Hi All,

I was given a broken La Spaziale 2 group machine that was not heating.

It had been apparently looked at by an engineer who told the guys that the element was so scaled up that it had burned out the heating elements and that with a boiler pressure test, required by law, it would cost £1500 and you may as well buy a new machine.

They have since bought a £6k new black and white bean to cup machine and stopped doing decent coffee.

I stripped the panels off the machine and got to the elements (I know very little about espresso machines, or fixing things really)

They were easy to get out and not madly scaled, yes there is some scale but the machine has been in use daily for the last 8- 10 years with the same CTU. So was expecting it to be much worse. A quick clean and they were pretty shiny again and the resistance seemed to match that of someone else who had posted about their repairs.

I ended up taking the boiler out and having a clear out of some flaky scale and put it all back together.

It now heats up.

After about 4 minutes of being on the fill pump kicks in and wont stop. I though this was the fill sensor being scaled up and have since fitted a new one.

I found an Italian parts catalogue with exploded diagrams of the machine so ordered the bits from La Spaz in the UK. They are super helpful when it comes to parts etc but I dont think they have the time to help diagnose problems. They keep suggesting I call out an engineer....

Being a home project and not having the money it would be great to get this working without great expense.

Be amazing if anyone has any suggestions on the next steps of diagnosis!

Welcome to HB!

The probe replacement didn't solve your issue I assume, otherwise you wouldn't be asking for help.

How long did the pump run in seconds, minutes? Is the boiler full yet? They do take a while to fill, and I think that model has a 10 liter boiler, so probably 5 liters or so will need to be pumped into the boiler. With a vibration pump that will take quite a while.

I was nervous about turning the machine on without any water in as didn't want to burn out the element.

Unfortunately this machine doesn't have a setting one/ setting 2 scenario to pre fill before heating so I have used the manual fill valve to get the water in the glass water level sight up to about half way between the full and empty markers.

After doing some initial heating the pump then just runs, I would say I have been brave enough to let it fill for a minute or so, until it gets nearly to the top of the glass water level tube.

I have then turned it off. (and siphoned water out of the boiler as there doesnt seem to be an effective drain on the machine anywhere?)

The new fill sensor didn't seem to make any difference.

All help/ suggestions greatly recieved

Will post some pictures to see if that helps

This is with the old fill sensor attached

This sounds like a logic board issue. If the wire from the fill probe to the logic board is not loose then its a logic board problem. How long did you let the pump run? This is a rotary pump so it should be a rather quick refill but it is a commercial machine so it does require more time to fill. Also if the pump is not adequately building pressure to pump water that could also be the reason why its taking a while to fill the boiler.

Now as for your heating element it sounds like the scale wasn't horrible thus the rest of the machine might not be in too bad of shape.

Thanks Contraflow,

The pump was running for maybe 1 minute, the issue is not that its taking a while to fill, as long as the glass fill level tube is to be believed, its that it keeps filling!

Thanks for everyone's help so far. Will investigate the logic board, although its sounding like it might be time to call in the pros.

Being a home project I don't really have the cash to pay commercial engineers but think that might be the way forward

Thanks

Another thing to consider....I had a 2 group Futurmat years ago that also had a manual-fill switch. The boiler kept filling if this switch was 'stuck'...like when it was bumped etc. Could the manual-fill switch be 'stuck' in the fill position?

With the Futurmat it was just a matter of pulling the switch back out to the normal/off position.

Worth checking...


Cheers,
Paolo

Being a home project I don't really have the cash to pay commercial engineers but think that might be the way forward

Sometimes, this is best. However, first you want to check what Marlon advised that the connections from the level probe to the control board are solid and that this wire shows 100 percent continuity from end to end. You will need a digital volt-ohmmeter or a friend who knows how to use one.

If the connection at the control board is solid, then connect the male spade at the level probe end to a known good ground. This "fools" the board into thinking that the boiler water level is OK. The pump should not run.

Print out a copy of this thread and hand it to the technician when he shows up (if it comes to that). I would contact La Spaziale for the number of their nearest technician.