Any one know some repair people in Orange County, CA that would make a housecall? The people I normally go to no longer do house calls, and I'm no longer willing haul a 300 lbs. machine to and fro.

Basically I turn the machine on, and the pump engages (I guess to try and fill the boiler?) and won't disengage. After a while, the automatic shutoff will engage and all the machine's lights will blink (and thus also disengaging the control panel).

On start, the buttons work. The pump will pump water to the brew heads.

My guess is that the valve that opens the pump to the boiler has failed and needs replacement. But of course, that's just a guess. I actually have no real idea what's wrong.

If anyone has any suggestions, (for repair people or otherwise) I'd love to hear them.

Sincerely,

Phaeton Falling

My guess is that the valve that opens the pump to the boiler has failed and needs replacement.

Sounds good . . . OR it just may be the solenoid coil that opens the valve.

See this - La San Marco boiler refill problem . Post some internal pics of your Fiorenzato because, at least initially, this is a very easy problem to solve.

Thanks Eric,

I'll follow the instructions and post pictures later tonight or tomorrow.

Sincerely,

Phaeton Falling.

Phones can get into tight places.

Here are some pictures.

So, I opened up the machine, and after figuring out where the solenoid was, I realized there was a manual fill bypass. I decided to try to press it, and it works, but it was kinda hard to press (at least the first time). I jammed on it a few times, and the boiler seemed to fill properly, and the pump disengaged.

(You can see the manual bypass, it's the big black knobby lookin' thing.)



After it filled, the machine heated up properly, and everything was dandy... sorta.

Since the machine's hot water spout doesn't have a separate channel, instead it dispenses hot water directly from the boiler, using the boiler's atmospheric pressure to push water out of the spout. I dispensed several cups of water and triggered the fill mechanism, which wouldn't shut off, and didn't seem to fill up the boiler at all. I jammed on the manual bypass a few times, and everything was kosher again.

I took a few pictures of the solenoid. Here they are.







Also, btw, I was at Portola Coffee Lab earlier today, and I got a look at their setup. It was pretty impressive. They have a slayer custom, and a series of Mazzers, in addition to pair of Kyoto coffee makers, a few Hario V60s and a 3 halogen vacuum siphon coffeemakers. I talked to the guy behind the counter, and he said they used to run versalab M3s but they weren't well suited to a commercial environment.

I would have liked to tasted coffee from the versalab M3...

I would follow the troubleshooting I posted in that earlier link:

Shut the water off to the machine, disconnect the pump electrically, and gently remove the terminal connection at the water level probe. This action would normally start the pump and open the fill solenoid. With the pump electrically disconnected, all should be pretty quiet around the machine and you should hear a "click" when you break that probe connection. I know you said you had voltage at the coil but a faulty coil would result in no "click".

You might also ask Portola Coffee Lab who services their machines. It all depends on how far you want to get into this - servicing a commercial machine in a home environment can get expensive.

Also, see this: http://www.aclsolenoidvalves.com/default.aspx?ID=11

http://www.anytimebeverageservice.com in La Mirada. Ask for Vince Lopez.

PhaetonFalling wrote:Phones can get into tight places.

Here are some pictures.

So, I opened up the machine, and after figuring out where the solenoid was, I realized there was a manual fill bypass. I decided to try to press it, and it works, but it was kinda hard to press (at least the first time). I jammed on it a few times, and the boiler seemed to fill properly, and the pump disengaged.

(You can see the manual bypass, it's the big black knobby lookin' thing.)

<image>

After it filled, the machine heated up properly, and everything was dandy... sorta.

Since the machine's hot water spout doesn't have a separate channel, instead it dispenses hot water directly from the boiler, using the boiler's atmospheric pressure to push water out of the spout. I dispensed several cups of water and triggered the fill mechanism, which wouldn't shut off, and didn't seem to fill up the boiler at all. I jammed on the manual bypass a few times, and everything was kosher again.

I took a few pictures of the solenoid. Here they are.

<image>


<image>


Also, btw, I was at Portola Coffee Lab earlier today, and I got a look at their setup. It was pretty impressive. They have a slayer custom, and a series of Mazzers, in addition to pair of Kyoto coffee makers, a few Hario V60s and a 3 halogen vacuum siphon coffeemakers. I talked to the guy behind the counter, and he said they used to run versalab M3s but they weren't well suited to a commercial environment.

I would have liked to tasted coffee from the versalab M3...

That Versalab was so cool looking! I think they might still have it in Theorem.