Please help me diagnose my Isomac Rituale problem

[marcus]

For anyone who might be able to assist: I had a problem with the plastic T connection connecting the silicone tubing. It had disintegrated to the point it was leaking and flaking off. When I opened the machine I saw this and got a brass replacement. But I believe I have caused an electrical problem. The pump works. The boiler is not heating and the boiler's red light is not coming on. I read a post on alt.coffee which convinced me that it was the SSR. The test I used was bridging L1 and T1 on the power relay and the boiler started heating. When the machine is plugged in, the green LED on the power relay is not lit. I am wondering if this is a fuse, or a thermostat issue... One other, possibly unrelated, fact worth mentioning: white flaky stuff under the boiler and around a couple boiler fittings. I've read somewhere that the boiler element may crack and release nasty junk...

[another_jim]

The white gunk is scale from small leaks in the pipe.

If the heater is running when you bridge out the ssr, the heater is fine. If the the control side of the SSR (the other two terminals) is reading 110V when the machine is on, the switch side of the SSR has fried, and you need a new one. If there's no power to the SSR (i.e. nothing is calling for heat) then it's something else.

Putting 2 and 2 together (but perhaps getting 5), it may be your SSR got wet and fried.

[marcus]

It's a new SSR, but there probably was no problem with the old one. With the machine turned on, I metered the SSR terminals with the following results: T1: 119 A1: 18 L1: 0.0 A2: 0.0

I can bridge L1 and T1 and the boiler starts heating. I have metered the thermal fuse OK. I am starting to suspect the Giemme control board. Any other ideas? I haven't had good espresso for a couple weeks now

marcus

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PS added by HB: Also cross-posted to CG (link)

[another_jim]

It's a new SSR, but there probably was no problem with the old one. With the machine turned on, I metered the SSR terminals with the following results: T1: 119 A1: 18 L1: 0.0 A2: 0.0

It's more likely to be a bad pstat switch no longer closing properly -- you can check this by bridging the pstat switch and seeing if the heater fires up.

[marcus]

Thanks for the suggestion. But, I tried it. All that would do was force the ready light on. So far, the only way I've bee able to get power to the boiler element is by bridging the output side of the SSR (L1 & T1). I can't get the green LED on the SSR to light up...

[another_jim]

Thanks for the suggestion. But, I tried it. All that would do was force the ready light on. So far, the only way I've bee able to get power to the boiler element is by bridging the output side of the SSR (L1 & T1). I can't get the green LED on the SSR to light up...

It could be a rarer SSR failure mode, on the control side. Put a clean 110 volts to the control side (where the pstat goes) -- if the green light comes up (if you have power to L & T the boiler will fire), then the SSR is good, otherwise it's bad.

If the Rituale is like the Tea, there's a third possibility -- the thermla link -- which looks like a bulge in the wire from pstat to SSR running alongside the boiler. If it's blown, the boiler overheated during a refill and you'll need to jump it out while you find the replacement.

[marcus]

After several calls to Chris Coffee, the machine is now fixed. It has a new SSR, Giemme controller board, and pstat, a new heater gasket, brass t and silicone tubing... A lot of work and waiting, but espresso is now flowing. Thanks for the suggestions!