Economy mode on 15A machine

Post by **Barry** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 2:53 pm

I am a little confused. This morning I got up at 5:45, stumbled into the kitchen, and turned on my 15A S1. At 6:30 I went into the kitchen and noticed the Economy LED light was on and the boiler LED light was off. I opened the steam valve thinking I had screwed something up and was able to get plenty of steam. The hot water dispenser, however, would not operate. My questions are:

1. Isn't the 15A unit always in Economy mode regardless of the LED?

2. Has anyone ever had there machine produce steam when the boiler LED is off?

3. Doesn't the boiler LED indicate that the steam boiler is actually off if it is not flashing or lit?

4. What purpose does Economy mode serve on a 15A machine?

5. How does one actually shut off the steam boiler on a 15A machine?

chas · Post by **chas** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 3:37 pm

1. Isn't the 15A unit always in Economy mode regardless of the LED?
Yes, but since Economy mode is always on the LED should always be On.

2. Has anyone ever had there machine produce steam when the boiler LED is off?
The boiler isn't always off in Economy mode.. The LED off just means the element is On at that time. It'll still product steam.

3. Doesn't the boiler LED indicate that the steam boiler is actually off if it is not flashing or lit?
Same answer as above

4. What purpose does Economy mode serve on a 15A machine?
It just means that the Steam Boiler and the Group Boiler are never on at the same time. They cycle altermately with the group getting preference.

5. How does one actually shut off the steam boiler on a 15A machine?
Momentarily pressing the Boiler button is supposed to do it. Have you read this manual yet?
http://www.rimpo.org/s1/S1Pix/S1OwnersManual.pdf

If you've got steam, I'm not sure why you didn't get hot water. That one has me baffled. When you get steam but not hot water, what does the pressure gauge read? You may want to call Chris to see if your unit has a problem or if you have found an "undocumented feature". Does anyone else have a 15A model than can validate this?

Post by **Barry** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 4:03 pm

My impression from the manual was that the Boiler LED does not indicate what the heating element is doing but that it indicates:

1. flashing = boiler is on but not up to operating temp. (element must be on).

2. solid on = boiler is on and at operating temp. (element may or may not need to be on).

3. off = boiler is off all together (element is off).

If this is not the case, how do you know if the steam boiler is off? I suspect that the boiler was on (which it had to have been at some point), came up to temp. I must have turned it off (hence the LED was out) thus it was able to produce steam, however, the water would not work since the switch is tied to the boiler having power?

I apologize if I am over analyzing, however, I have to believe that if the boiler LED is not lit, the boiler is off (and obviously the element). Otherwise, you have no way of knowing that it is off.

chas · Post by **chas** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 4:35 pm

You're right. If the Boiler lamp is Off the boiler is powered down. This should only happen in either 15A or 20A mode via a momentary press of the Boiler button. If the power is cycled Off, then back on the S1 is supposed to go back to Boiler active mode.

Your analysis is probably correct.

Post by **Barry** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 6:24 pm

Well clearly something is now wrong. My boiler LED will no longer go on...at all...ever. The boiler does appear to be heating up, however, pressing the boiler button simply takes it in an out of economy mode. Unplugging it did not appear to change anything.

chas · Post by **chas** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 8:22 pm

Sounds like a call to Chris Coffee Tech Support is in order.

Post by **Barry** » Sat Dec 18, 2004 8:24 am

Isn't it ironic how these things always happen on Friday night! Everything appears to be working perfectly even though the LED will not come on. I will post the results of my conversation with Rodger on Monday.

Regards,
Barry

Post by **Barry** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 1:43 pm

Spoke with Chris Cramer who is Chris's Coffee S1 expert. He helped me through the process of getting to the circuit board where the entry keys are. Mounted on the board, in edition to the LED's, is a connector which is soldered onto the board. It turns out that the soldering job on mine was less than optimal. One of the connection points was some what loose in the via it passed through. I cleaned the contacts and put a little pressure on the connector. Once I reconnected the wire harness, everything operated ok.

Regards,
Barry