So now i broke my Pavoni... powered on without water

[j7on]

Ok, this morning(as all mornings in like 1,1/2 years) i was preparing for coffee, plugged in the Pavoni, poured some water from the tap into a holder(from which i pour it into the machine), then, i was distracted for like a minute or two after what i intended to pour in the water when i noticed the power switch was ON!!!

So, the machine was on without water for a couple of minutes, obviously after it cooled down and i tried again after a couple of hours it was dead...

Anyone else got this experience, what is usually needed to be replaced after an incident like this?
Thanks.

[mogogear]

Ok, this morning(as all mornings in like 1,1/2 years) i was preparing for coffee, plugged in the Pavoni, poured some water from the tap into a holder(from which i pour it into the machine), then, i was distracted for like a minute or two after what i intended to pour in the water when i noticed the power switch was ON!!!

So, the machine was on without water for a couple of minutes, obviously after it cooled down and i tried again after a couple of hours it was dead...

Anyone else got this experience, what is usually needed to be replaced after an incident like this?
Thanks.

So, I believe that should be able to flip it over- and in the base should be a button / home to insert a pencil etc. Something like that that should be a resettable circuit breaker that trips if it gets too hot. Check that out and see if she comes back to life!!
Good luck

[HB]

As mo said, usually there's a fuse to save the heating element from melting. Some are resettable and some are not. Searching on "pavoni" and "fuse" led me to this post:

This is my Pavoni Pro before I rewired it with a fuse. It has a fuseable link (under orange insulated cover) which is like a wire that breaks at certain temp.



So I'm not sure what you're referring to as the "watch battery". Maybe yours has the red button fuse which might look like that. Let me know, i should be able to help a little.

[kbuzbee]

Milleniums have the circuit breaker. Older units use a fuse.

You "probably" didn't hurt it.... At least I hope so, for you.

Ken

[cannonfodder]

Here is a breaker.

black thing with the red dot in the center

And here is a blown thermal fuse..


You can check the heating element with a volt meter. If it reads infinite ohms your element is blown (I think, someone please correct me).

Good news, elements are relatively cheap and easy to replace.

[bill]

Close, but use an ohmmeter instead of a voltmeter.

[cannonfodder]

It would be difficult to measure ohms with a volt meter, pardon the error, multimeter or ohmmeter is what you need. I tend to use voltmeter as a generic term (incorrectly). They are pretty inexpensive.

[j7on]

Hi there!

Oddly enough there is no breaker or thermal fuse on my machine(it is from 1989)?

Here is the base, just a helluva lot of wires going to the center(could the missing breaker be inside all that, should i try and lure em out?), i havent had a chance to measure the resistance of the heating element yet.

<missing image>

[kbuzbee]

Finland? So that is a 230v model? Maybe it was wired differently? I would expect a fuse but I don't see it in your photo. Was the machine "used"? Perhaps the previous owner removed it??

Just thoughts...

Ken

[Dr Jim]

Hi there!

Oddly enough there is no breaker or thermal fuse on my machine(it is from 1989)?

Errr, ahh, uhm - might I direct your attention to the gaggle of slinky red wires at the center of the boiler?

Unless this aging brain is seriously misfiring, I believe that underneath the spaghetti you'll find a thermal cut-off switch, and I think that it may be a 'press the dot' to reset version. The two connections on the outside should be the actual boiler element (note: the top lead isn't burned, it's covered with black shrink-wrap) and you can run a resistance check across them - I also like to check each leg to ground too.

Cheers

Jim

[kbuzbee]

I kinda wondered about that but it's wired differently, isn't it?? What are all those red wires??? Are they the 230v version of the blue wires in the photo above??

Ken

[mogogear]

Errr, ahh, uhm - might I direct your attention to the gaggle of slinky red wires at the center of the boiler?

Unless this aging brain is seriously misfiring, I believe that underneath the spaghetti you'll find a thermal cut-off switch, and I think that it may be a 'press the dot' to reset version. The two connections on the outside should be the actual boiler element (note: the top lead isn't burned, it's covered with black shrink-wrap) and you can run a resistance check across them - I also like to check each leg to ground too.

Cheers

Jim

Or if worse comes to worse, My old 110v 1965 la Pavoni had the fuse( old meltable style) stuck down in the recess that all those (red heat shielded) wires go into... So there could be "no fire" in the hole

[j7on]

Hi There!

Problem solved!!(i hope..), but not fixed yet...

As "kbuzbee" suggested this was not acquired "used" but was found boxed at my Dad's storage(he used to be in the restaurant business so i guess he got it as a present or something?)

This was still in the box when i found it(i recall my dad stating he did not want to use a "toy"...) so it is quite possible it has been sitting on the shelf from 1989(stamped on box of the pressure gauge), i have been using it for only 18 months now(as you can see on the base, no rust!)


Ok, inside the boiler is a hollow "compartment" (unlike the pic "cannonfodder" posted) which the heating element surrounds, all the red wired were pushed in there, and glued in place!
So, i pulled them out and inside was a thermal fuse, the other 2 wires were connected by another weird metal thing but it worked.

Now i will just have to get a new fuse and try it out, thanks guys!!!

[j7on]

Hi Everyone!


Now i went out and got a new thermal fuse, installed it & everything works perfectly, but, i started thinking did i get the right fuse...(there was NO markings on the fuse)

Now there were a few avaliable, the shopkeeper & I figured it must be over 100C(212F) since there is boiling water involved, but it is also a pressure cooker so it will be above that temp, so then my alternatives were 112C(233,6F) or 128C(262,4F), no reason to go above that?, i took the 128... hope it is not "too hot"(=will not blow if overheated)

[cannonfodder]

Does the fuse have a colored cap? In the states, the colors are standardized to a temperature. That way if your fuse's printing is gone, you can still get the correct one based on the color of the fuse cap.

On my machine, I set the boiler at 234F (about .5 bar) for brewing and turn it up to 248F (about .8 bar) for steaming. I would say the 128C is a good choice.

[j7on]

Back to normality again!

I can now enjoy my little cup in the morning(and occasionally in the afternoon too...)



Seems like the 128C(262,4F) fuse was a good choice since "cannonfodder" said the temp for brewing goes around 248F.



I had one more problem, there is a piece of metal connecting the wires that goes from the pressurestat to one end of the heating element, if this piece of metal touches the base(or any other metal part(=ground) the p.stat will not work, the machine will probably boil until it explodes.

I found this out when i apparently did not place the fuse + this metal "thing" & the 4 wires into the hole in the middle of the heating element properly, the hole is insulated but there must of been a crack somewhere or something cuz the p.stat did not work cuz it was grounded, resulted in new insulation & perfecto!!!



Thanks everyone for the help!!!




P.S. To "Cannonfodder":
About the markings on the fuse, the tip was gray on the broken one & this new one was a kind of a red/brown tone, the guy at the electronics store told me that the standardisation in Europe has been changed and nowadays the tips are ALL just black???