Can anyone help with my problem?. I have the semiautomatic which is about two months old. I decided to give the boiler a descale. I emptied the machine on its side through the steam wand, filled up with descaler, heated up and waited two hours. I then emptied the boiler, filled up with fresh water, then emptied again and turned the machine upright again to fill with RO water, this time the lights did not come on. I remove the yellow cover at the base and pressed the reset button, there was a click, the lights came on again and I filled up with RO water and started to heat the boiler. The boiler reached mid temperature and did not get any hotter. I let the machine go cold and turned on again, the lights came but the boiler did not even get warm. Can anyone help with my problem please. Also does anyone know if I can download a breakdown of the machine in case I need to work on it, thanks, ray.

That is the gauge temp pressure reading?

Hi stefano65 the temp reading is zero because the boiler does'nt heat up. The lights are on and everything works but the boiler, ray.

I misread I thought you said it was getting warmer
if you are sure that you did reset the
thermostat
then check for voltage at the heating element terminals
if you get a voltage reading
then you heating element took a dive
if not trace back voltage to thermostat and pressurestat

Make sure you really hit that reset button firmly again.

Howard

Thanks for the help lads, I have pressed the button real hard and it worked and now the boiler is working again, many thanks, Ray.

I am looking for help again, I thought my boiler was working because the light came on. The boiler is still not heating up. How do I check for voltage at the heating element terminals to see if the element is broken. I have multimetre

There's a "boiler on" light on the right that lights when the heater engages. Is it lit? If not, you have a pstat problem.

If it is lit, unplug the machine and turn it off. Do a continuity/resistance check on the two boiler terminals -- it should read around 13 ohms. If it reads as open, the heater has failed and needs to be replaced. You'll need to send the machine in or check with Stefano if your DIY is up to snuff.

If the heater wattage reads OK, there's a loose connection which you'll have to hunt down.

Hi jim the boiler light come on and everything seems to work except the boiler. I have checked with the multi metre and there is no reading at all, also no noise from the continuity check. The power is definitely going to the terminals, I got a full voltage reading so it looks like the element has failed. I am quite good at diy, is it a difficult job to replace the element?. Ray.

Sorry to hear it -- if there's no continuity, the heater is fried. This happened to me once on another machine -- the heating element had a slightly cracked case which failed immediately during the acidic descale. I've never replaced the heater on the Elektra. You can email your vendor, Stefano or Jim P, and set up a talk with their tech people. They'll tell you what's involved, so you can tell whether it's something you're set up to do..

Thanks for the information Jim, I live in the UK and so far I have not been able to find anyone who does elekra spares, I am searching at this moment. If I have no luck I will send machine back to Elektra Italy. Got my gaggia up and running again, regards Ray.

There is an elektra importer in the UK is a big coffee roasting company
called ( not sure about the spelling )
Matthew Algie

cbrew wrote:. . . I have the semiautomatic which is about two months old.

Let me first say that I know nothing about your machine other than what I have read and pics I have seen in Jim S's fine review. Now I do realize that circumstances differ from user to user but removing a heating element from a machine that is under warranty(?) would not necessarily be on my list unless there were no other alternative. Furthermore, there APPEARS to be a few items you need to remove to gain access to the element and that, by itself, could be the source of a headache or two.

Hello again, just an update on the machine. I have some had some very good advise from Stafano's espresso care. He sent me a breakdown of the machine and some tips on removing the base. Hope to have the machine working agian soon. Thanks to all at HB for your help. Ray.

James asked if I would document the steps to replace the heating element, I will try my best. Tools needed, set of mm open ended spanners from 16mm downwards. 8mm socket is ideal to remove the base bolts if you have one and screw drivers, (posi and blade). To begin remove the posi screw located under the drip tray, unscrew the nut connecting the fill pipe below the water reservoir, unscrew the pipe at the bottom of the boiler where it goes through the base using a 12mm spanner.Turn the machine over and place on the floor. Put a box or anything you have, to come level with the base of the machine, this is to rest the base on when you remove it,see photo. To begin, remove the plastic base cover, remove the pressurestat, then remove the flexible pipe, pull the wires off the heating element and make note to replace correctly. untighten the pressurestat pipe from the heating element using the 22mm spanner and remove. Next untighten the other pipe from the heating element and the nut that connects to the solenoid valve and remove the pipe from the element. Now gently pull out the probe of the element safety switch and put out of the way. Now remove the four bolts holding the base to the boiler using the 8mm spanner or socket. There are two (in my case) black wires coming into the base from the brew head, these have to be pulled off the connectors, one from the solenoid and the other from the brew switch, make a note where to replace. The reason for disconnecting these wires is when you lift off the base the wires travel down through the rubber grommet in the base and gives you enough slack so you can place the base on the box which you put next to the machine, (remove the base). Having done that the rest is easy. Using the screw driver remove the screws and pull out the heating element, make a note how to replace the new element in the same position. Before fitting the new element I poured a half ltr of water into the boiler so that when I had replaced everything and turned the machine the right way up I could check for leaks, and also when I started the machine up again I would have water covering the heating element. Refit the new element. Place the plastic insulator onto the boiler with the cut out facing the drip tray. Lower the base with your left hand and with your right hand guide the pipe through the rubber grommet in the base onto the boiler. Make sure every thing is lined up as before and replace the bolts and tighten using the 8mm spanner. Replace everything in reverse order and the job is done. I hope this will help some one. Ray.

Nicely done. Thanks for the writeup. It'll help anyone who needs to do major repairs on the Semi.

Thanks so much for posting the boiler replacement instructions. It would have taken me all day to figure it out on my own. With the instructions I did it in about an hour. I'm not thrilled that the machine has needed a new p-stat and boiler in less than 18 months of use, but I still love it. Blinded by beauty I guess, not to mention by great espresso.