Water level gauge not working and emergency shut off

[Nathan Sheppard]

Hello,

my water level gauge seems to not be working. It will fill a little bit, but never higher than the minimum water level mark, and when the water pump turns on, water instantly starts coming out of the drain. Also, as soon as the machine reaches full temperature and pressure, the emergency heating element shut off activates.  I know that there is one potential leak and I intend to fix that, but I doubt that the leak is the only problem.  I don't know what's wrong.  I don't have any former experience with working on espresso machines and I don't have an owner's manual or system schematics. I need help.

Nathan

[sam pratt]

Two way I know of to rectify this;  first you can disable the auto fill by disconnecting the probe (metal conductor that sits vertically in the tank.

 

Second way is to physically "shorten" the probe.  I believe it is possible to cut a bit of the probe off or not thread it in as far.  The goal would be to increase the distance from the upper level of where the water now fills to.....But this would only make sense to do if the probe is contacting the water level where it fill to presently.  You can see this visually through the sight gauge.  

 

If it is stopping prior to touching the bottom of the gauge then something else is causing it to ground out prematurely.   What has happen to your machine since the auto fill started malfunctioning?   Has it been some time since you thoroughly cleaned your machine?

--

Sam Pratt
856-816-5147

http://www.linkedin.com/in/sampratt/

[Dwell Projects]

sounds like the refill valve is the problem, I think there is an over pressure valve there that might be the problem, also the fill solenoid could be malfunctioning, ie not opening fully , then the pump creates a high pressure that blows past the overpressure valve.  It is all part of the same piece under the drip tray with the manual fill button which is often stiff.  Take the whole thing apart and check it out... as far as parts go I think you are going to have a tough time, o rings and such can be sourced from an industrial supplier but old faema parts are hard come by.

[frank]

Sounds like a few different and unrelated problems.  I would try to tackle one at a time. 

You've already got some good advice on the refill problem.  The probe is likely too low, which is causing the low fill level.  This probe is easily adjusted.  It is on top of the gauge.  As others have said, taking apart and cleaning the brass distribution block may fix the issue with the over pressure valve.  This is the big brass thing in the front left bottom of the machine.  All of the replacement o-rings and seals from that part can be found at Espresso Parts. 

Second, either your pressurestat is set way too high or your emergency shut off is defective.  You can buy a cheap gauge somewhere to check the boiler pressure or just buy a new emergency shut off thermostat. 

In cases like this, it is usually better to take the entire machine apart and do a full rebuild. 

Here is a link to manuals: http://iacoma.cs.uiuc.edu/~paulsack/faema_manuals/

[Nathan Sheppard]

Hey all,

Thank you for the advice. I dont think that the probe is the problem, because when you look in the view finder, you can see that the water level does not even come close to the probe. I have not fully take apart the three way valve, but it seems to be working fine as well. I will take it appart and replace the o-rings just in case though. I think that the emergency shut off valve may be activating because the water level is dangerously low, at least that sounds like it based on threads about similar problems with other machines. I am hoping that the three way valve rebuild will do the trick, but I can't be sure. Again, I have no prior experience with espresso machines. 

Thanks again for the help.  Any additional help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you especially for the link to the manual.  I have been looking all over the place for one. I know it will be a huge help.

Nathan

[Dwell Projects]

I would disconnect one wire from the heating element until the fill works - would be a pain if the safety malfunctions and you blow the element
check that the water line from the three way to the boiler is clear, if it is plugged you would see exactly what you describe
if you disconnect the three way side water should drain out of the boiler
what is the condition of the boiler? do you have hard water? scale could be plugging the feed line, might be time to take all apart and descale

[Nathan Sheppard]

I left the emergency shutoff activated so the boiler wont heat until it is safe. I do have hard water, but it has not been working since I bought it. The previous owner told me that it was working the last time he used it, which was about a year ago.  The boiler was left full of water. I think that he had hard water as well. My dad thought that it was more likely a solenoid failure than a blockage, but it has been sitting with water in it for an entire year, so I will definitely check it out. 

[Nathan Sheppard]

How would one go about unblocking a line?

[Sam Pratt]

Soak it in citric acid and blow it out with compressed air?

 

Sam Pratt
856-816-5147

http://www.linkedin.com/in/sampratt/

 

[Nathan Sheppard]

Hey all,

just did some diagnostics. Looks like the three way valve and the line going to the boiler are both functioning correctly. Any other ideas?

[Gillian Bezett]

---

From: Nathan Sheppard <shep.n...@gmail.com>
To: faema-compac...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Thursday, 3 January 2013 4:16 PM

Subject: Re: Water level gauge not working and emergency shut off

[Dwell Projects]

you can test  the autofill by disconnecting the boiler fill pipe and turn on the power and water, water should come out of boiler fill pipe quite forcefully

if you ground (touch the wire to any metal) the sensor wire it should stop

you should also be able to manually fill the boiler with the button on the three way valve, it can be sticky, hard to depress and not return to off like mine does but should work

still has to be the three way valve imo

[Gillian Bezett]

From: Gillian Bezett <gbe...@xtra.co.nz>
To: "faema-compac...@googlegroups.com" <faema-compac...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, 3 January 2013 3:41 AM
Subject: please take my name off your mail list thanks Gillian Bezett

[Sam Pratt]

Simple and effective,  solution, but I am no longer understand the issue now?  Pipe is not blocked?  Three way is good?  Can you re-establish your baseline?  What are the known problems?

Sent from my iPhone

[Nathan Sheppard]

Well, I'm not certain that the three way valve is in fact working. The boiler is not filling with water, and the emergency shutoff feature activates every time the machine teaches full temperature and pressure.

[frank]

Is it possible that the thermal fuse (emergency shutoff) is bad?  Seems like it either has to be that or your gauge is not accurate and the pstat is set to heat the boiler too much.