I have a semiautomatica in my kitchen. The circuit has a GFI. When the machine warms up enough for the pressure gage to hit the top of the green zone it trips the GFI. I put a CEME pressure stat in it a couple of months ago. I suspect a short of some kind. Any suggestions on how to test / narrow this down. I hate to buy another CEME (that I can't return) without a little more confidence that it is the problem.

Thanks!

-Chris

Does the GFCI trip the moment the heater goes off? In that case, remove and replace the connectors on the pstat, and check particularly that nothing is touching the unused normally open connector.

Otherwise, the GFCI is tripping as the temperature increases, and something is coming into contact with the ground as the machine gets hot. Remove the base, put the machine on blocks, and peek at the base with a mirror while it heats. If there is a steam leak from a fitting in the base, it would start as the machine heats and might just trip the GFCI. Otherwise it's a connector or stray wires at a crimp coming loose or coming into contact with the case.

I've never had it happen on the Semi, but it plagued me on two other machines, and it took a long time to hunt down. You need to check for stray strands of multistranded wire, the seal between the heating element and the boiler, and other tiny things like that, since GFCIs are oversensitive. Having an Ohm meter in the megaohm range helps, since it will register the ground fault as a high resistance (rather than an open circuit) between hot and ground. When you fix the fault, the reading will return to an open circuit.

Does the GFCI trip the moment the heater goes off? In that case, remove and replace the connectors on the pstat, and check particularly that nothing is touching the unused normally open connector.

Yes, I believe it is when the heater turns off. I removed and replaced the pressurestat connectors and I am able to pull shots again. Probably not a "fix" but at least I shuffled the deck to the point where I can enjoy a few shots as I search for the root cause


Jim, thanks for the help!

-Chris