Thymaster, as I mentioned briefly before, its probable that the boiler is trying to fill but due to a blockage somewhere, it can't. Almost all fill controllers have a protection mechanism that stops trying to fill if a certain amount of time passes and the fill isn't completed. This prevents damage from a pump running blocked or dry. This time is 90 seconds for most machines. When this occurs, the panel lights usually flash and the controller prevents the element from heating, to prevent an uncovered element getting damaged. You can restart the 90 second filling attempt by turning the machine off and on again. This is often required when commissioning big machines that take a long time to fill.

The upshot is, fix the blockage first, then see if the boiler is heating and fix it if it isn't.

A thin black coating on the element is normal. Resistance should be between 12 Ohms and 30 Ohms depending on the wattage of the element.

It can be frustrating troubleshooting but you'll get there.

If you can get water out of the groups by pushing a button when the boiler is trying to fill, but not after it stops filling (times out) then the blockage is in the boiler fill line, most likely a stuck fill solenoid. See if you can hear it clicking when you start the machine. If you can't, give it a firm whack with the handle of a screwdriver or similar. Stuck fill solenoids are common in machines that have been in storage for a while.

Hello everyone,
I'm refurbishing a Cimbali M29 Basic.
The boiler, pump and motor are in pretty good shape. I need to do some serious cleaning though, for the machine was sitting at my friends garage for quite some time.
At any rate, my question is how do you remove the start/turn-on knob (the one on the front left)? As for the other knobs, I just pulled and they came out with ease. I don't want to pull that knob pretty hard unless that is the only way to remove it.
There is a small orifice in the center of the knob that seems to have access to a screw? But I can't see if indeed that is the case, so I can't figure out what kind of tool I'd need to remove it...
At any rate, any help will be greatly appreciated. I'm sure I'll have more questions in the next few days, but in the mean time the machine is mostly disassembled and if anyone needs pictures of the internals, I'll be more than happy to take pics and upload them.

Thanks in advance,

Jorge

Teflon1064 wrote:Thymaster, as I mentioned briefly before, its probable that the boiler is trying to fill but due to a blockage somewhere, it can't. Almost all fill controllers have a protection mechanism that stops trying to fill if a certain amount of time passes and the fill isn't completed. This prevents damage from a pump running blocked or dry. This time is 90 seconds for most machines. When this occurs, the panel lights usually flash and the controller prevents the element from heating, to prevent an uncovered element getting damaged. You can restart the 90 second filling attempt by turning the machine off and on again. This is often required when commissioning big machines that take a long time to fill.

The upshot is, fix the blockage first, then see if the boiler is heating and fix it if it isn't.

A thin black coating on the element is normal. Resistance should be between 12 Ohms and 30 Ohms depending on the wattage of the element.

It can be frustrating troubleshooting but you'll get there.

I will try this tomorrow! Thank you so much!

So you were right, my boiler is not filling. I checked the hoses and water is getting to them. I tapped the solenoids but no luck. I am trying to take these off to clean them out, but they are so stinkin hard to remove. I'll let you know what happens when I get them off!

Good to hear ur making progress. Those fittings can def be tight. If you switch the machine on you should hear a click from the fill solenoid as it opens at about the same time as the pump starts. If you dont hear this then theres a good chance its not opening. Taking the solenoid out for inspection should be ur first step and will hopefully be easier than getting those pesky pipes out.

I dont know if theres a non return valve next to the solenoid but thats a likely candidate too. Start from the pump and work toward the boiler, checking each bit as you go.

Good luck, let us know how it goes...

So I got it working... Sorta... It was the fill line right after the pump going to the boiler that was clogged, right at the solenoid.

The tank is now filling and heating, but one of my group heads is only pouring steam. This used to be the group head that worked really well. The other group head works but I'm just curious why the other group head isn't pouring shots. Any thoughts?