I purchased a Rancilio Silvia/Rocky Combination on Craigslist for $500. When it arrived, everything was better than expected. The silvia worked great and the rocky burrs were barely used. Both machines were in mint condition and made many excellent espresso shots.

Today, I made another excellent shot, left the machine on for 3 hours before making the next shot. When I went to make a shot, boiling hot water came from the group head and started spitting all over the place (without coffee in the portafilter). NO the steam switch was not on. I introduced hot water through the hot water switch #2. I did this until the boiler light came on. I waited for the light to go off and then turned on switch #1. Same result: boiling hot water spitting all over. Again, the steam switch was not on. I also checked the thermostat switch, it had not tripped. I turned the machine off, waited a couple of hours. Turned the switch on (again the steam switch was not activated) to the same result. It is as if the steam switch WAS on BUT it is NOT. spitting, boiling hot water coming from the group head.

Do I have a thermostat problem or did I just ruin my boiler? How can I tell?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Check Randy G. for http://espressomyespresso.com/Silvia/SilviaWorks.html and http://espressomyespresso.com/silviawire.html

Just guessing : Sounds like the steam switch maybe on all the time

Just guessing : Sounds like the steam switch maybe on all the time

I did not have this problem until today and the wiring seems to be correct but I'm not that technically minded.

d.f. wrote:Do I have a thermostat problem or did I just ruin my boiler?

Obviously the heating element works fine. I agree with Ian, the steam thermostat appears to be controlling the heating element. In addition to Randy's site, Can't get Rancilio Silvia wiring right includes diagrams that may prove helpful, assuming you can enlist the help of someone who's more technically minded.

is this something that can come up out of the blue? Everything was working fine until today. I pulled dozens of shots with no problem whatsoever over a weeks time until today and I did not change any wiring. I'm confused...

If the panel light goes out then it sounds like a short on the ground side of element and the overtemp is controlling.

a short on the ground side of element and the overtemp is controlling.

How in the world do I fix that (if that's the case) and how did it happen?

You'd need to check ALL wiring with the machine UNPLUGGED.

If you aren't comfortable using a VOM, then it's a good time to learn or find someone who is.

With the switches off, measuring from the ground side of the element to the wide spade or the ground lug on the power cord should be an open circuit. If it's not, then there's a bad connector. Could be wire melted or abraded or bad connection on one of the thermostats connecting to the boiler.

Dan -

Almost unimaginable to me that problems remain in the land of the lakes that were not resolved by the arrival of Favre

I see three plausible explanations for your problem:

• A fault with the brew thermostat. It could be that its setpoint has drifted upwards a few degrees. It could also be as simple as the thermostat not being in good thermal contact with the boiler, possibly due to a loose bracket? Older Silvia's had 110C brew thermostats, while the newer versions are 100C. If your stat is of the older flavor, then only a very small shift would produce the symptoms you describe.
• A ground fault (short) as CafeIKE describes. This condition allows current through the heater even when both thermostats are open. The best way to trap this error is with a working GFCI outlet. Your Silvia will trip a GFCI almost instantly if there is even a very small fault current.
• The third possibility is that there is nothing wrong at all, and you simply have either not noticed this behavior before, or have changed something in your ritual, like perhaps leaving it idle for a longer-than-usual period of time. It is normal for a small amount of steam to be discharged from the group after the machine has been idling. The temperature of the pocket of water and steam near the top of the boiler will be above 212F for much of the Silvia's heater cycle.

I would place wiring faults or a problem with the steam switch very low on the list of likely suspects.

Best way to diagnose is to first plug the machine into a working GFCI outlet. If it passes this test, then I would suggest doing a short bleed of the boiler prior to pulling shots, especially when the machine is fully warmed up. Open the steam valve for 2 or 3 seconds immediately before pulling a shot, closing it after it has stopped spitting.

If the problem is still not resolved, then remove and replace the brew thermostat. This is very inexpensive, and not at all difficult.

Jim

It's been my experience with Silvia that she heats up and will spit steam through the group. You can try this method it should do the trick. You can either bleed off the steam through the group just until you see the puff of steam or you can mount the porta-filter (packed) and flip the brew switch on and off two times for about half a second each. This will wet the puck and you will get better shots as well.