Hello, I bought a used Astoria Argenta AEP JUN this morning and have been going though it in the process of preparing it for use. I have an issue that I was hoping the skilled and experienced readers here at HB might be able to help with.

The boiler never stops filling.... I checked the spring loaded manual boiler fill lever valve and that's not leaking. I check the auto fill solenoid and manual shut off valve on that line and that's not leaking either. The only other line that is connected to the water fill and the boiler is the line that feeds the group head. After the pumps high pressure out the water line goes into and back out of the boiler as what appears to be a preheating loop before it goes to the group head.

Could it be a crack in the water jacket in the boiler? The green arrow is the in where the overfilling seems to be coming from; the red arrow is where it looks as it should continue on to the group head. Therefore, the only way the siteglass would continue to rise if the water was only entering the boiler from this pipe would mean the the HX in the boiler is cracked i suppose.... it's in such good clean shape I find it hard to believe... but it might be time to get out the brazing rods.

Any input would be great.

Thanks,
Chris

I'm not sure about my experience, or skills, but doesn't the boiler probe control the water level ? And if it's open, or covered with scale it will just keep filling the boiler.


Ted

does the pump kick on as it's filling? or is water just going in without the pump on?


If pump is on it's probably the fill sensor

If pump is off it could be a solenoid, or less likely a crack in the HX path

Crack HX as i expected.... I just went ahead and split the boiler as nothing else added up. Good advice but I had already checked the valves and solenoids for leaks and found nothing. Which lead me to look inside the boiler. I'll try to braze it and if that fails attempt to source a new HX.... if any one can help me find one that would be great.

Chris.

bit more than just a crack!!!! Yikes...

Good call on the freeze damage... finally it makes sense how it got that popped. I have everything else functioning fine, the pump is noisy also so i'm assuming that will need a replacement too. I think i can pull off the fix for under 250... considering i got it for 400 and it's so clean if I'm lucky I'll have very little to do after making it fully functional.

Chris

http://www.espressobrewer.com/ ... goto that website and contact them, they have a warehouse full of parts. If you can get a local coffee company to order it you might get a break on the price. .. I have one of these machines and you got a very good deal.

enjoy

Mark

I think this might be the replacement HX for your machine: http://www.cafeparts.com/productDetail1.asp?ItemID=77858 $76