S.O.S. Expobar Office Control

[Tazza d'oro]

This morning, after a 10 day vacation, I turned on my machine and, aside from the light going on, absolutely nothing. No pump priming, no heat to the head and no espresso. Suggestions???

[jrtatl]

no heat AT ALL? or does the grouphead get lukewarm to the touch after 10-15 minutes?

[HB]

Assuming there's water, the next "usual suspect" is the vacuum breaker if the machine is lukewarm (solution: open steam arm valve). If there's literally no heat, then assuming you have a multimeter and are qualified to work with electricial appliances, check if there's power at the pressurestat.

PS: Many of our members frequent multiple coffee sites. Please avoid cross-posting your question, or mention the other site(s) to avoid repetitive responses (link).

[Tazza d'oro]

I plead guilty to having cross posted to another coffee site. However, I should like to offer as an excuse to doing so an analogy: the person who has fallen overboard screams for help without regard to the flag a rescuing ship may be flying.

Now to the good news: I left the machine on for several hours and passing by, gave the group a touch to see if it was warm. Burned the finger but the machine seems to be working. Maybe it was a vapor lock as had been suggested. Whatever the cause, I'm glad as my answer to the assumptions that I was, or am, even somewhat qualified to work on the machine were just that...assumptions. I am hopelessly mechanically challenged. Fortunately, the espresso gods took pity on this unworthy practitioner of coffee worship.

[HB]

Glad to hear it ended well. If it happens again and you hear a "pffft" when opening the steam valve then nothing, it's vapor lock and the vacuum breaker is sticking closed when the machine cools down. I've read reports that cleaning / descaling it with vinegar can help.

[cannonfodder]

Others have had slow heating problems that were caused by boiler scale. If you have not descaled the machine recently you may want to consider it. You would be surprised how big of a difference it can make. Like a dirty air filter in your car, you slowly loose performance but do not realize how much until you get a clean one. Then you have one of those wow, moments.

[Tazza d'oro]

Descaling of the Expobar Office Control is specifically opposed by Whole Latte Love, a major seller of this unit. It is considered unnecessary and definitely not recommended by the factory.

[HB]

Prevention is a good thing, but what's the alternative if there's scale buildup? Scrap it and buy another unit?

[Tazza d'oro]

EXPOBAR-TIPS

The usual symptoms of calcification are when the coffee comes out cold and the cream is white instead of brown. If you want to decalcify you should take the machine apart and run decalcification solution and assemble it again, but in any case we do not recommend you to do it. Prevent scale build up by using bottled water and backflush your machine frequently; following both tips will keep your machine in optimal working conditions.

I took the above from the Whole Latte Love site. However, maybe I will try to descale on my own. My machine is 2 years old now and has only seen home usage...sometimes several times daily and sometimes no use at all (when in my Nicro vacuum mode).

[cannonfodder]

There are some issues that can arise from descaling a machine, leaky gasket or vacuum breaker for the most part. If you have seals that are questionable, removing the scale from them may cause a leak. You removed the crud that was plugging the leak. But not descaling as part of your yearly (or more often depending on use and water hardness) will cause more problems IMHO. After two years of use, it probably needs it.

They (WLL) do not say not to descale, just to have a service center do it for you (WLL). If you are not comfortable doing it yourself then by all means have a service center do it, but it is not difficult to do.

[Tazza d'oro]

Not difficult to do??? There are no schematics or instructions for doing this in the instruction books which come with the unit. How do I even begin to think of opening the machine without some sort of picture or design to indicate just what is what? As I stated above, I consider myself mechanically challenged. This to me would indeed be "rocket science".

[jrtatl]

Not difficult to do??? There are no schematics or instructions for doing this in the instruction books which come with the unit. How do I even begin to think of opening the machine without some sort of picture or design to indicate just what is what? As I stated above, I consider myself mechanically challenged. This to me would indeed be "rocket science".

Really it's just a matter of: 1) filling your boiler with citric acid solution instead of plain water; 2) letting it sit for a few minutes; and 3) emptying and refilling the boiler with fresh water many times to get all the citric acid solution out. You do not need to disassemble the machine for this.

Then, to descale the HX, you run citric acid solution through the HX like you are flushing. Do this several times, and then flush several times with fresh water. You do not need to disassemble the machine for this either.

Well, this is how I do it with my Expobar. Anyone else out there do things differently?

PS: Atlanta water is very soft to begin with. From what I understand, scale buildup is not a major problem here.

[Tazza d'oro]

Pardon me for asking simplistic questions. Do you mean that I simply fill the reservoir with a citric acid solution and run normally and then follow with several flushings with normal water (Atlanta tap version)?

[jrtatl]

Yup. Fill the reservoir with solution; open the water tap and drain some water; let the boiler fill. Repeat a time or two to make sure the water in the boiler has been displaced with solution. Turn the machine off and let it sit for a few minutes. I've read that it is better to do this without the heating element on. Then drain and fill a few times.

Descaling the HX is as easy as running the pump to flush solution from the reservoir through the group a few times.

The whole process is done by utilizing the reservoir.

[cannonfodder]

It really is that simple, with one caveat. You need to overfill your boiler to thoroughly descale. You need to apply descale agent above the normal water line. To do that, you will need to remove the case so you can disconnect the boiler fill sensor. That will allow you to fill the boiler to the top. However, if you are uncomfortable with opening the case, a simple fill and flush would be better than no descale at all.

Most descale agents work best hot. So after you fill the boiler and HX, let it heat. Then turn off the power and let it soak for a half hour, then flush several reservoirs of clean water through it.

Far be it for me to suggest you go beyond your mechanical comfort zone. It would be better to send it in for service than to risk breaking it or electrocuting yourself in the attempt.

[jrtatl]

It really is that simple, with one caveat. You need to overfill your boiler to thoroughly descale.

I agree, and this is similar to what I normally do. I omitted it from my instructions to keep everything as simple as possible.

[Javier]

HB (Dan), Cannonfodder (David), and Jrtatl (Jeremy),

I also have an Expobar Office Pulser, and need to descale it soon. The steam pressure is presently anemic, and the pump pressure (previously adjusted to 9 bars) is currently at 5 bars.

I have opened the case on few occassions (e.g., to adjust the pressurestat, check for leaks, etc.). How can I distinguish the boiler fill sensor from other wires? Is there any schematic on the innards of the Expobar I may use as a reference when looking for this sensor?

By the way, where did you guys buy the citric acid (other than brewing supply stores)?

Thanks in advance!

Javier