Excess Boiler Pressure in Elektra Semiautomatica - Page 2

[HB]

- periodic routine cleaning of the pressurestat? (If so, how?)

It's hard to believe this level of precaution is necessary, but a boiler flushdown with distilled water every two weeks or mild descaling once a month can't hurt if indeed the Semiautomatica is that touchy about scale buildup.

[another_jim]

I'm also wondering whether any other steps are worth considering:

- adding some kind of u-shaped trap or mesh screen to trap deposits before they reach the pressurestat? (This would presumably have to be removed for periodic cleaning.)

- periodic routine cleaning of the pressurestat? (If so, how?)

I have to say, even with the pressurestat hassle, I still absolutely adore this machine and regret nothing about my purchase.

I agree. I don't think descaling the boiler is worthwhile, since removing the pstat is less of a hassle. Jack Denver of alt.coffee fame dealt with sticky maters by dipping them in lemon juice, citric acid, or whatever descaler you like to use. This will descale the membrane more effieciently. I did this when I swapped out the Ceme. When the new Ceme sticks, I'll put back the old one and see if it worked.

When I refill the boiler (about once per week), I scoop out the remaining water from the tank with a plastic tub, and use the occasion to clean it up. Then I fill to just above the hole with distilled and refill the boiler (tilting if necessary). However, despite this, I still scaled the pstat in about 15 months. There isn't much mineral in commercial distilled water (I measure 5 ppm), and there is no sign of scale anywhere in the boiler system except the darn pstat. This is way too stupid a problem for there not to be a 5 cent engineering fix!

[ElektraOregon]

I mentioned in my original post that my machine does not boil over so much now that I only fill the boiler halfway into the sight glass instead of 3/4 as I originally did. For a while, I would predictably have a boil over just about every time I used the machine, usually after it had been on an hour or so. Now, it is fairly rare. Maybe once in every 5 or so uses. I'm wondering if the boiler level had something to do with the boil over problem.

I am using tap water in the machine. According to our city of water department, the hardness of the water supply is in the range of 20-25 mg per liter, which they characterize as "very soft." I ran a test strip purchased from 1st Cup and it registered less than 3 dH. Not sure exactly what that means, but given that was the lowest possible reading, it must be very soft.

Here is a question, which comes from a logical rather than an informed or technical perspective. Elektra has apparently been making this machine for over 20 years and sells these machines all over the world. Given how long Elektra has been making this machine, I can't imagine that all of the effort to use only distilled water and the care and concern described in some posts not to allow more than a few drops of regular water into the boiler should possibly cause the machine to malfunction. Elektra's own training manual (http://www.italiankitchenaids.com...utoSX.SXC.SXCD.pdf) doesn't mention limescale at all. It only indicates that filtered or bottled water ought to be used, which I assume relates more to taste than scale issues. The Elektra user manual (http://www.coffeeitalia.co.uk/pro...li_allegati_34.pdf) only indicates that "cold drinkable water" be used. Neither manual mentions any de-scale procedure as part of the maintenance regime or concerns about water hardness . If this problem was truly widespread, I would expect it to be at least mentioned in the user manuals, as Elektra would have users all over the world beating down the door after spending a significant sum for their machine only to have it almost immediately suffer problems.

The 1st Cup site indicates that Elektra will not honor warranties where hard water is used. I can understand this concern. But the above posts suggest that the machine is problematic even when soft water is used. I wonder if this has been a big issue for Elektra and lots of users are having this problem? Or . . . are there Elektra users out there who are using not-to-hard tap water and not descaling their machines who are having good luck and no problems? I know I'm probably being naive, but it seems like this should not be the problem that it appears to be, especially if soft water is being used. I'm not sure what else would explain the problem, or the apparent scale build-up discussed in the posts, but things just don't seem to be adding up.

Sorry for the philosophical approach, rather than the technical. I don't know much about chemistry, physics, or the engineering of small appliances. But as a practical matter, the problems suffered by owners who are using soft or distilled water just don't seem to be adding up.

[howard seth]

Yup, now - my pressurestat on my Semiautomatica is sticking really bad again - I have had this Mater in the machine about a year - moderate home use (average use 2-4 cups a day). Frankly, I am aggravated at the manufacturer - Elektra. This is obviously a major problem - an Achilles heel with the machine - a consumer should not have to jump through all these hoops to have a working machine,

Why in the world has the company Elektra not addressed this issue?? It is otherwise a great machine. But this is somewhat like building a great car - but supplying it with brakes that are known to fail.

What do they need, a class action lawsuit to really address the problem? (But, Well, after all it is only a coffee machine.)

I have added distilled water to the boiler each time - and drained out the remaining water before adding the distilled water, as well - What else should be required of a consumer for the darn thing to work without such problems?

Maybe us disgruntled owners should all send Elektra a letter!

Howard

[another_jim]

Problem diagnosed. Needs a part to solve it.

I had a chance to look at the Ceme Pstat which stuck and which I replaced. I tried to push the membrane in and out using a jewellers screw driver, pushing in where the pipe connects. At first it was locked tight, then it started to work again. It's operating now, very happily in the machine, and the replacement is back on the shelf.

There is no scale evident on the visible parts of the pstat (the membrane itself is readily not visible). I assume some small piece of gunk, either scale, a stray bit of metal, or anything that was ever in the water line or boiler made its way there and fouled the membrane.

So here's the problem. The pstat membrane is at the very lowest point of water in the machine. When the pump is running, it will eventually dislodge and move any small piece of grit downwards. Eventually it will arrive at the pstat membrane and foul it. This won't happen on the lever machines, since there's no vibration to move the grit downwards.

Some sort of mesh filter (like Elektra uses on their gicleurs) would eliminate this problem completely. One simply needs one that can be mounted on the existing compression fitting, and on which one can, in turn, mount the pstat.