Other than saying you should hear it, I cannot answer objectively.

Give me a call at 301-587-5033 but not tonight.

Thanks Eric for the help and offer! I really appreciate it so much! Would you be available on Sunday or Monday though? Because I would be having class in the morning and have work until about 10pm for the next two days.

P/s: I am pretty positive I don't hear any sound from making/breaking the ground.

Hey all,

So, I just got a multimeter from Walmart as suggested. But, being a newbie in this, I am not too sure what to look for. I used the guide on the net, which says I am expecting resistance of r= (110v*110v)/1200watt=10 ohm. I got a reading about 11 on the meter. So the element passed the test right?

Eric,
If you don't mind, could we continue diagnosing through here? Or it would be okay if I call you now? I personally prefer through here because I am not too confident explaining things through phone.

Anyway, here's more update:

I disassemble most of the Oscar with plenty of photos and notes. I noticed the wire on terminal 1, goes to a splitter- one into another ground lead on the body, another goes into the terminal 3 on Gicar. So, there are a total of 2 wires going into terminal 3, one of them is the one I've just mentioned, the other going into the main ground plug. The wires were a mess so i missed that on the previous diagnosis. See the attached photos for clearer explanation.

One more question, I tested the resistance/continuity on the two wires leading into the pressure-stat. It seems like the circuit is open. Does that sound right? The two terminals on pressurestat give a resistance of close to 0 so I suspect the pressurestat is fine.

The machine was modified by previous owner to take water externally. So that's why it's a little odd.






Gicar

One more question, what are these two wires below? They are just beside the heating element terminal. It seems like there is no continuity between them. =/


One more close-up:


The NS website manual says it could be termofuse but it doesn't seem like one(in my opinion anyway, because it seems like there is no way to replace/detach it).

So the element passed the test right?

Yes.

Measure the resistance between the end of the white wire where it attached to terminal 1 (on the Gicar) and the end of either one of the green/yellow stripe wires. It should be essentially zero. This would tell me (and you) that the connection you show in your first pic is valid. Assuming this to be the case, then . . .

Relay RL3 gets activated when terminal 1 on the Gicar senses a ground (or close to it). Relay RL3 is what I wanted you to hear clicking when you make/break the ground connection. More than likely, RL3 has failed and now it's a question of what to do about it. In YOUR PARTICULAR case, RL3's safety function serves no purpose. So, if you supplied the wire which connects to terminal 5 on the Gicar with power, your machine would be back in operation.

As regards the wires next to your heating element, yes, that APPEARS to be the mystery thermal fuse - similar to that used on Isomac machines. Was there anything connected to the ends? If not, the previous owner bypassed the fuse which is likely shot.

Yes, you should call.

So I talked to Erics on the phone. The mystery is solved now. The problem is indeed a busted thermofuse shown in picture above. The heating element turned on okay when the two wires going into the thermofuse were jumped(connected).

From Eric(as future references for those might run into the same problem): Theoretically, I could continue using the Oscar by jumping the thermofuse. But the problem is, you have to make sure the boiler is at least 2/3 full, otherwise, the heating element could get damaged if the water runs low. And that would be a more serious problem than it is now. To make sure that the boiler is filled properly, you can remove one of the top screw on the boiler, and probe the water level by sticking a wooden dowel into the boiler.

So, the next thing is to get a thermofuse replacement. Unfortunately, there is no way to put on a resettable thermofuse as I wish because mounting it on the boiler would be a problem.

Again, thank you Eric!I think I might have sounded like a fool being really nervous on the phone. But thanks you very much I am glad it wasn't the element or Gicar that was broken. *touch wood*

I'd say about 2/3's full is fine & replacement thermal fuses should be available from these guys:

http://www.chriscoffee.com/products/hom ... o/newoscar

Right, I am not sure how I typed that while thinking 2/3.


Here's what I meant by jumping the thermofuse:




Here's the full view of the mysterious thermofuse(from http://www.cafeparts.com/ProductDetail1 ... emID=74335):

I would remove the old fusible link FIRST and see exactly what failed. The entire wire length is covered by that red heat conductive sheath. I do not mean to downgrade safety issues but $50 is a lot considering the same functional part for Isomac is $10.

BTW, the resettable thermal switch on some LaMarzocco steam boilers was held tightly in place by wire. The key was good contact between surfaces.

You're definitely right. I was able to remove the thermal fuse (not thermofuse, my bad )by just pulling it with brute force. Haha.

I agree with the $50. At that price, it's so close to getting a new element. It's insane. I think what I can do, is get a new 167C thermal fuse from Ebay, below $5 shipped. Just remove the old fuse and crimp the new one in. Done deal!