Posted Thu May 15, 2008, 9:10am Subject: Isomac Tea --thump thump hot hot
My tea seems to be buggered --I was running the diswasher, roasting some Kona blend and fired up the Tea to try out some new beans I picked up from a local roaster. All this noise hid the fact the Tea started to make a thumping sound --looking up from monitoring the roasting I saw steam pouring out of the top of the machine.
I noticed the gauges were steamed up and the boiler gauge was pinned all the way 'round. I quickly pulled off the top, shut down the power and ran the steam, hot water, and flipped the lever up. The gauge dropped back down to zero, but I'm afraid to start 'er up again.
Posted Thu May 15, 2008, 9:50am Subject: Re: Isomac Tea --thump thump hot hot
How old is it?
Plug it in but leave switched off: Is heater light dim or flickering or on? - if so, SSR is bad - replace SSR. (they tend to go at about 4 years or so.)
-else-
Pstat is probably stuck on. Play with it or replace it.
Posted Thu May 15, 2008, 10:10am Subject: Re: Isomac Tea --thump thump hot hot
Yeah, that's gotta be the down side of drinking coffee for me --always trying to push the multi-tasking to the limits.
Thanks for the tips Kristi --the machine is about 5 yrs old, although I've had it for about 5 months. Both the red lights -- heater and power light come on when switched on, the weird thing is the lower light (boiler) comes on just when I plug the machine in but not power up...what's going on? The boiler light flickers when plugged in but not powered up, it's pretty steady when turned on.
Thinking you're probably on the money with the pstat.
I cleaned and descaled the other day and wonder if I somehow got some crap lodged in the pstat in the process --I haven't used the machine since then as I ran out of beans --now the irony of having fresh great beans and no machine hurts even more.
Guess it's time I cracked the box and started poking around...must get my digital camera charged up to avoid my usual issues of forgetting where stuff goes and how it looks. It took me a day to get my three-pole/four-pole house light switches fixed after I replaced them all and not paying attention to where the wires ran. It's just as well my caffeine levels are lower despite the pounding headache. :)
jasonmolinari Senior Member Joined: 19 Dec 2002 Posts: 183 Location: atlanta Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Isomac Tea Grinder: Rancilio Rocky Vac Pot: Yama Drip: Single cup Roaster: Poppery II, BBQ drum roaster
Posted Thu May 15, 2008, 12:56pm Subject: Re: Isomac Tea --thump thump hot hot
Your pressurestat is likely shot. It is an easy replacement. I ordered mine from Chris Coffee. Took the old one off, put the new one on, and good to go.
Funnily i thikn mine died shortly after a full descale as well. Mine was about 4 years old.
Posted Thu May 15, 2008, 2:07pm Subject: Re: Isomac Tea --thump thump hot hot
Obvious Said:
Yeah, that's gotta be the down side of drinking coffee for me --always trying to push the multi-tasking to the limits.
Thanks for the tips Kristi --the machine is about 5 yrs old, although I've had it for about 5 months. Both the red lights -- heater and power light come on when switched on, the weird thing is the lower light (boiler) comes on just when I plug the machine in but not power up...what's going on? The boiler light flickers when plugged in but not powered up, it's pretty steady when turned on.
Thinking you're probably on the money with the pstat.
I cleaned and descaled the other day and wonder if I somehow got some crap lodged in the pstat in the process --I haven't used the machine since then as I ran out of beans --now the irony of having fresh great beans and no machine hurts even more.
Guess it's time I cracked the box and started poking around...must get my digital camera charged up to avoid my usual issues of forgetting where stuff goes and how it looks. It took me a day to get my three-pole/four-pole house light switches fixed after I replaced them all and not paying attention to where the wires ran. It's just as well my caffeine levels are lower despite the pounding headache. :)
Look at your phrase " the weird thing is the lower light (boiler) comes on just when I plug the machine in but not power up...what's going on?"
It's your SSR that's bad, NOT the pstat.
That's why I asked about that.
Electrically, The Italians wired AC hot FOR THE HEATER through the SSR, and NOT through the switch. DUMB, That's why, when the SSR goes - constantly partially on or full on - the boiler light is ON , AND THE HEATER IS HEATING, even when the power switch is OFF.
Since I'm cracking the case is there anything else I should looking at to replace while there? Any improvements over the stock fittings, etc that maybe I should consider replacing for a machine of this vintage?
Thanks again for the help...I've been grieving over this all day...and dusting off my old Cimbali Domus as temp replacement --sure glad I didn't sell it!
yup. sorry - "SSR" means solid state relay" - the pstat gates low amperage to turn the SSR on and off - the SSR switches the high amperage heater. This saves the pstat contacts as it only switches a few milliamps to gate the SSR. I think there's 1 screw holding the SSR down. I found a lot of gunge under mine, but when I installed the replacement, I found/find that it runs very cool, so it's not heat that's causing them to fail. - not sure what. Funniest damn thing - looking at it, switched off, and the heater light's on! You can find cheaper ones on ebay, but chris may be a quick easy option for you. (120vac gate switching 120vac(min) 20 amps or more) - be careful - many on fleabay are DC drive. Click Here (cgi.ebay.com) that's the only one I see at the moment, the rest are DC or resistive. They come and go.
Since I'm cracking the case is there anything else I should looking at to replace while there? Any improvements over the stock fittings, etc that maybe I should consider replacing for a machine of this vintage?
No, not really - you've just tested your over pressure valve :o) so just look at fittings for any obvious bad leaks, but don't fret over any white fuzzy calcium deposits you find unless they are really large - A little leaking around the fittings is "normal". If you see anything that looks untoward, take a pic of it and post it. Eyeball the wires and all, but all should be just fine. A good time to look at everything andsee if you understand its function and workings. It's a nice machine!
-->Make sure you put the replacement SSR in correctly - small screws (input) on same end as now. otherwise you'll blow your gicar. or giemme or whatever it is. - I did and had to resolder a trace. I was a clutz. I was lucky I was able to fix it - computers are 150. bleah. Good adventure, though!
Thanks again for the help...I've been grieving over this all day...and dusting off my old Cimbali Domus as temp replacement --sure glad I didn't sell it!
-Pete
Yup, always good to have a spare around (which I don't have at the moment).
(note to true DIY hackers - if you happen to have a SSR that's DC driven lying around, you can use a wall wart - drive the wall wart with the pstat and use the output of the wall wart to drive the DC gated SSR.) It runs VERY cool - I stuffed mine under the water reservoir plate)(the wall wart)(a small one I snagged at goodwill just for that purpose) (of course after all that I found the AC driven one that I thought I had in the parts box. Remember, it's the adventure!!!
Posted Thu May 29, 2008, 4:15pm Subject: Re: Isomac Tea --thump thump hot hot
Sigh...I just replaced the SSR, also the pstat and pressure relief valve for good measure.
Fired the Tea up and let it sit for about 20-30 mins watching it intently for leaks...none. Alas nothing else going on either -- the green light doesn't come on and the pressure doesn't rise. When running the pump it works fine and moves water thru the grouphead and is warmish (~140f).
Nothing happening via the steam or hot water --I reckon the low temp is the cause of this.
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