Damaged flow meter alarm

[Pete]

First a thank you to all, especially Charles from a short term lurker. The information available here was the reason I bought a S1 VII. What a great machine.
Woke up this morning to a problem. Both single and double dose buttons would result in a damaged flow meter alarm signal. The flow seemed slightly reduced also. Called Chris's Coffee and was told to dismantle the volumetric sensor and look for debris. Three allen screws later - and slightly scorched fingers (it' right in front of the steam boiler) - I found a little brass shaving in with the impeller. Fixed! Cheer's to Chris and his crew for sending me right to the problem. Thanks again to all.

[Niko]

That's really nice thing to hear.
Keep us posted on your machine's status, we'd certainly like to know if anything else goes awry.
You'll always get help from Chris and when you're out of warranty, you always have this site. One way or another with the Spaz, help is available.

[JonW]

This is a somewhat common issue. I had the exact same thing on my S1 V1. Although I would rather have no problems with my machine, it is nice that they are fairly servicable machines. I would much rather spend an hour taking it apart and replacing a part than packing it up and mailing it away.

[chas]

Yeah, these machines are sort of like owning an Italian sports car. You'd better have a good set of metric open end and hex key wrenches and be OK with becoming your own espresso mechanic!

As noted, getting small metal shavings in the mechanisms has occurred to several owners as reported on this forum. However, most have been in the steam or hot water valves. I think you have the distinction of being the first to get one stuck in the flow sensor.

It seems to be an ongoing issue that LaSpaziale and/or their suppliers do not take many pains to attempt to flush out this debris before assembly and shipment.

[fxdxt]

I got this alarm yesterday. VII is 5 weeks old. Thanks to this forum I know what to do. Thank you.
Will take it apart this weekend and fix it.
Funny thing is it still produces espresso just fine.

Tom

[chas]

Choking the machine will also cause this alarm. I actually use this alarm when backflushing to know when to turn off the shot.

[fxdxt]

I'm getting the alarm with just the portafilter in and no coffee in the filter.
The led alarm comes on three to Four seconds after the shot button is pushed.
The flow seems slightly less but I can still pull a 25 second shot??


Tom

[fxdxt]

After of taking off the front panel and three screws on the flow meter I found the infamous brass shaving.
It helped having an inspection mirror as the shaving was up against the inside wall. All is well again.
For any body else who has this problem, the whole process takes about 15 minuets.


Tom

[Niko]

Some pictures of the hooligans (brass shavings) would help. I'd like to see their mugshots and I'm sure other people wouldn't mind seeing them either. Nice to hear another success story and thanks to Tom for sharing this.
How big are these shavings and what shape are they? Maybe if everyone would post them, Spaziale can get a good look at what's being left behind in these parts.
Odd how this problem happens right away, while other times it creeps up many weeks later. It's definitely worth a picture, especially for those guys in Italy, a picture is worth a thousand words, right?

[aptosca]

Had the same problem this morning. And same simple fix. Had to unscrew the screw holding the connector to the flow meter to get the allen wrench in there, but other wise easy.

I don't have a mirror, so I couldn't really see what was in there. By feel, with the tip of my finger, I thought I could feel a little dreck (though you also feel the holes in the surface where the water goes in and out). I used a paper towel to dry it out and then wipe out any material. Put it back together, and the alarm was gone.

I didn't try to examine everything to see if I could find a particular particle.