Hey all. First time poster here. I've faithfully searched the forum for clues to my problem to no avail. Hoping someone out there has a suggestion.

Just bought a used Nuova Oscar. Unit arrived very well packed and in good shape. I opened the steam valve and turned it on with a full reservoir. The pump came on, pulled water out of the reservoir and I thought it was heating. Let it run for awhile and tried to pull a shot that came out ice cold. I shut the unit down, opened it and looked around to see if the boiler was even hot-it wasn't-and to make sure that there weren't any loose connections. Everything looked okay so I put it back together and turned it on again and instantly got the 'no water' light. I turn it on, the pump kicks in for about a second, then stops immediately and the water light comes on. I tried connecting the water sensor leads together to see if it wasn't sensing water and got the same result. Tried salt in the reservoir, etc. Nothing has worked. Even tried pulling the reservoir out a little, over and over again, trying to 'trip' the sensors, but I don't think that's the problem. I'm suspecting the pump or the brain but figured I'd throw it out here and see if anything sticks.

I'm desperate to pull some shots: any help is greatly appreciated.

Best,


b
e
n

Ben-

First off- congrats on getting an Oscar. I'm a fellow Oscar user.... but not a professional troubleshooter of it. Although I can provide a few simple steps and tips. I'm going to assume your a 1st time user and complete noob with this so forgive if you already know these items.

1. Doesn't heat:
a. When you first turn on the unit does the "heat" light turn on? This is the light/indicator below the "water" indicator. Keep in mind that on initial turn-on and subsequent indication that the heat light is off there will also be false pressure which is "relieved" by opening the steam wand momentarily till the heat light turns on again. It takes at least 15 min for the Oscar to come to full heat. If the heat light doesn't turn on then you may have the same problem I'm having: Oscar heater won't turn on after descale. I've email nuova simonelli in Ferndale, WA and am waiting for an answer. If/when I do get one, I'll be sure to update the thread. I hope for your sake it isn't similar to my situation but it doesn't sound like it.

b. If you're lucky, the high temp limit switch was tripped. If you're facing the front of Oscar, on your right hand side of the boiler, somewhat towards the top, approx 12 o'clock is a white electrical gizmo with usually a red button. See if you can press this button in.

2. Water indicator: There may be something blocking the reservoir thereby preventing water to be drawn into the sensor. You'll have to remove the top again for this step to make it easier.
Remove the white plastic water tank and you'll notice the receptacle on the bottom that accepts the reservoir - there should be water inside this little reservoir; it probably holds a few teaspoons of water in it. Check the bottom of the white tank - it has a check valve in it- if you push on it water should come out. Possibly you have some gunk in there that prevents water from coming out and the water sensing unit from sensing that there is water.
Fill up the tank again, reinstall it and turn on the machine. Turn on the pump and note whether water is pulled from the water tank.
If when you initially turn on the machine the pump turns on this is the machine sensing that the boiler needs to be filled. If not then the boiler is full doesn't need to be refilled.

If you only had to do step 1b above then all should be well for you.
Good luck

Hi B,

1st time post for me as well. Came across this issue when I bought a 6yr old oscar a while back. Recently bought another 2 yr old unit for resale as well. Units are solid performers though this quirk is common and the salt solution as well as the other approach of using a baster to insert water in the connection where the tank inserts are not very consistent in my experience. The water light thing seems to occur often when the tank is removed to fill so try to minimize that and your good.

Now my own solution to this problem works every time. Here's what I do:

Press down the brewing button first while power is off.
Then press power button down only for 1-3 seconds before the unit stops "pumping" sound. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Water should come through group head a bit every time. and eventually you might even hear the water being drawn from the tank a bit (that's a good sign).
At that point, turn brew button back off. Now power up again and the water light should not appear (if it does repeat previous steps). The heating light should come on and then open up the steam till it comes through 5-6 minutes or so.

