hi,

My five year old Silvia is acting up. I come to it in the morning and it's all cold (I leave it on 24/7).

I have to unplug and plugin the machine to revive it. This will work for a few minutes and then it will shut off and I have to repeat the procedure. Then maybe it will stay working for some time.

Before I rip into this machine, is this a common problem with a known solution?

Thanks ...

Papa

It should not be left on. It is not designed for that. Most likely a bad brew thermostat, but we need more information for a specific diagnoses. Does it get warm at all? Does it pump water at all? Are the lights on or do they go off? They do not have an auto-reset thermostat at all.

It's been left on for five years now ... i wasn't aware of a recommendation against that. (How else does one have an espresso upon waking?)

When it fails everything is off, all lights, heater, pump - everything.

It acts like there is some type of in-line fuse that gets reset when I unplug and plugin ...

I think a standard 15 amp appliance timer would do just fine for coffee in the morning. Probably would have gained another 5 years on that girl. I'd locate a wiring diagram and start at the source with a multimeter .

PapaWiskey,
Wiring diagram HERE.
If the panel light does not illuminate AND the pump does not work, possible causes would include:
- bad outlet (plug it in elsewhere)
- bad power cord
- failed power switch

Single boiler machines like that one are not designed to be left on because they do not have a way to refill their boilers automatically. A small leak which may not even be noticeable can allow the boiler to run dry and damage the heating element. That is the reason for my comment.

So it turns out my adapter plug was intermittent.

I bought this machine in the UK and use it on a European style connection. The adapter is of an industrial nature, but apparently developed a loose connection and arced. There was burnt plastic.

Now to replace that and i guess I'll be fine

You may well get her working , but again, i would recommend not leaving it on 24/7..unless yo drink coffee every hour !
You risk the t/stats failing as well as the heater element/boiler as suggested before.
a time switch or even a simple routine change to allow the 10-15 mins a Silvia takes to warm up will give you a greatly extended working life on that machine