khjcho Senior Member Joined: 30 Mar 2008 Posts: 5 Location: Bellevue, WA Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Rocket Giotto Evo v2 Grinder: KA modded Drip: FP, Clever, AP
Posted Fri Feb 15, 2013, 12:20am Subject: Help - Lever left in middle position for hours!
Well, the wife accidentally left my beloved Rocket Giotto on with its lever in the middle position for about 4-5 hrs. The manual says to never do this, but doesn't elaborate why. I found the machine on, with the reservoir low on its water level (it's not plumbed in yet), the green on and not blinking, and the water quite lukewarm at the grouphead. I opened the lever fully and it took a few seconds to pressurize, and now everything seems to be working fine as usual. I'd guess that the boiler didn't go empty only because the green light wasn't blinking, but I have that slight tinge of paranoia. Can anyone shed any light if I've shortened the lifespan of my precious Giotto? Thanks in advance.
DavecUK Senior Member Joined: 21 Sep 2005 Posts: 924 Location: UK Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Fri Feb 15, 2013, 5:55am Subject: Re: Help - Lever left in middle position for hours!
No you will not have done any damage at all.....you have simply emptied the heat exchanger in the Boiler (the thermosyphon stops working), the group will go cold. Operating the machine as you have done will bring everything back to normal. Your machine will be fine. It is impossible to damage a single boiler HX machine in this way.......if it was a dual boiler, or single boiler non HX then it might be a different matter.
Whatever anyone says....you have NOT damaged your machine.
SStones Senior Member Joined: 24 Nov 2012 Posts: 209 Location: Canada Expertise: Professional
Espresso: Giga 5, ECM Giotto, Rocket... Grinder: Anfim Milano-Best Vac Pot: No :( Drip: Some $30 thing from Walmart Roaster: I buy pre-roasted.
Posted Fri Feb 15, 2013, 5:59am Subject: Re: Help - Lever left in middle position for hours!
I don't think it could do any damage, it just potentially lets the heat exchanger slowly boil dry... Hence the long run to get any flow back to the group head. It also defeats the thermosiphon routine of the heat exchanger when the circuit isn't sealed, so you'd want to let it sit and stabilize for 25 minutes after refilling the heat exchanger, then do your group flush before extracting your next shot. If the flush isn't steamy and appearing normal, give it more time to stabilize, though 25 minutes should have been plenty to get the circulation of the boiling heat exchanger.
Hope this soothes your nerves. I can't imagine anything was damaged by leaving the machine in the mid-way position. The heat exchangers are built like tanks and the grouphead is mostly brass with a few stainless steel springs and rubber seals. Other than the seals, it is indestructable.
Posted Fri Feb 15, 2013, 8:07am Subject: Re: Help - Lever left in middle position for hours!
You can do a search at Home Barista.com for "Thermosyphon stall" for details. Even if the boiler was set to 2BAR steam pressure the temperature would be only 248 F. SO long as the autofill for the boiler was operating properly I would have no worry. I think that the action is more about low group temp causing poor espresso. otherwise, maybe about leaving the brew valves spring in the compressed position, but even then, it would probably take months (if not years) to cause some loss of compression force.
The only thing would be to run the drew cycle and flush until a good stream of water came out the group and then allow it to heat until the group reaches operating temperature.
khjcho Senior Member Joined: 30 Mar 2008 Posts: 5 Location: Bellevue, WA Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Rocket Giotto Evo v2 Grinder: KA modded Drip: FP, Clever, AP
Posted Fri Feb 15, 2013, 11:49pm Subject: Re: Help - Lever left in middle position for hours!
Thank you three gentlemen for allaying my fears. Glad I didn't make much mention of it to my Valentine! :) I think I'm more worried about having to deal with my retailer WholeLatteLove should something go wrong with the machine. So far I've been less than impressed by their responsiveness, and I'd hate to have to go through a warranty claim. Anyways, thank you again guys for weighing in. I really appreciate it!
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