While rebuilding an old chrome Riviera Eagle, I noticed a flicker in the green indicator switch. As it's arriving at 1 bar it flickers and surges with an audible sound. This happens nearly every time it regulates (temp drops and has to turn back on). Initially I thought it was a problem with the thermostat but several people told me it was probably just a bad switch so I replaced and the problem persists.
My diagnosis was confirmed when I turned the lights out and tilted the machine back just enough to get a look underneath. Sure enough there is a visible arching that occurs just between the thermostat and the element cap as it turns off and on to regulate temperature.
Just wondering where I might be able to source a new thermostat for this thing. It seems like a pretty simple part.

The machine works fine otherwise. Fixing it up to sell.

It has a pressurestat (PSTAT), not a thermostat. Perhaps you can show us a photo and describe where it's arcing, but don't plug it in for that reason. You may simply have a loose electrical connection instead of needing a new PSTAT.

drgary,

It wouldn't be a loose connection from a wire terminal or connector. I replaced about 75% of the wires with double insulated hi-temp wire and all the connections were good. If there is a way to fix the pressure stat by resoldering a connection that would be awesome but i'd need some resources


Underside of pstat where arching was taking place.

Ryan,

That's not a PSTAT. It looks more like a safety switch so if boiler temperature rises too high it disconnects the circuit. But I'm not sure. Anyone else have a take on that? I would expect to see a PSTAT somewhere. Can you show us a photo of the entire underside of the machine, please?

Gary,
if you type in the numbers on the piece into google: z42/43 6/250 what comes up are thermostat parts. My guess is that it is a thermal fuse of some kind. It is connected directly to the limit switch on one side and the on/off indicator light on the other and mounts in just below the element.

Okay. I did a search of Riviera rebuilds and found this photo, which tells me that's a high temperature safety switch and it is controlled by a PSTAT. Here's that photo. The PSTAT regulates boiler temperature and is wired into the On/Off switch. Your safety switch looks like the spades could be cleaned up and the connector fastened more securely to it.



Replacement thermal fuses aren't hard to find. The trick is getting one where the holes line up so you can attach it. But if you can find that part exactly it should be easy to replace.

Im sure it won't be easy to find. I'll keep plugging away. Thanks for your time Gary.

Agree completely with Gary, that this switch is a thermal safety switch. Sometimes referred to as a thermostat, but it really does not regulate your temp - the pStat does that.

You might get lucky and find one like this. If not you may need to rig it with a conventional resettable thermal safety switch. I'd check with Stefano at http://www.espressocare.com/ to see if he has something. I don't see a temp on yours, and I doubt that the T 250 is a temp.

There's always a chance that the machine's pStat is not working and the machine is getting so hot that this safety switch is doing the temp regulation. You can bypass it, then turn on the machine and carefully watch the gauge to see if your pStat is working. If you aren't sure of that gauge you may want to check it with a good gauge on the steam wand.

I'd also like to suggest some shrink tubing over the spade connectors to reduce the bare metal exposure and offer at least slight strain relief where the wire crimps into the spade.

drgary wrote:I'd also like to suggest some shrink tubing over the spade connectors

Good idea.

Since you are replacing most of your wire anyway, you should consider wiring it up so that whatever safety thermostat you put on that boiler screw has two wires with spade connectors, as in drGary's pic above as well as in this pic (link to simonarcher's post at La Riviera Refurb)