Plugged Giclar Valve Fixed!!!

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Plugged Giclar Valve Fixed!!!

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I've had an issue with my steam boiler almost since I bought it that wasn't too bothersome, but lately it's worsened. Used to be if I pulled 2-3 mugs of hot water in a row, the pump would run and run and run, then the S1 would shut down with just a blinking boiler LED. Seems like this happens if the pump runs for a full minute without filling the boiler. At this point you have to unplug the S1 before the On button will respond. I didn't pull that much water very often so it was an easy thing to live with.

Lately, all I have to do is pull one mug AND I often have to go through the unplug/plug routine at least twice before the steam boiler completely refills. I have checked the water pressure and flow into the S1 and it is fine. Chris has recommended that I check the water flow into and out of the solenoid valve. With luck it'll be a restriction I can clean out or worst case I can order a new valve from Chris. About the only other thing in the water path is a passive 3-way valve that splits the water flow to each boiler. Hopefully it doesn't end up being an obstruction in there as that's a lot harder to get access to.

I'll report back with what I find. Hopefully, I can troubleshoot this problem without either getting burned or flooding the kitchen, :) In the meantime, has anyone else observed anything similar with their S1?
Last edited by admin on Sat Jul 01, 2006 11:06 am, edited 1 time in total.
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User avatar
admin
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Posts: 170
Joined: Wed Jun 02, 2004 11:48 pm
Location: Krakow

Post by admin »

I got it fixed. It took me much longer than it should have because I wasn't sure what I was looking for. However, now that I know, if it happens again it was a simple fix that I could have accomplished in 15 minutes.

It turns out that the water outlet from the solenoid valve that controls water flow into the boiler is a very small hole only slightly bigger than a pin head. That hole was almost completely clogged by a mineral deposit and some green copper oxidation. I reamed it out with the tip of an ice pick and now it works perhaps better than when I first bought it. Now I can pull about 3 cups of water and the boiler refills in 5-10 seconds. A single coffee mug refills in just a couple of seconds and lesser amounts sometimes don't even make the pump come on.

All you have to do is disconnect the transparent hose from the end of the solenoid valve to gain access to that hole. Then what I did was reconnect that end of the hose and disconnect the other end where it attachs to the boiler. I then turned on the power and let the water run into a pan for several seconds. It's a good thing I did because a bunch of crap flushed out of the valve that would have otherwise ended up in the boiler.

I'll post some pics this weekend that will make it clearer as to what I did.

Chris tells me what I reamed out was the giclar valve.
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