Hi

I just changed the heating element and it seems like the controller box is also broke.

How do I fix it - is it possible to find diagrams or electrical schemes for the box? It is my second box because of the fault on the heating element.

Please advice

Are you using a surge suppressor on the electrical supply?

A surge suppressor is of little use on the Domobar Super or any other espresso machine.
The additional wire and connections degrade performance slightly.

Most 'surge suppressors' are worthless at protecting equipment. They are nothing more than MOV clamps, rarely matched which limits their effectiveness, and MOVs 'wear out' from a few repeated large transients or many smaller ones.

An MOV is a metal oxide varistor for all of us electrically very challenged readers.

It is my second box because of the fault on the heating element.

Certainly there likely exists some differences between the US & European Vibiemme Domobar Super Hx models and perhaps more so within world markets over the past, say, 10 years.

BUT, as regards the recent US models, there is NO interaction that I can see between the Gicar control board and the heating element. The heating element is controlled simply and most adequately by a nice pstat - either Sirai or Parker.

That's a good point Eric. I was thinking that a surge could possibly take both out at once, but other electronics would be affected in the home as well.. maybe.

If the brain box is dead, there is a 80% plus chance it will be the main transformer that has died...

Have had a few where there has been major damage etc but all the others that have just stopped working have been due to the main transformer not working....

These are often available locally via Farnell or RadioSpares (both of which may operate under another name in your area ie. Farnell are now Element 14).

Thanks alot - I stepped from a Pavoni to the Vibiemme so it is all a bit new to me.

Here is a short history of what happend

1. No steam pressure and temperature only 80C.
2. Then i descaled and rebuilded the grouphead new gaskets and everything and there was a lot of scale inside the group head.
3. When done - I turned the switch to (I) and the autofill started for a moment - 60 sek. and then went off.
4. I then turned the switch to (II) and it started heating but unfortunately not to steam temp only 80C
5. I turned it on/off a few times but with no luck - after that the autofill was not working
6. I changed the control box and autofill seemed ok, but still no temp.
7. I then changed the heatingelement (it was melted) but after that no autofill and no "on" light - the only light on was the water safety light.

It is an European model from 2006 and everything else seems ok.(i do not use a surge for the machine, but we have a surge box for all our main house outlets, I don't think that is the problem)

If the low water level light is on, all of the machine's functions are disabled (for good reason). You should not be able to operate the pump. This is what the US model looks like as regards the low water level switch - the green arrow is pointing towards same:



The support structure for the reservoir is resting on four springs and it is NOT uncommon for there to be some misalignment in that area such that the switch lever does NOT get depressed as it should. The primary cause would be unintentional careless reassembly. So, this problem needs to be fixed first before we can proceed.

Whatever you do, DO NOT turn the switch to position 2 until you are certain that the boiler has a proper water level (approximately 2/3 full). This can be checked by removing the vacuum breaker valve and probing the boiler internals with a small wooden dowel.



The vacuum breaker is indicated by the green arrow.