I've had an Expobar Office Lever for 4.5 years and it's worked perfectly. However, about 3 weeks ago, when I raised the lever to open the pump (don't know if that's the right terminology), the machine tripped the receptacle and everything went dark. I reset the receptacle and tried again, and the same thing happened. I waited several hours, turned on the machine and used it without any problems for the next several days. Then, days later, the same thing happened. And again, I waited several hours, turned the machine back on, and it continued to work perfectly for several more days.

Last weekend, I made 3 espressos without a problem. When I made the fourth one, the machine shorted out again. I turned the machine off, reset the wall receptacle, and then, when I turned the on-off switch to on, it immediately shorted out. I figured the problem was getting worse. But yesterday morning I turned the machine on and have been using it without any problem for two days now. Someone suggested it might have something to do with the heater or possibly the 3-way solenoid valve.

Any ideas? I was given the name of a repair place in Petaluma, CA, to take it to. But hopefully I can figure this out before I have to take it in for repair.

Many thanks.
Carol

If the receptacle is a GFI, then there is probably a leak in the machine that is tripping it.

If it's electrical panel circuit breaker that's tripping, then the machine has a serious problem and should be unplugged immediately.

Many thanks. Yes, it is a GFI receptacle. I'll have to figure out where that leak is coming from. But for the moment, the machine is working fine.

Look to see if there is a microswitch that is operated by a cam on the lever (common arrangement on machines like this, but I can't be sure about the Office). The problem could be as simple as copper plumbing coming into contact with the contacts on this microswitch, inside the machine, just behind the front panel.

Of course, there can be many other causes, but this is a pretty easy thing to check visually (machine unplugged, of course).

Jim