The wires have been detached. I do get continuity - sound from the multimeter when I touch the left side black and white or the right side black and white. However, as I discovered when I ran home at lunch time is that when I put a probe against the boiler wall and touched any of the heating elements, I got no sound.

Does that mean anything?

I think you may need to check the black and white wires, unfortunately while the machine is on. Don't let them touch, and use extreme caution. I would suggest a second opinion from someone with more experience than me before doing this

Yeah, at this point the wisest course may be to drive it over to Espresso Primo here in Los Angeles. I won't be able to enjoy any espresso if I'm dead. Anybody see the exploding non-fused Multimeter video on YouTube?

I going to keep updating this as long as I learn new things to pass along - although there don't seem to be an abundance of Fiorenzato Bricc and Volante owners.

Jim, has had me testing the heater elements and from those above mentioned results says that the heating element is okay. Which I guess leaves the gicar, the pump, and the pstat.

Can anyone verify if these settings are correct and where to touch both leads/probes of the pstat while the machine is plugged in and on?

Leads plugged into COM and V_mA (fused) ...can't type the Ohm symbol
Dial turned to V~ and at 200

Oooops ... just kidding

I just got an email confirming the settings are correct and that the black lead should go to a ground such as the boiler and the red to the common of the pstat.

Most espresso machines have a "common" ground point where several (if not all) of the green wires w/ yellow stripes meet in a bundle and are secured to the chassis via some simple nut/stud arrangement. Ideally, when troubleshooting voltages, it would be nice if the black lead of the multi-meter could be secured to this "bundle" and then you could just poke and prod with the red lead searching for voltage - or the lack thereof at various points.

Unfortunately (it is very unfortunate), we are all playing in the dark without a good wiring diagram. However, the common terminal of the pstat (the uppermost terminal) should have power when the machine is on as should both sides of the safety thermostat. If the common terminal of the pstat has power (110-120 VAC), then the lower terminal of the pstat should also have power because it is the normally closed (NC) terminal.

As regards resistance of the individual heating elements, each is ~14.2 ohms, i.e. with all connections removed and machine UNPLUGGED, black to white terminal on EACH element should be ~ 14.2 ohms.

Troubleshooting machines over the net can be frustrating for everyone (I'm not crying yet) and yes, the easiest course may very well be to take it to Espresso Primo - I presume you mean Michael Teahan & Co. - he can most definitely solve this problem in a heart beat.

No, Ridha Benabid. http://www.espresso-la.com They overhauled Silvia a couple of years ago before she went into the attic. I saw them working on all kinds of commercial and prosumer machines.

As promised, I'm updating as I go. I received a message that the relay before the Thermostat had fried along with the computer board (which I'm assuming is the Gicar). They thought it might be due to a power surge?

If that's the case then my surge suppressor was useless.


Either that or it had blown before this and I didn't know it. Hey, I'm not an electrical engineer and can be clueless about these things but: I had been told that the suppressor was supposed to go in between the timer and the Volante. But every time the timer clicks on isn't that a surge? Shouldn't the suppressor be between the wall and the timer?

I believe that cheap suppressors like that one (I have one too ) tend to go bad over time, and I would imagine, from my limited understanding of how they work, that running them with a machine that toggles from minimal power draw to something close to the limit of a 15A circuit every few minutes probably shortens their useful life even more.

I have known about this problem with them before, but I have no realistic idea how long they might be useful running with a machine of this class. How old is yours, if I may ask?

A post script. My hat's off to all the Silvia owners. I used mine everyday for 4 years and then upgraded, and after 2 years, stepping back was not painless. It was an extravagance that I had kept Silvia in case I ever had to take the Volante in for repairs, assuming the worst that it might take a long time. These past few days have been spent trying to regain some competence at Silvia. Shot building and shot appearance weren't the challenge, it was getting a good temp. I tried every surfing method I could read about on the net and according to my Multimeter and K coupler the best I could do was a pull that started at 96 and ended at 86 C. This was not with a Scace device but with the thermocouple snaked thru a widened hole of a single shot basket and then thru a sponge to fill the basket to give some resistance. After living in Melbourne for over 6 months without an espresso machine but a decent grinder and a French press I learned I could get by. After this I will probably put Silvia up for sale rather then store her again, the PF gasket will probably go bad before the next use anyway. Of course its all about what you're use to, I never had realized how cramped the space was from Silvia's PF to the cup and how shallow/small the drip tray was. And all the tank refilling, boy did the Volante spoil me! I didn't attempt to steam any milk and I pretty much made Americano's because after pulling wonderful complex Toscano's on the Volante I was disappointed by the pulls on the Silvia. Of course I'm partly to blame, I don't expect to be able to pull god shots on a finicky machine, with falling temps after a 2 year absence.

I have know about this problem with them before, but I have no realistic idea how long they might be useful running with a machine of this class. How old is yours, if I may ask?[/quote]

2 years. Where in the path is yours installed?

Mine is installed in the same place--directly into the wall, with the timer plugged into it.

Ahhhhh mine was between the timer and the machine.

Oh, I misread you. Sorry. I don't think it makes a difference... at all. The switching of the timer is going to have a minimal impact on the "aging" of the surge suppressor vs. the boiler cycling of the machine (as I understand things). If anything, I would expect your configuration is preferable, but, again, probably irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. 2 years might be pushing it on the age of these things. I kind of suspected they'd only last a year or so. Who knows, it might be even less than that!

Maybe the best thing to do would be to rewire one's machine so that the control stuff (Gicar box, pump, etc...) is powered separately from the heating element. That way you can surge suppress the important stuff safely, without having the heating element slowly frying your surge suppressor.

This might be interesting
http://www.panamax.com/Products/Other/M2A20.aspx

2 fried relays, one inside the Gicar and the other before the theromstat. 275 smackeroos to repair. Ouch, but there was no way I would have found this out myself - you pay for knowledge. AND I didn't have to spend over $50 each way for shipping and I got it back in 2 days. It wouldn't have even made it more than half way to the east coast by now so I can live with the expense. But I'm not happy about relays that fry after 2 years.

I can't help but ask if they would have lasted longer if the boiler had been insulated.

Here is the non Gicar relay that fried. Just a footnote to anyone who passes this way. When I poked around with the Multimeter I noticed some black powdery spots (maybe 3) on a wire and near where the wires went in. At the time I wondered if it was small spots of mold but didn't know any better - it certainly didn't look scorched.

Hey Ed, I think it's my turn to have Volante problems. I descaled it for the first time yesterday. Lots of satisfying blue-green water came out. Now I can't seem to get it up to temperature. The boiler is hot, but no steam, no hot water from the water wand. No steam pressure at all.