The S1 Cafe - Helping Your Espresso Dreams Become Reality

My machine has decided it will stay in economy mode. When I turn it on it seems normal then goes into the mode shown in the attached photo. My manual says hold the boiler button down for 10 seconds to turn off the function. I've tried that several times to no avail. Any ideas on getting the machine back to normal?

Check out section 4.3 in the User's Manual. According to that, the lights I see on in your picture mean that the boiler temperature probe has gone bad.

Time to call Chris Coffee.

Chas is correct in referencing section 4.3 in the manual.
Can you at least pull shots? According to the manual this is a non-blocking alarm so you should be able to make straight espresso for a while until you fix the problem.

Thanks for the responses. Yes, I can make my espresso, I just can't make my wife her cappas. I'll call Chris on Mon. I assume he is closed on Saturday. How often does this happen? My machine is only 5mo. old. Any ideas on what would cause this?

OK, I'm not saying yours was caused by this:
Hard water can destroy a heat element, the deposits build up all over it until it just stops working eventually. It can happen really fast, an untreated system can go bad in a matter of several weeks depending on how bad the water quality is.
I'm assuming you have yours on the softener/filter system, these parts can go bad on their own for almost no apparent reason sometimes.
Did your fan work properly, the one that cools the triac? If this fan stops working it can blow the element as well.
Were you able to hear the fan everytime the steam boiler cycled on?

My machine is hooked up to a 5 gal. spring water bottle with a flojet, so I don't think it is water related. As for the fan, I can't say that I ever could hear a fan running when the steam boiler cycled on.

Do you have a 220V machine?

No, my machine is 20A 110. I just asked my wife about the fan noise & she has a very keen sense of hearing, I left mine at 60s rock concerts. She reports that she has never heard any fan noise. I'll bet that if I have a fan in my machine it isn't hooked up. I'll check tomorrow & report.

That very well could be the cause of your problem my friend. Let us know what you find...

I opened up my machine this morning. There is a fan & its power wire is connected. It doesn't go on. I'm not sure if it would in the mode I'm in at this time. I turned the machine on & waited thru the cycle of green lights to the point where I got the damaged boiler temp. probe alarm (lights 19-20-21 on), & at no time did the fan turn on. Also, the steam boiler is stone cold. I assume that I can do the repair myself if Chris sends me the parts. Is that correct? Also, has anyone installed the programable timer on their machine? How hard is it to do? What is the cost? Are you happy with the mod?

At this point you may be in a sort of Catch-22. The fan only runs while the boiler heater element is active. So if the fan is the reason that your boiler failed you won't be able to tell for sure if the fan works or not until the boiler problem is resolved.

During the period of time when you first turn on the S1 up until the error lights comes on, does your boiler lamp ever blink? If so this is when the fan should be running.

BTW: Even in 20A mode, when first started up, the group heats up first before the boiler fires up for the first time. Only after this initial warm up can the boilers turn on at the same time. I assume this was a safety thing since this is the only time when both boilers would otherwise be on for an extended period. When the boiler would first turn on to heat for the first time, is this when you get the error lamps?

If you're a tech geek and have a ohmmeter you can always check the boiler heat element. You should get some low ohms result but not zero or open. Also if you have a 12v battery (a 9V might even work) you can hook it directly to the fan to see if the fan spins. Both of these with the unit unplugged of course!

Tom on another thread had to do same thing:

"Just for info purposes the element should read 10 ohms when in good condition."

wforum/viewtopic.php?t=372

First unplug your machine.
Then remember to disconnect the wires on the heating element when
you take your Ohm reading!! ! 10 Ohms ia a good reading

Of course 120 across the fingers is properly a better eye opener than espresso

Tom

fxdxt wrote: Of course 120 across the fingers is properly a better eye opener than espresso

Tom

I'll take a double please...220 for me!

My machine is up & working fine again. Chris sent me a new heat element for my boiler at no cost because my machine was still under warranty... Many thanks to Chris & Jason for the help. I spent about an hour taking the old one out & putting in the new one, & all is well again. Since my last post our new kitchen with espresso bar has been completed. I'll post pics of the set-up soon.

And the fan runs now, too?

Yes, the fan runs also...so quietly that you have to put your ear down on the counter, but it does run.

JM, glad you got your machine back up. Events like this just keep reinforcing how important it is to buy from a solid dealer. Kudos Chris.

Cheers

Ian

It sounds like the steam boiler is the weak link in this machine. If you subtract off all the "failures" resulting in metal shavings getting stuck in a valve, loose parts, etc. and stick we true part failure.

The steam boiler elements seems to fail most often followed by the steam boiler temp sensor. It appears that 5-10% of users get hit with one of these.