Hi, I was working on a Brasilia 3 group Century machine that had an odd problem with the motor or pump shuddering, so I decided to test the motor capacitor, and I DID NOT REALIZE that the leads to that are HOT, with the result that I touched one lead to the motor accidentally - something shorted out or a fuse blew - the dosing keypads no longer work, but the BOILER does get hot. Ok, what is the likelihood I blew a fuse or an internal breaker (which I cannot find) Or I blew one of the logic boards, and I AM CROSS POSTING THIS ON COFFEEGEEK! Ok need comments ASAP, thank you.

DolceVitaBaby wrote:Hi, I was working on a Brasilia 3 group Century machine that had an odd problem with the motor or pump shuddering, so I decided to test the motor capacitor, and I DID NOT REALIZE that the leads to that are HOT, with the result that I touched one lead to the motor accidentally - something shorted out or a fuse blew - the dosing keypads no longer work, but the BOILER does get hot. Ok, what is the likelihood I blew a fuse or an internal breaker (which I cannot find) Or I blew one of the logic boards, and I AM CROSS POSTING THIS ON COFFEEGEEK! Ok need comments ASAP, thank you.

You are in LA; what a coincidence!

Call up Michael Teahan and Angelo Minicozzi, who run a parts business in LA called Espresso Resource. Both are certifiable geniuses, and by total coincidence, both used to be employed by Brasilia as technicians and machine designers.

They should be able to tell you what you have done to the machine, what are the parts you will need, and coincidentally, to sell them to you.

Their number is: 818-786-7179. You can tell them that Ken Fox recommended them on Home Barista.

ken

If there are two circuit boards in the machine, there are dedicated fuses to protect the output circuits of the boards. There should be a 5 amp fuse dedicated to the pump motor. It would not blow the board however, unless it was a more modern board. Modern boards are protected by a system wide 3.13 to 6.3 amp fuse that blows when on short. The fuse closest to the edge is about .5 amp and powers the transformer.

If you are extraordinarily lucky replacing the .5 amp fuse and the 5 amp fuse for the pump motor will bring it back to life.

If not, you have a very expensive kitchen ornament.

The wire you shorted was the one that is in series to everything else in the machine and not running through the board. The board wire is NOT hot, while the other is always on. In Italy, this would have been a neutral wire and NOT been live.

Replacement boards for this machine are special order and a retrofit solution well into the hundreds of dollars.

IF the Century is one of the new ones with the elevated groups, the boards are in stock and less expensive, but the fuses not so protective.

A year of production will help.

Wow this is just EXCELLENT! Ok, further info! (Portofino Machine, older one, SINGLE CPU in small box to the left rear) I replaced the single 6.3 amp fuse in the CPU (Only saw one fuse there) and after I did THAT and restarted it, all the panel lights FLASH - and the fuse blows again. Where am I with this..................what else do I need to look at....what are my probabilities here. But this is just fantastic info guys, so happy to have this resource. I GOT SLOPPY and CARELESS unfortunately.

CAN YOU CONFIRM -the leads to the capacitor are HOT even when the motor is not running? Y/N? Not sure if I grounded the capacitor or the LEADS from the motor, to the motor casing itself!

Suggest you call the number Ken gave you.

Yes a capacitor hold the charge
you will need to remove the wires
and discharge it before touching it with your bare hands
the method of discharging that I use is perhaps not the safe one but I've been doing it for all these years
so I rather not write it
I'm sure you can google
"how to discharge a capacitor"

Hi, I just got over to Espresso Part Source in Van Nuys and became their newest customer. How did I not know about this place 10 miles away from me (no website maybe?) - plus they have everything including these futuristic alloy burrs I have never seen before. Just great - plus they're available for consultation and gave me excellent troubleshooting advice for circuit problems! Highly recommended.

DolceVitaBaby wrote:Hi, I just got over to Espresso Part Source in Van Nuys and became their newest customer. How did I not know about this place 10 miles away from me (no website maybe?) - plus they have everything including these futuristic alloy burrs I have never seen before. Just great - plus they're available for consultation and gave me excellent troubleshooting advice for circuit problems! Highly recommended.

Michael and Angelo are THE BEST

ken