The S1 Cafe - Helping Your Espresso Dreams Become Reality

Hello all S1 users,

I've had my S1 since 2007. Very happy, no problem until this past summer I was away my wife told me that it didn't turn on for more than 30sec - 1 min et turn itself off afterward...
No clue I told her to disconnect and I'll check when I'll be back. couple weeks pass and when I came back plugged it and fine it was not a single glitch... Clueless...
Been working perfectly since except today I tried to change my incremental temp for a new blend. I can access the 2 amber lights but from there nothing else work as it should... The ONE CUP button and BOILER button do nothing. I tried to disconnect it for a bit more than an hour and no luck. Maybe my mainboard (computer) is dying?
Anyone have had the same problem?
Anyone have a clue?


Thx

nic

I am sorry for you Nic.
I have no real grasp of what is happening with your machine and cannot say that I can help you. The only thing that I could ask is if have you used the La Spaziale timer and removed it? Or could the timer switch have changed setting?
The only time that my machine went all nutty on me was when the timer switch was set to "timer mode" and I was not using the timer. Nothing made sense in the electronic. As soon as the switch was set back to no timer and a complete shut down (unplug and re-plug) everything cleared and I never had a problem after.
Good luck.

Hi Nic,

I can access the 2 amber lights but from there nothing else work as it should... The ONE CUP button and BOILER button do nothing

I discovered today that I have the exact same problem.. :(

Did you figure this out? If so, I'd love to hear how you resolved it.

-KK

When all else fails, trying reading the owners manual. You'll find the answer in section 5.2.

Endo wrote:When all else fails, trying reading the owners manual. You'll find the answer in section 5.2.

That would have been great but...
Section 5.2 of my S1V1 is a diagram of the control board...
I've read section 5.2 of the newer model mini and S1V2 and it doesn't apply to my machine.

But that reading got me to read all pdf I have on the vivaldi and BINGO!
Thx Endo!

Apparently at some point in time we switch the board into a different mode. Which mode I don't know...
excerpt from "LaSpaziale VII 2008 Firmware Upgrade Manual"
...
Changing from VI to VII Mode
If the green lamps flashed when you plugged in your machine do this step. With the VII in
Standby mode (ON/STBY blinking green), press and hold the Hot Water button for at least 10
seconds. The three yellow lights will blink once which indicates that your machine is now in VII
mode.
...

I tried it (cuz nothing to loose )
And bingo it worked! I have access to incremental temp adjustment now!
So one question left: what mode it was in before since I don't own a V2?????!!!???
Could it be that I have access to the features of a 2008 V2 without knowing it???
I'll check the programming of the V2 and will toggle it to V2 mode and play with it later today. Wouldn't it be cool (and sad) if I had access to all those (V2 2008) features since I bought it! Increments in 1C instead of 5C so no use of +-3C that would explain how it was acting... But then do it has teh proper probe etc....

Will let you know.

nic

That solved my issue too.... yay! However, in my case the three green lights blinked (85/90/95) instead of the yellows, you mentioned. But I am now able to access the incremental temp option.

Thanks a bunch Nic!

Kiv

nicfortin wrote:
I tried it (cuz nothing to loose )
And bingo it worked! I have access to incremental temp adjustment now!
So one question left: what mode it was in before since I don't own a V2?????!!!???
Could it be that I have access to the features of a 2008 V2 without knowing it???
I'll check the programming of the V2 and will toggle it to V2 mode and play with it later today. Wouldn't it be cool (and sad) if I had access to all those (V2 2008) features since I bought it! Increments in 1C instead of 5C so no use of +-3C that would explain how it was acting... But then do it has teh proper probe etc....

Will let you know.

nic

The S1 V1 has had Fine Temp control since 2004. See page 5 of the V1 manual: s1v1/S1Pix/S1OwnersManual.pdf

JohnB wrote: The S1 V1 has had Fine Temp control since 2004. See page 5 of the V1 manual: s1v1/S1Pix/S1OwnersManual.pdf

Yes I know this is what I was missing on mine since this summer.
I haven't had the chance to play with the "other" mode tonite.
What I can say for now is I have access to a different mode with the control board on my S1V1 and it give me access to what looks like the temp range of the VII 91-97C and for sure I have access to the 0C -8C offset temp via BOILER button.


Excerpt from "LaSpaziale VII 2008 Firmware Upgrade Manual" :
...
What to Check on Initial Power Up
It is uncertain whether your controller board will come up in VI mode or VII mode as the initial
default. While plugging in the VII (don’t forget to turn the water back on first!), for 1 second you
will either see three yellow LEDs flash or three green LEDS flash. If the yellow ones flash you are
good to go. If the green ones flash your machine is in VI mode. It must be reset to VII mode or the
programming options that follow will not work.
Changing from VI to VII Mode
If the green lamps flashed when you plugged in your machine do this step. With the VII in
Standby mode (ON/STBY blinking green), press and hold the Hot Water button for at least 10
seconds. The three yellow lights will blink once which indicates that your machine is now in VII
mode.
(If you repeat the process above, the three green lights will blink indicating that the machine is
back in VI mode. In other words, each time you hold in the Hot Water button for 10 seconds
while in Standby (ON/STBY blinking green), the mode toggles.)
If in doubt as to which mode you are in, just unplug the VII and then plug back in to see if the
three yellow or three green lamps blink once.
...