I can only say that this hasn't damaged my unit in any way and I have yet to find anything on the net anywhere that describes this or not to do it. For me it's been the best way to draw water through, and I recently showed a friend to utilize this "technique" with his unit when he experienced the same.

Maybe someone else will caution against doing so. Though the machine is cold to begin with and water eventually gets drawn in and the water light goes off and heat light goes on. Then it's 15-20 minutes to pulling great shots and steaming.

Good luck. I also look forward to any explanations for avoiding this practice. My analogy is it is like jump starting a car or putting it into first or second gear and rolling it down a hill to get it going. Works everytime.

Cheers

Shawn

Tampman-

TampMan wrote:...
Now my own solution to this problem works every time. Here's what I do:

Press down the brewing button first while power is off.
Then press power button down only for 1-3 seconds before the unit stops "pumping" sound. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Water should come through group head a bit every time. and eventually you might even hear the water being drawn from the tank a bit (that's a good sign).
At that point, turn brew button back off. Now power up again and the water light should not appear (if it does repeat previous steps). The heating light should come on and then open up the steam till it comes through 5-6 minutes or so.

I can only say that this hasn't damaged my unit in any way and I have yet to find anything on the net anywhere that describes this or not to do it. For me it's been the best way to draw water through, and I recently showed a friend to utilize this "technique" with his unit when he experienced the same.

Maybe someone else will caution against doing so. ......

.......I also look forward to any explanations for avoiding this practice. ...

Shawn-
Amazing what you find out when you read the manual - see bottom of pg 20, "Troubleshooting" under "The pump does not suck water from the tank". Sounds exactly like the technique you are describing is prescribed by the mfg, so more than likely it is something that may be "unavoidable" rather than something to avoid.

Greetings,

I have an Oscar as well, and another solution is to wire the circuit that trips the low water shutoff so that it always thinks there's water there (use at your own risk). I haven't done this to my machine (permanently), but there are two screws in the water inlet that hold terminals at about 4:00 and 7:00, on my machine at least... If you unscrew both then screw both terminals together your machine will think it always have water (be sure to replace the other screw, otherwise you may have leaks).

If you do this, be sure you check your water level often because the machine won't shut itself off if you run the tank dry.

oh shoot didn't see you already tried my solution...oops!

Ceasar,

Amazing indeed. Thanks for the reference to the manual. You'd think I'da caught that somehow way back when I first got this used unit. Instead I went straight to such forums and simply got a case of "tunnel thinking" after getting caught up in the common references to lack of minerals in the users water or lack of water in the reservoirs' receptacle. From that point primitive sapien instincts took over and I somehow started experimenting with the "numerous" buttons on the unit and potential on/off combinations of them to resolve my plight of getting back to pulling shots... and I never looked back.

At least I can feel better about having steered a fellow buddy into the same practice now. Tomorrow's shots will taste twice as good.

Peace

Greetings Ben

My girlfriend and I each have Oscars and I currently have 3 and have sold 3 to happy espresso owners. I had a similar issue with my Oscars and at first I thought it was broken, but discovered with help that NS Oscars have sensors in them looking for minerals in the water. I am not sure what kind of water you are using but I use distilled water which is mineral free.

To get minerals into it I use pink Himalayan Salt (her brilliant suggestion). I take a small pot and about 1/16 to 1/8 of a teaspoon and dissolve it in boiling water stirring it so the crystal dissolve. Then I let it cool down and pour that into the reservoir tank which as already been partially filled. (DO NOT USE WHITE TABLE SALT!) This has worked each time with every Oscar I have owned which did not heat up and draw water. Only once was the problem more technical. I read the other techniques and I am sticking with my remedy.

If you don't want to go this route just buy some spring or purified re-mineralized bottle water in a gallon size. This should fix your problem. Tap water may not have enough mineral content besides I don't like the flavor of my coffee tainted by chlorine, fluoride, and the other junk tap water usually has.

Sincerely,

J. R.