The S1 Cafe - Helping Your Espresso Dreams Become Reality

Hello Forum.

I am new and this is my first post. Thank you for your patience as I learn from you forum members the rules and culture of this community.

I recently bought a used SI Vivaldi that was originally purchased in 2009 from Chris Coffee. The first owner used it for a few months and then, until a few weeks ago, has had it sitting in his garage. With the very helpful staff at Chris Coffee I have bought a few things to bring this very excellent machine back to life. As in the case with anything sitting around unused for awhile, there are still a few issues that I am working through.

One in particular involves the hot water tap on the machine. I had seen this forum thread, viewtopic.php?f=28&t=1135. With the machine on, boiler light constant, I will press the hot water button and hear a very faint click. Nothing comes outs. I did use white vinegar to "clean/descale" the spigot head, but have not ventured any further. I though I would tap into the brain trust of the forum before I go rushing in.

Any assistance would be much appreciated.

Thank you...

There are two solenoids that open when you turn on the hot water. So when you hear a click it's hard to tell if both solenoids have activated or only one. The first solenoid lets cold water flow into the boiler. However, if this water path is blocked you will even have trouble with proper steaming. If you can steam and steam and steam and hear the pump coming on refilling the boiler, then your problem is probably on the output side of the boiler.

Sometimes minerals will build up right where the tubing for the hot water enters the boiler. So it is worth unscrewing this connection and scraping out any minerals you might find in this area. Since a right angle connector is used on the boiler you should ream out all the way into the boiler using a pipe cleaner or something similar.

If that doesn't do it, remove the bolt from the solenoid. Check out the photos on this page if you don't know which tube or which solenoid is the proper one. s1v1/S1Photos.php.

The part labelled B in photo 4 is the solenoid for the hot water. Remove the bolt on the left side and slide the black housing left to remove it. Then you can access the plunger part of the valve. Pull it out and clean both the plunger part of the valve and up inside the housing.

You can best see where the hot water tube attaches to the boiler in photo 5. It is on the left and closest to the bottom of the boiler.

Last but not least be sure to unscrew the end of the hot water nozzle and check that the screw is not clogged with deposits.

If you have tried all these things and it still doesn't work it could be the solenoid itself, but that is the least likely.

Chas has given you the full story. When I had an issue with water delivery it was scale in the solenoid valve for the hot water output. A soak in white vinegar and a good brushing with a tooth brush cleaned it out.

I pull some hot water every time I make a cup of coffee to help heat the cup and also to be sure that the water in the steam boiler is getting "refreshed" with unboiled water to help reduce scale formation from the boiling in the steam boiler.

Thank you both for your quick and constructive replies. Looks like I will be needing to take out a few tools and do some blockage removal. Kind of sounds like heart surgery, hehehe...

I will reply next with the results so as to add the body of knowledge on this forum.

Thank you so kindly...