SO my guess (to be tested...) is if I toggle to "VII" mode I could have a temp range from 91C to 97C so no more use for that incremental of plus or minus 3C. That would explain why I didn't have access to it. Next thing to be tested : would that mean it will have the decreased delta of 1/2C?
And as soon as I get my digital thermometer repaired I will scace it and check (and set if necessary the offset temp.)

cheers
nic

In order to produce the S1VII, LaSpaz had to redesign the controller board a bit and redo the firmware. In order to cut down on inventory items, the new code has V1 and VII modes. Since then all V1s and V2s share the same controller board. When the board is in use in a VI it is placed in V1 mode prior to shipment and the VIIs are placed into VII mode. As noted in the User's Manual, it is possible to inadvertently switch modes. That's why they have a different color set of lamps flash on the control panel when the unit is plugged in so that you'll know which mode you're in.

The take aways here are:
1) Every V1 shipped since the VIIs were introduced can be put into V2 mode.
2) When you inadvertently switch modes on a V1 or a VII all your "sticky" settings are wiped out.
3) The VIIs use temperature probes with a slightly tighter tolerance so VII mode on a V1 won't have quite as good a temperature regulation as a true VII but it will be at least as good as it was.
4) People on this forum who have switched their V1into VII mode have noted they Chris Coffee will sell them a new VII stick on label for the control panel that shows the 1C temp increments.

If you've had this S1V1 since 2007 & have never changed the control board I don't see how you could have the 0C-8C offset option which wasn't even offered on the S1V2 until summer 2009(?).

chas wrote:3) The VIIs use temperature probes with a slightly tighter tolerance so VII mode on a V1 won't have quite as good a temperature regulation as a true VII but it will be at least as good as it was.

Hey Chas, my Mini V1 was built in late 2009. Is there any way to tell if I have the tighter tolerance brew temp probe? From wires perhaps (mine looks like this):

Endo, unfortunately I have no idea how to tell them apart. I think the original probes are good to 1C and the newer ones to 0.5C.

Endo, here is a picture of my S1V1 mini, manufacture date is December 2009.
Looks very different to me. Hope this assists you.

I don't understand the whole "offset" conversation. Is there a bench setting in the machine that offsets the temperature from the reading that the user selects on the control panel? Is this compensation from thermal loss in the group? If it is, how do i find out the offset for my particular machine and how do I adjust it myself?

The temperature at the thermocouple probe (boiler water temp) is not the same as at the LED indicator (shot temp). The boiler temp is typically higher by several degrees, since there is naturally some temperature loss as the water travels from the boiler to the coffee grounds. This is account for partially by a "hardwired" termpature offset which cannot be adjusted. Since every machine is a little different, they also have an addtional "softwired" offset which can be adjust by the user to suit his particular machine. This offset is adjusted (calibrated) by CCS using a Scace. Other vendors leave it at the factory setting of "zero" (no lights). An informal poll we did of users a while back indicated the average offset was about +3C.

http://www.s1cafe.com./viewtopic.php?f=57&t=1364

This is what I would recommend you use if your machine is NOT from CCS, or if you do not have access to a Scace device.

The temperature at the thermocouple probe (boiler water temp) is not the same as at the LED indicator (shot temp). The boiler temp is typically higher by several degrees, since there is naturally some temperature loss as the water travels from the boiler to the coffee grounds.

Makes sense.

they also have an addtional "softwired" offset which can be adjust by the user to suit his particular machine

Do you know how to do this?

Other vendors leave it at the factory setting of "zero" (no lights).

I have been using the styrofoam cup/meat thermometer idea for awhile now. It was good for putting me in the ballpark. I can now see why I have been having such problems... the V1mini was at a factory setting or the thermal sensor is out of whack. My control panel is set at a whopping 102 degrees C. Using 14g. of coffee, I get 2 full oz. after crema has settled down. I am not sure that the pressure is a perfect 9 bar, but I bet it is real close. I do have a gauge on the portafilter and I set to 9.5. I do 2 warming flushes. 10 sec each, 20 sec apart. The shot stays caramel color with striping til the very end, no anemic blonding. For years I have been pulling ristrettos thinking it was normal. I got my Mahlkunig 17 days ago and have been struggling ever since with my shots. But I knew it wasn't the grinder, one less variable to think about. I trusted the grinder, it is so awesome. Bought it from CC after trying Compak K-10 and returned it. The grinder has a counter on it, so far I have pulled 224 doubles and 122 singles,.... my apartment smells like a coffee shop.

(to clear the chute of old grinds I do a single programmed dose, I have it timed for 1 second, dumps 5 grams as waste or stale)

An informal poll we did of users a while back indicated the average offset was about +3C.

couldn't figure out how to add to the poll, there wasn't a place for a -7C offset anyway!