Just got the machine yesterday. One leak out of the canister between the two boilers that houses the steam boiler pressure valve. There is a pin hole in the stainless housing where the outlet tube is welded on. For now it is patched, but the piece will be replaced.
How do you get to "machine off" programming? I have gotten to that menu (starts with Language) twice but for the life of me I cannot figure out how I did it or repeat it. I know it is some combination of holding down the function and power (tea) buttons.
Any help appreciated.

You have to turn the machine off. Then just hold the FN button down for five seconds and you'll enter "Machine Off" programming mode. But you need a pretty good reason to go there.

Thanks got it. I had read the manual before and not seen this clear instruction.
Now I can get to that menu. I changed the probe sensitivity to 'high'. I have very wet steam at the moment, trying to see if that makes a difference. It seems like there is too much water in the steam boiler. I can get good steam if I run the tea button for 10 seconds first, then purge the wand.
How is the steaming on yours?
Have you set your service intervals or water filter intervals? Can't quite figure out what the numbers would mean. Number of shots?

I have not played with the filter or service intervals. Regarding the steam, however, I have the "burn-me" wand installed which is supposed to produce drier steam than the stock cool-touch version. About 10ml of water is discharged at the start (yeah, I even measured it), then I get a few seconds of fairly wet steam before the steam clears to reasonably dry. I simply hold a folded barista towel under the tip to catch the initial discharge and wet-ish steam.

I checked with Mark at Clive Coffee, and we tried several Quickmills, Alexes and Vivaldis for comparison. Some produced more water upon opening the valve - as much as double - and none produced less. I also didn't notice that the steam on any of the other units was appreciably drier. It's possible that tweaking some of the GS/3's settings could better things a little, so if your experiments result in some improvements, please let us all know!

Derekb wrote:Thanks got it. I had read the manual before and not seen this clear instruction.
Now I can get to that menu. I changed the probe sensitivity to 'high'. I have very wet steam at the moment, trying to see if that makes a difference. It seems like there is too much water in the steam boiler. I can get good steam if I run the tea button for 10 seconds first, then purge the wand.
How is the steaming on yours?
Have you set your service intervals or water filter intervals? Can't quite figure out what the numbers would mean. Number of shots?

I think you're boiler is (or was) overfilled. See below for an explanation of why I think so and how it probably happened.

But first, let's fix your steam. You can drop the water to the correct level by running the hot water tap until the boiler starts to refill. You can tell it's refilling by a change in sound from the pump/motor and a rapid drop in steam boiler pressure as shown on the front panel gauge. The drop in pressure is due to cold water coming into the boiler. This is a normal part of the refill cycle. Turn off the hot water tap. When the pump stops, the water will have reached the probe and will be at the correct level. The pressure will start to rise as the boiler heats. Wait until the boiler pressure reaches the preset maximum pressure, usually 1.5-2.0 BAR, then purge the steam wand until you see only steam coming out. You might see a few drops of water dripping off the steam tip after the wand is purged, but the steam should be reasonably dry.

So here's why I think your boiler is overfilled: Under normal operating conditions, there should be no water in the OPV canister, and hence you shouldn't have seen water leaking from the pinhole in the outlet tube. Water can be in the canister only if the OPV activates, which only happens if pressure in the steam boiler exceeds safe limits. Judging from the fact that the OPV activated, and you have wet steam, and you've been able to operate the machine after setting the probe sensitivity to High, I believe your boiler overfilled when you first turned on the machine.

If your water is very soft or you're using bottled water with a very low mineral content, the fill probe in the steam boiler might not have activated at the Low sensitivity setting. That would cause the boiler to overfill. When the boiler gets full, and water is still coming in, the OPV will activate and water will drain through the outlet tube into the rubber hose that's connected to the drain box. It's a safety feature.

Did you see any unexpected water in the drain box? You might not have seen it if the drip tray was in place and you're plumbed in, or if you killed the power as soon as water started leaking from the pinhole.

Setting the probe sensitivity to High must have worked, or the pump would be running all the time and you would see water streaming into the drain box (and overflowing if you're not plumbed in.) I assume that's not happening.

[NOTE: you probably know this, but don't use distilled water, RO or bottled/tap water with very low mineral content -- the probe won't work consistently and the boiler may overfill again.]

Anyway, with the boiler overfilled, a lot of water will come out of your steam wand before you see any steam, and then the steam will be very wet. As suggested above, all you have to do is run the hot water tap until the level drops below the probe, at which point the boiler will begin to refill. It should stop at the correct level when it reaches the probe, and your steam should be normal.

As I'm sure you know, and as pointed out by Anvan, water condenses in the steam wand if it hasn't been used for a while, so you have to purge it and a little of the steam before each use. Also, it's true that steam from the stock no-burn wand is a little (and I mean "a little") wetter. That's due to the Teflon lining that keeps you from getting burned. This isn't a big deal. Many GS/3 owners report no problems steaming with the stock wand. It's really a fairly minor difference, worth the upgrade only if you're really picky about the steam (I upgraded my steam wand, but I'm known for being picky )

I guess it's lucky that the boiler overfilled because you were able to spot that pinhole. As I said, the OPV doesn't activate normally, so you might never have seen it. Then, if you later had a probe failure or other problem that caused the boiler to overfill (as I have), water leaking out of the pinhole could have found its way into the brain box and destroyed your logic board.

If water leaked out of the pinhole for any length of time, I would check very carefully around the sides and rear of the steam boiler for any signs of water. If you see water or signs that water has been there, you should contact your dealer for instructions. It may be advisable to pull out the brain box and check for water in the box. It's not terribly difficult to do, but I wouldn't recommend it without consulting with your dealer, seeing as how the machine is brand new and under warranty. Also, if you're not careful, the front panel cables can get disconnected when you pull out or push in the brain box.