Well, today I turned on my VBM Domo Jr HX and like most days, the auto boiler fill kicked on, all seemed normal. Then I began to smell a burning plastic smell less than a minute after turning it on. This was followed by smoke rising out of the machine. I quickly switched it off and started tearing off the casing to see what happened.

I've only had the machine about 3 weeks now. It has been all smooth sailing and delicious coffee. That is until this random occurrence today. The machine itself is only a little over 3 years old, manufactured on 9/11/2011.

A quick note on how I have it plugged in: it is plugged into a 6-outlet surge protector with a few other items, none of which were on at the time I turned on the machine. I don't have much knowledge of electrical things so anything you can contribute would be greatly appreciated. Here are some photos of what the problem wires look like:









If you got an idea, let me know. I'd love to get this resolved ASAP. If you have any questions just let me know and I'll do my best to clarify. Thanks!

Since most of the heat seems to be in the connector itself and that heat transferred just a short distance down the wire, I think it is a bad connection in the male/female junction of the connector itself. Pull it apart and examine the metal conductors themselves (spade male and female I assume). I predict that either it was a loose fit or there will be sings of corrosion or oxidation.

Yeah, after prying it apart it looks to be the offending connection was the white wire coming out of the bottom. Do you think I can just cut off the damaged pieces, replace them, hook it all back up and be good to go?

If so, anyone know where to pick up compatible male and female disconnects?

I had this exact same issue with my domobar jr hx. I got replacement male and female connectors from home depot, however stefano's espresso parts online carries the connectors as well. After a couple of these connections went bad, I replaced most all of the connections in the machine as a preventative measure. Havent had issues since then

ejs3j wrote:Yeah, after prying it apart it looks to be the offending connection was the white wire coming out of the bottom. Do you think I can just cut off the damaged pieces, replace them, hook it all back up and be good to go?

That would be the best case scenario. I would get good crimp-on connectors, crimp them, then apply a small amount of solder to "seal" the junction. The a bit of high-temp silicone dielectric grease to eliminate future problems before pushing the connectors back together.

Hi Evan,
We share the exact same set up, and have had the same problems almost since I purchased the VBM new 5 years ago. I finally have it running well, and fingers crossed, have had no problems since rewiring it a couple of months ago. I could not have done it without the help of erics.

I had the same burnt connections, same location, as well as at the high temp cutoff, ice cube relay, and brain box. I tried replacing the terminals many times, and eventually they ended up burning out again. It seems that someone has already done some tinkering with the wiring, as evidenced by the marettes and electric tape on some of the wires, and the 105*C wire, which was not stock.

First thing, make sure that the connection to the main power wire is properly connected. My unit had line and neutral reversed, and I feel that this was the main cause of my problems. I re wired any leads directly to and from the heating element, placed a ss relay to switch the element, and removed the ice cube relay, replacing it with a simple manual boiler cut off switch. This may all sound like gibberish, but Is easily accomplished.

Feel free to PM me if you need any more info, schematics, etc. for wiring. Erics and I made a few, and with his permission, I could pass them along.

Keep us posted on progress, it's a great machine otherwise,

Frank

Well, I picked up some terminal connectors and got it all hooked back up yesterday. And thankfully that did the trick. It seems to be running just fine now.

Thanks all for the comments and help. And thanks for the offer Frank. I'll definitely be in touch if it happens again.