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GFI tripping on VII

Posted: Sat May 16, 2009 1:11 pm
by Bigtwin
My VII is tripping the 20 amp GFI outlet when powering on. Just after the LED's light up, the GFI trips. Service at Chris Coffee has been good to respond via emails but I'm looking for help over this weekend. There is a wire above the two group heater wires, that is siliconed where it enters the group. The silicon seal is faulty and it appears water has been dripping down and across the heater wires and there are traces of mineral deposits on the capacitor and electric motor housing.

Regarding the silicone seal, is this just a simple matter of resealing the wire/probe with some silicone?

Did this leak or could this leak have ruined the heating element?

My machine has been out of duty for about a week and everything is dry. When the group heating wires are connected, the GFI outlet will trip, however, when unhooked the GFI will not trip.

Re: GFI tripping on VII

Posted: Sat May 16, 2009 2:24 pm
by JohnB
If the connections shorted to ground I'd say it is quite possible. I'd be asking for a new boiler cover complete with all factory sealed fittings.

Re: GFI tripping on VII

Posted: Sat May 16, 2009 4:04 pm
by Bigtwin
John, Can I simply seal again with silicone to attempt a fix or is that something that once is broken requires a new sealed unit? I don't know if they'll honor the warranty since it's been 16 to 17 months. This unit was in use from Jan 08 to April 08 and then we moved and didn't get it plumbed until May 09.

Re: GFI tripping on VII

Posted: Sat May 16, 2009 4:27 pm
by chas
Someone else had this same issue a few months back. When they unscrewed the cover from the back of the boiler and pulled out the group element, they discovered that the heater element had sagged down and was touching the bottom of the boiler. They had to replace the group heater element.

If the silicone is where I'm thinking of, it may just be sealing the tube that the temperature probe goes it. While it should be resealed, I don't think it wouldn't cause this issue

Re: GFI tripping on VII

Posted: Sat May 16, 2009 6:12 pm
by Bigtwin
I applied more silicone after drying the area. I then plugged in the machine and when I turned it on, it came on without tripping the GFI outlet and I left it on for more than a minute. I turned the machine off after I notice a few droplets of water escaping from around the silicone.

Perhaps I'm not sealing off the probe as I should. Anyone have instructions for sealing the probe so it won't leak.

(PS: the heater was warm to the touch, so it appears to be working just fine.)

The unit to me, appears to have been leaking from the day I started using it. The pic shows mineral deposits after 4 months of use

Re: GFI tripping on VII

Posted: Sat May 16, 2009 7:34 pm
by chas
Yipes! You win the award for nastiest group boiler I've ever seen. Where is the water coming from anyway?

Where you sealed with silicone there is a tube that goes into the boiler and the temp sensor goes down into the tube. If the water is coming out of that tube, either the tube is cracked or the water around the bolt that holds the tube in is shot. If water is dripping from the back cover, you should order a new gasket, remove the cover the probe and the heater element, and soak the whole thing in descaler until its back to pristine condition.

Re: GFI tripping on VII

Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 1:06 am
by Bigtwin
hmmmmmmmmmm...there was not a bolt . Water is escaping out the hole where the write goes into the group. When I opened up the back of the unit, there looked to be a small spot of silicone where I have added more, attempting to seal up the hole. Looks like it was initially assembled wrong?

Re: GFI tripping on VII

Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 8:45 am
by JohnB
I would definitely discuss the warranty with Chris considering how little use the machine has seen. Did you drain the boilers when it went into storage?

Re: GFI tripping on VII

Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 9:21 am
by Bigtwin
John, It didn't go into storage per say..it went from one kitchen counter top to another in April 08. I removed the silicone I added to show how I found the group. I thought the plastic sleeve was silicone used to seal the hole. I'll pass the info along to Chris. When I first emailed Chris about the unit tripping the GFI outlet, Chris responded and it was about 10PM that night and support (Jason) has been helpful in helping troubleshoot.

Re: GFI tripping on VII

Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 9:24 pm
by JohnB
Your post above says the machine was not used from 4/08 to 5/09. Did it just sit with water in the boilers?

Re: GFI tripping on VII

Posted: Mon May 18, 2009 10:24 pm
by Bigtwin
Good news! Per Jason at Chris Coffee, I removed the metal sleeve with a 5mm allen wrench and applied a couple wraps of Teflon tape and the leak problem stopped. I've had the V2 plugged in and ON for about 2 hours....so far so good. No leak or seep and no tripping of the GFI outlet. Life is just about to get good again.... :) Thanks John for your replies.

Re: GFI tripping on VII

Posted: Tue May 19, 2009 10:39 am
by JohnB
What metal sleeve did you remove? Where the wires go into the tube? I'd still pop the cover off & see what the inside of the boiler looks like.

Re: GFI tripping on VII

Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 9:34 pm
by Bigtwin
John, the place where the wire enters the group, is a metal sleeve and can be removed with a 5mm allen wrench. All I had to do was add some new wraps of teflon tape to the threads and that stopped the very very slow leak. I was anxious to trial the V2 so I put it back together and ran it for a few days. I may take a look at the boiler a little later.