Therefore there > are not controls to break the connection since tne "neutral wire rung > directly to the heating element. but since the wires are reversed you have > a hot wire going directly to the heating element. > > Todd > Whole latte Love > > On Thu, Nov 25, 2021 at 10:51 PM Kevin Maciunas <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> On 26/11/21 9:00 am, billherbst wrote: >> > Kevin, what you wrote makes perfect sense to me. I'll bet you're right >> > that the pressure switch is no longer sensing boiler pressure because >> > of scale blockage in the copper pipe. The city water in Columbia is >> > ridiculously hard — 255 ppm, according to my cheap little tester. >> > Scale was the cause of the problem I had a year ago with the boiler >> > refill valve sticking. That's why I asked whether scale could cause >> > the problem in my original post. I'll remove the copper pipe that >> > connects the pressure switch to the boiler and give it a citric acid >> > bath. >> > >> Sometime ago I downloaded the "Brewtus Compendium" - a PDF file >> outlining how a PID controller is added etc etc - by C.S. Lennon. Very >> useful document. It doesn't actually reflect the standard wiring on >> mine (mine has an SSR controlling the brew boiler, and the diagram does >> not show that...); but it is really handy for diagnosis flow chart time! >> >> The wiring shows the heating elements fed mains and going through the >> steam boiler pstat. The other lead on the pstat is the N/O lead and it >> then goes to the brew boiler. So if the steam boiler keeps chugging >> away it can only be the pstat.. >> >> The document is available on the brewtus group pages somewhere. I >> commend it to everyone! >> >> Apropos water :) Here, at my house, I use only rainwater. I have a >> choice of rainwater or water from my dam and I'm not drinking that! The >> rainwater is perfectly 'soft' and scale is simply not an issue for me. >> But I regularly de-scale friend and family machines. Citric is your >> friend in that endeavour, but one place you might find it tough to get >> to is the bottom of the U. For a couple of $$'s you can get a bicycle >> brake cable inner. Get a stainless one, carefully 'fluff' the end a >> tiny, tiny bit and you have a robust 1.5m or so long device you can push >> through pipes to clean them. Fill with citric first, of course, and >> then chimney sweep style clean the sucker! That has not let me down >> yet, and it even works with thermoblock machines! >> >> Cheers >> >> /Kevin >> >> -- >> 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 view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/brewtus/956494a2-d120-58b3-9f9b-6c78239ae8bc%40gmail.com >> . >> > -- 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 view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/brewtus/08c5075d-a0a9-405b-af6e-50553e5ec8cen%40googlegroups.com.
