VII Steam Boiler Issue - No pressure, Steam, nor Hot Water
Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2015 11:40 am
I recently had an issue with my 5YO VII that never gave me any major problems. I'm logging this here since this site is such a great resource and the information might help someone in the future.
Symptoms:
- Within the span of a few days, steam pressure started becoming erratic. Steam would weaken and strengthen.
- I started detecting a minor leak from the steam boiler side. This would eventually subside and go away
- A few days after this started, I hear a loud metal on metal "pop". I was unable to determine the source of the noise.
- The day after the pop, I was unable to get steam from the wand, no hot water in the tap, and steam pressure was zero despite power to the boiler, and the boiler was hot.
Investigation/diagnosis:
- Researched this site and worked with Tim from Chris Coffee. Determined issue with steam boiler via youtube video exchange. Tim saw that my water level probe was sitting too high. Here's the video I provided to Tim:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ev5J15HX0Q
Corrective action:
Adjust water level prove such that probe is completely inserted into boiler (insert probe to the 'curve' of the probe'). This adjustment fixed the issue.
What happened?
Evidence indicates that the water level probe had risen from it's original, fully inserted position. The machine operated for 5 years without issue. Reason for water level probe rising from it's position is unknown. I believe that steam pressure over the course of the 5 years of operation incrementally 'pushed' the probe outward. As the probe rose, the boiler would fill with more water, reducing the head space available for steam pressure to build. The initial indicator of erratic steam with water ejected from the wand was the result of just enough steam to provide pressure, and some water also being ejected due to it's high water level.
I suspect the metal 'pop' sound was the probe being ejected from the steam boiler due to steam pressure and hitting the metal cup rest at the top of the machine. But that distance is a bit far, so it maybe just the sound of the probe 'breaking away'. Once that occurred, the boiler filled completely, with no head space for steam pressure to build. Effectively, minimal/no steam pressure was available to push water out of the wand, the hot water tap, and the pressure gauge read zero. This allowed water to easily leave the vacuum break causing the leak. I had a steam boiler filled with hot water.
-----------
At this point, I'm back in service and enjoying the machine again. Huge "Thank You" to Tim at Chris Coffee Service to get me back up and running. He provided and detailed responses to my questions, diagnosed the problem and fix complete with annotated pictures all for no charge. Service like that is few and far between now a days. Since the cost to repair for me was $0, I took the cost of what it would have taken me to ship and repair the machine, and purchased a the timer and other items from Chris'!
I'll post the video that allowed Tim to see what was happening, and the supporting information he gave me to fix the machine. Hope this helps someone in the future, and thanks to previous contributors for providing the information on this great resource that makes it easy to work on a machine I had no previous experience working with!
Attachments provided by Tim detailing the fix follow.
Symptoms:
- Within the span of a few days, steam pressure started becoming erratic. Steam would weaken and strengthen.
- I started detecting a minor leak from the steam boiler side. This would eventually subside and go away
- A few days after this started, I hear a loud metal on metal "pop". I was unable to determine the source of the noise.
- The day after the pop, I was unable to get steam from the wand, no hot water in the tap, and steam pressure was zero despite power to the boiler, and the boiler was hot.
Investigation/diagnosis:
- Researched this site and worked with Tim from Chris Coffee. Determined issue with steam boiler via youtube video exchange. Tim saw that my water level probe was sitting too high. Here's the video I provided to Tim:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ev5J15HX0Q
Corrective action:
Adjust water level prove such that probe is completely inserted into boiler (insert probe to the 'curve' of the probe'). This adjustment fixed the issue.
What happened?
Evidence indicates that the water level probe had risen from it's original, fully inserted position. The machine operated for 5 years without issue. Reason for water level probe rising from it's position is unknown. I believe that steam pressure over the course of the 5 years of operation incrementally 'pushed' the probe outward. As the probe rose, the boiler would fill with more water, reducing the head space available for steam pressure to build. The initial indicator of erratic steam with water ejected from the wand was the result of just enough steam to provide pressure, and some water also being ejected due to it's high water level.
I suspect the metal 'pop' sound was the probe being ejected from the steam boiler due to steam pressure and hitting the metal cup rest at the top of the machine. But that distance is a bit far, so it maybe just the sound of the probe 'breaking away'. Once that occurred, the boiler filled completely, with no head space for steam pressure to build. Effectively, minimal/no steam pressure was available to push water out of the wand, the hot water tap, and the pressure gauge read zero. This allowed water to easily leave the vacuum break causing the leak. I had a steam boiler filled with hot water.
-----------
At this point, I'm back in service and enjoying the machine again. Huge "Thank You" to Tim at Chris Coffee Service to get me back up and running. He provided and detailed responses to my questions, diagnosed the problem and fix complete with annotated pictures all for no charge. Service like that is few and far between now a days. Since the cost to repair for me was $0, I took the cost of what it would have taken me to ship and repair the machine, and purchased a the timer and other items from Chris'!
I'll post the video that allowed Tim to see what was happening, and the supporting information he gave me to fix the machine. Hope this helps someone in the future, and thanks to previous contributors for providing the information on this great resource that makes it easy to work on a machine I had no previous experience working with!
Attachments provided by Tim detailing the fix follow.