My drip tray is filling up Why?

Post by **Mizspresso** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 3:48 am

Hi all,
I've had my Spaz for about a month now and am noticing the drip tray fills up very quickly. I've even taken to flushing the steam arm into another vessel, but the tray seems to fill up in about 4 days.

I make maybe 2 to 3 capps a day.

I don't really know the mechanics of what is going on. For instance, after pulling a shot and removing the portafilter, I hear a draining water sound. Is water being directed into the drip tray from somewhere?

Also, periodically during the day I hear a pump come on. Not sure if it is the Flojet or the Spaz, but something seems to be pulling water in.

Is this normal? Can someone fill me in?

Thanks

Post by **Niko** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 4:58 am

All of the above sounds normal.
The steam boiler auto refill is what you're hearing during the day when a pump comes on.
The dripping is another story - you can make adjustments to slow it down or make it stop entirely.
Every 4 days before the drip tray fills is pretty average.

Post by **JohnB** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 11:47 am

I don't see why your pump would run during the day unless you are drawing water/steam or pulling shots. Once its full its full & unless water is draining off there is no need for the machine's pump to run. I empty my tray every day as I will often pull warm up flushes directly into the tray. Also I really don't want that grungy water sitting in there for extended periods.

chas · Post by **chas** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 12:28 pm

The first thing you need to do is remove the front panel and check out the two tubes on the lower right side.

The one on the left which looks just like a copper tube is the pipe that directs the water from the 3-way valve into the drip tray. The brass fitting adjacent to the 3-way tube is the expansion valve that is supposed to be the overpressure relief valve in case of a group boiler failure.

Your next steps will depend on which one the leakage is coming from.

On a perfect machine - and not too many of those exist - the three way should only drain for a bit after completion of a shot. A perfect expansion valve also drips for several seconds after pulling a shot but many of them drip for several seconds each time the group boiler cycles. For machines in this latter category, I found that the drippage accumulates around 6-7oz per day. This rate will fill the drip tray every few days, but it sounds like you have something more going on.