Excessive steam from one group - Magister ES-100

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AlanBStard
Posts: 11
Joined: 12 years ago

#1: Post by AlanBStard »

I just connected up my used Magister ES-100, fiddled with it a bit, heated it up and started trying it out. I'm totally new to such contraptions. The left group seems to put out a normal flow I think, the right one however pumps out a massive stream of a mixture of steam and water.

If I let this run for about 200 ml it will subside to a stream of water, but will build up steam again quickly when flow is stopped.

Both groups run fine when machine is cold.

Steam wands and hot water dispenser appear to operate fine.

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allon
Posts: 1639
Joined: 13 years ago

#2: Post by allon »

Is it pure steam or flash boiling water?
If just steam, it could be a leak in the thermosyphon loop or HX. Does the boiler pressure spike when running that group?
If flash boiling water it could be a missing flor restrictor on that group.
LMWDP #331

AlanBStard (original poster)
Posts: 11
Joined: 12 years ago

#3: Post by AlanBStard (original poster) »

A mixture of steam and water. I will heat the machine up again in the evening when the weather gets cooler.

You mean flow restrictor? Is it easy to check? Is there a video for the general procedure and does it have a part number here?:
http://www.espressoresource.com/index.p ... &Itemid=53

AlanBStard (original poster)
Posts: 11
Joined: 12 years ago

#4: Post by AlanBStard (original poster) »

Boiler pressure is stable. Where can I check the flow restrictor?

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erics
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#5: Post by erics »

The below pic is not your machine nor boiler BUT it is a Magister.

Skål,

Eric S.
http://users.rcn.com/erics/
E-mail: erics at rcn dot com

AlanBStard (original poster)
Posts: 11
Joined: 12 years ago

#6: Post by AlanBStard (original poster) »

Thanks but could you direct me a bit more, I'm quite new to this technology :D

In case it matters I will reiterate that if I pour around 150 ml of this steam-water-eruption, I will get normal flow. Until it gathers steam again, rather quickly.

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allon
Posts: 1639
Joined: 13 years ago

#7: Post by allon »

The boiler is kept super hot. 115 degrees Celsius or so.
If the water were that hot coming out of the group, it would flash boil, which it does. That's why HX machines need a flush to get cooler incoming water entering the HX and being heated the right amouny before coming out of the group.

Many of these machines use a thermosyphon to keep the group head hot while idle. This is a loop from the top to the bottom of the HX passing through the group head. A convection current gets established that transfers heat from the boiler to the group head.

Problem is that this circulation can keep the group head too hot, so to slow down the circulation, a restrictor is put in the line.

Your problem is that one group is running hotter than the other. Maybe it is missing a flow restrictor.
Or maybe the other group is running cooler than the other. It could have the thermosyphon blocked with scale. This would prevent the circulation required to keep the group at temp.
LMWDP #331