Steam Boiler won't stop refilling!

[johnnyboy5]

Hi all. I had an interesting thing happen recently. I have a Mini VII and it came with the water filter attached to the the water intake line in the container. Because I use RO water exclusively in the machine, I decided I wouldn't use filters, and so when it was time to discard the filter, I removed it and just attached the water line near the bottom of the water container, without the filter. Since I did that, from time to time, when the water gets low, the steam boiler makes a louder noise than usual and seems to keep refilling. It got to the point several times where I have to turn off the bolier to stop it, and even the entire machine. For clarity, this is after I refill the container with water. Then I'll turn the machine back on iand it seems to work OK. On one or two occaisions, I have had to repeat this a couple of times. I am worried that I am damaging the pump. Does anyone have any suggestions as to why this is happening? Maybe its as silly as the way I've positioned the suction cup that holds the water intake line. Suggestions anyone? many thx.

[Endo]

I had the exact same thing happen to me.

I started off using the BestCup water softener provided with the machine. I asked my dealer for a replacement once the 3 month replacement time came up but it's been 1 year and 3 months now and I'm STILL waiting!! My dealer sucks. (I regret buying local and should have simply drove down to Chris Coffee!)

In any case, back on topic.....

Needless to say, out of necessity, I've also switched to RO water in my kitchen water cooler, and I now use that for my Mini. It may not taste quite as good, but since my dealer is charging $40 for the filters (if they ever arrive), I think I'll simply stick with the RO. Besides, since my Mini steam boiler is an earlier model with no drain plug, I don't want to chance using hard water if the filter runs out.

So I removed the filter as well at first and simply left the filter base in the bottom of the resevoir in case I ever decided to use the filter again. The problem I discovered is that by doing this, the water inlet is actually ABOVE the point where the low water level float cuts off the pump. So when you run out of water, the pump will suck in air and need to be re-primed before it will work. So what happens is the steam boiler water level sensor asks for water, but the pump can't deliver. So it runs forever (and can easily burn it out if left too long).

I think turning off the machine and waiting allows air to somehow bleed out of the pump so that if can get going again. But obviously this not the best method.

The answer is quite simple. Remove the filter AND base AND silicon line from the brass one-way valve in the resevoir. This lowers your inlet to well below the float cut-off so you'll never suck air again. Ideally, if you can put a small NON-RESTRICTIVE screen over the inlet to protect the pump from foreign debris, this would be best.

Good luck. Let me know how it goes.

[johnnyboy5]

Thx for the response Endo. Interesting. So you're suggesting taking off the water intake line altogether and just let it get sucked in with the brass fitting? Is that what you did, and it works consistently? Thx.

[Endo]

So you're suggesting taking off the water intake line altogether and just let it get sucked in with the brass fitting? Is that what you did, and it works consistently?

That's it. Remove everything plastic. The problem is now gone on my machine.

[johnnyboy5]

OK, thx. I'll try that in the morning.

[johnnyboy5]

Just wanted to close the loop on this topic. Took your advice Endo, and it works like a charm! Thx again.