Electrical problem -- diagnosis please....

General Questions and Comments that fit no specific category.
Post Reply
italyhound

Electrical problem -- diagnosis please....

Post by italyhound »

I have been having an intermittent problem that has become more problematic. It's hard to explain since it seems to change all the time. The basic thing is the machine's lights are screwy - I can unplug the machine and it resets but it is getting annoying.

Standby, boiler and temp lights are the 3 players:

boiler light may be off, temp on and power on but turning boiler on shuts power.

temp lights on, boiler off, power blinking. Machine wont turn on.

I am pretty sure these are the scenarios - I could be wrong - and there may be more. I hope this kind of description rings a bell. When this happens there is no getting all 3 lights illuminated at once. I have to unplug it.

I hope the answer does NOT involve shipping this thing to Chris!

Thanks in advance.
oton

Re: Electrical problem -- diagnosis please....

Post by oton »

No idea, sorry. But I can tell you that my boiler light turns off when the machine starts to heat it a little; however the boilers works OK.

Quality Control... mmmmmm... :|
Dodger1

Re: Electrical problem -- diagnosis please....

Post by Dodger1 »

I hope CC can diagnose and fix this problem over the net.

However, if you have to send it back, be sure to ask them to send you a prepaid UPS shipping label; with full insurance. You'll most likely have to reimburse them but their "commercial" UPS shipping rates are extremely reasonable.
JohnB

Re: Electrical problem -- diagnosis please....

Post by JohnB »

First thing I would do is check all the connections behind that control panel as well as those on the back of the control box.
italyhound

Re: Electrical problem -- diagnosis please....

Post by italyhound »

Spoke to CC today. I am going to go through a checklist to see if something may be triggering this problem. It may be that the pattern of lights is an alarm message. One thing I noticed is that it first started to happen when I ran hot water through the machine for tea. It would go down. CC thinks its probably a filling issue.

This morning I awoke to the boiler light blinking and machine was not on.

So, I will - in order:

1. Check flow rate to be sure machine is filling quickly and properly. The water runs through a now vestigial filter-softener system (whole house softened now). Also check what else may be fed from that water line that needs water and may steal from the VII.

2. Test presssure a few times to exclude pump issue.

3. Look for a blocked inlet valve. More tricky but not impossible for me to do at home according to CC.

Will see how it goes....

Evan
italyhound

Re: Electrical problem -- diagnosis please....

Post by italyhound »

I realize that I should have put this thread in the repair forum.

Anyway, I have an update. The machine is kicking off when trying to fill the tank. The problem likely lies in the path of water fill, pump valve or elbow fitting at the boiler. This as per CC. They told me to take the back off, unhook the tubing from the elbow at the boiler and turn the machine on. If I get water through it, the problem is not the fill or pump valve but perhaps a clogged valve at this elbow fitting. If no water, then fill or pump valve.

CC said the instructions to do so are on this very site. I see on the VII site how to remove the top and front but not how to get at the back - with pictures of what is back there.

Can someone help me with a link? :?:

Thanks

Evan
JohnB

Re: Electrical problem -- diagnosis please....

Post by JohnB »

The rear cover is held on by 2 screws at the top accessed by removing the cup warmer tray & two at the bottom just under the rear of the machine. It is also captured by the side covers so you will at least need to remove the rear upper & lower side cover bolts so you can spread them enough to get the back cover off.
italyhound

Re: Electrical problem -- diagnosis please....

Post by italyhound »

Well it is fixed and here is what I did.

Mind you I am not techie but CC was able to walk me through this with little difficulty. I needed to get teflon tape and a long open wrench set (used the 11/16) to make it a no brainer.

I removed the back panel and unhooked the teflon tube from the boiler. I noticed some scale in there and tried my best to dislodge it with a paper clip. The fitting to the boiler was not clogged (water came out of it retrograde).

I then removed the flow meter so I could access the adjacent fitting to remove it from the diversion chamber. I pulled out a little screen and I also turned (4x and then back) the regulator valve to dislodge anything else that might be in there. According to CC, this is where the problem is 99% of the time when getting a fill error on the boiler (blinking boiler light after a 1 minute time out - the boiler senses no filling and times out).

I put it all back together - the hardest part since I kept losing screws in the side panel grooves. Next time I will use a rag to plug the holes.

Works fine now. I have a home water softener but I suspect in my previous home there were periods where the softener cartrdige that I bought with the V2 was spent.

If it happens again I will descale the whole system but I will cross that bridge when I come to it. CC says to use a citric acid flush over a few days time - doesn't sound too hard to do.

Hope this helps someone.

Evan
JohnB

Re: Electrical problem -- diagnosis please....

Post by JohnB »

Was the screen clogged?
italyhound

Re: Electrical problem -- diagnosis please....

Post by italyhound »

I don't know where it was hung up - other than scale at the end of the teflon tubing going into the boiler - I didnt notice much. I removed the screen - the tech told me not to bother putting it back.
italyhound

Re: Electrical problem -- diagnosis please....

Post by italyhound »

After 2 months of normal operation the machine is doing it again and worse than ever. I am sending the machine back to Chris' and will report back what they found and did for the issue.

Evan
Post Reply

Return to “General Q&A”