Broken steam wand on Rancilio Silvia

[haakonha]

I posted a forum post under the thread "Rancilio Silvia won't heat" (rancilio-silvia-wont-heat-t7637.html), but I recon this is a topic of its own

I bought a Rancilio Silvia online for about 3 weeks ago. It works great and gives good espresso - BUT the steam wand stopped working the first time I tried to use it. It worked fine the first few times I opened the valve to let out some steam before I wait for it to heat up properly (like it says in the manual), but when I tried to steam up some milk then it suddenly stopped working and now no water or steam comes out - no matter what switch I turn on.

I have tried to press the reset button without getting any results.

My question is this: can the steam wand lose its pressure so that no water will enter the wand part? OR is it more likely that the switch or wand is simply broken so I have to replace parts?

One small detail. Since I bought this machine online from an italian webshop - I would rather try to fix it myself or turn it in at a local service shop than to pack and send it back there. Does Rancilio have some sort of world service guarantee?

Anyone?

Sincerely
Haakon Halvorsen
Oslo, Norway.

[stefano65]

Questions for you
Power light comes on?
Heating element light comes on?
when you push the coffee brewing button
does the pump engage and water flow from the grouphead?
when you push the water button ( hot water when it works) after opening the knob does the pump activates?
if so either you have a clogged wand
(start from the tip and with a needle unclog the hole)
or you are not waiting for the machine to prime.

suggestion: while you are trying to figure out what's going on
unplug the unit remove one of the heating element terminal wire
then try all the above
heating element for silvia are not cheap

[haakonha]

Questions for you
Power light comes on?

Yes

Heating element light comes on?
when you push the coffee brewing button
does the pump engage and water flow from the grouphead?

Yes, regular brewing of espressoshots (without wand use) is working fine.

when you push the water button ( hot water when it works) after opening the knob does the pump activates?

No, the pump doesn't seem to send anything through the wand, and it seems like there is no pressure when I turn the knob for steam. Basically the wand seems dead.

if so either you have a clogged wand
(start from the tip and with a needle unclog the hole)
or you are not waiting for the machine to prime.

I think I wait long enough for the machine to prime (light goes out). I will try to see if the wand is clogged, but for me it seems unlikely since I haven't used it more than 4 times... but I will try that and post the result here

Thanks for helping me (so far).

[HB]

If you press the hot water button (2nd down) and the pump doesn't start, there's your problem. If you press the hot water button, the pump starts, and water doesn't flow from the wand, the tip is clogged. While it's unlikely, it's possible it's clogged with swarf or dried milk. Try poking the needle in the tip holes and if that doesn't work, remove the steam wand arm and confirm there's no obstruction.

[haakonha]

Yes, the wand was clogged!

I used a needle - and after a few tries the steam wand worked as intended again.

Now I feel kinda stupid not checking the wand properly before posting, but I didn't believe that the powerful steam could be instantly stopped by some milk.... I probably used the wand wrong the first time so the milk dried up inside the wand while I was trying to make the first coffee.

Thanks for the help HB and Stefano65!

[stefano65]

You are welcome