The smell of burning plastic

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zoomin

The smell of burning plastic

Post by zoomin »

Turned the machine on for a rare afternoon coffee today and smelled burning plastic after a few minutes.

Pulled the plug.

Found that one of the black plastic covers on top of the boiler had burned through.

Using this pic again http://www.home-barista.com/forums/user ... nsides.jpg there are three *things* covered by plastic covers (all white in this case). In my machine the center, squared off plastic cover is white but the two on either side of it are black.

Anyways, the left one in this picture burned through. The electrical connection underneath it is blackened.
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chas
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Re: The smell of burning plastic

Post by chas »

That happens to most of the machines sooner or later. The copper wire strands start to corrode in the hot, humid environment which causes it to eventually overheat and melt the wire insulation and the black cap. I finally bought a better design for the crimp connectors that integrates a section of shrink tubing. That seems to keep the moisture out and protects the wire from corrosion.
Chas
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zoomin

Re: The smell of burning plastic

Post by zoomin »

So a simple re-wire should take care of it then?
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chas
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Re: The smell of burning plastic

Post by chas »

Chas
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richardcoffee
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Re: The smell of burning plastic

Post by richardcoffee »

Do you think it's worthwhile to do this as a preventative measure in a 3 year old machine?
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chas
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Re: The smell of burning plastic

Post by chas »

richardcoffee wrote:Do you think it's worthwhile to do this as a preventative measure in a 3 year old machine?
Absolutely!
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richardcoffee
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Re: The smell of burning plastic

Post by richardcoffee »

zoomin wrote: Using this pic again http://www.home-barista.com/forums/user ... nsides.jpg there are three *things* covered by plastic covers (all white in this case). In my machine the center, squared off plastic cover is white but the two on either side of it are black.
I can't see this picture anymore - but in any event, my plastic covers are L shaped, or what Del City calls Flag connectors I guess. And so far, I can't see signs of deterioration. Do you suppose La Spaz has changed the covers they use? I'm trying to figure out if I have enough wire to work with to change to the heat shrink ones.
peter

Re: The smell of burning plastic

Post by peter »

Bean,

This thread 'boiler won't shut off' had some similar discussion. The jumper on top of the steam boiler looks like that'd be an easy job w/ some fresh wire and fresh connectors. I'm wondering what the difference would be between the special connectors chas linked to in this thread, and simply using standard connectors and shrink-wrapping them after crimping.
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Re: The smell of burning plastic

Post by richardcoffee »

Thanks Peter,
I think I'll leave mine alone for now too. Although I do like the idea of making up a couple of those jumpers just in case. I'm interested too in the photos comparing 2 machines on the home page here. Sorry I can't figure out how to link to it, but here's what it says, "The photos below show some key differences in the internals of the Vivaldi II relative to the original S1. Incremental modifications are made over time. Both the S1 Vivaldi I and the S1 Vivaldi II units shown below are early production models of each machine. You may see minor differences in your machine. It is a given that the wire colors will be different as LaSpaziale doesn't seem to stick to any specific wire color code."
What interests me in the photos are what appear to be spark plug boots. Do you think that would work to provide better protection for these connectors? I wonder why they stopped using them?
peter

Re: The smell of burning plastic

Post by peter »

I'll have to look at those photos...

My guess is the old style spark-plug boot thingies were good for splashes or liquid moisture, but still wouldn't seal out moisture/dampness.
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