How to tell if a faemina heating element is broken

#1: Post by **andrea_f** » March 7th, 2014, 2:42 pm

Hello All,

I've a Faemina "Blue Label" 1964 that used to work almost flawlessy until it was left "accidentaly" turned on for too long.
After that I had to change the seals (thanks again to Francesco of http://francescoceccarelli.eu for the help) and rewire the electric stuff.

Now the machine turns on with no leaks and it heats up to steam temperature, but after a while the circuit breaker kick-in as if an electric short circuit had happened.

I double checked all the wiring for any false contact that could make it happens, and I'm beginning to suspect that something is wrong with the calrod heaters, but I don't know what to look for.

I tried to verify electric impedance with a digital tester or looking for dispersion but I'm not sure how to read the results.

For example it seems that the electrical contacts and the body of the heaters are not perfectly insulated. Is it supposed to happen?

I think to remember that between the 2 heaters, before the overheating, there was sort of a plastic spacer, that got burned. Are the two heaters supposed to be separated somehow?

In other words, does anyone know if there's a way to verify the condition of the heaters?

Thanks in advance,

Andrea

#2: Post by **DJF** » March 9th, 2014, 4:30 am

How to tell if a faemina heating element is broken

The water will not heat up.

March 9th, 2014, 8:21 am

Hi DJF,

Thank you for the concise reply, as you may have noticed , I did stated that that water heats up, actually to the boiling temperature.

The problem arise minutes later, when one believes that everything is all right, the main breaker switches off as if a short circuit has happened.

So to an unexperienced eye (like mine) it may seem that something is wrong with the heating elements, particularly when you have ruled out any cabling issue.

On the other hand if there were cabling issue one should expect the circuit breaker to switch off immediately after powering the machine and not several minutes later...
This is why I came to believe of some nasty electrical issue with the elements and I've started looking for a way to do an in-depth check.

Thanks again for any suggestion,

Andrea

#4: Post by **AngerManagement** » March 9th, 2014, 9:22 am

Is the cct breaker you refer to; an OVERLOAD or is it Earth Leakage..

As very different causes...

#5: Post by **drgary** » March 9th, 2014, 12:06 pm

Sometimes water can get into the heating element during rebuild, causing a short like you describe. This can be repaired by baking the heating element in your oven to remove moisture and resealing it. Orphan Espresso has a tech help guide and kit to help you assess and fix this. Here's the link.

March 11th, 2014, 5:30 am

Hi AngerManagement,

I believe is a Earth Leakage as I see there's not perfect insulation between the machine body and the phase/ground line,and the source of this leak are the heating elements.

Thanks.

March 11th, 2014, 6:00 am

Hi DrGary,

I've found your advice very useful, as it match perfectly my situation (except fot the machine type).

Looking through the net I've found also this link ( http://www.francescoceccarelli.eu/faida ... za_eng.htm ), that seem to fit with my situation too and is easier to try although the principle upon which is based is not completely clear to me

Particularly running the machine without earth cable seems a little dangerous and I don't generally like doing things I don't fully understand...

Base on your experience do you think I should go directly with the OE's fix or give a try with the other one?

Thanks again,

Andrea

#8: Post by **drgary** » March 11th, 2014, 1:48 pm

Andrea,

Those fixes are essentially the same and involve heating to get residual water out of the element. The Orphan fix includes their kit to reseal the terminals.

#9: Post by **homeburrero** » March 11th, 2014, 2:03 pm

andrea_f wrote:Particularly running the machine without earth cable seems a little dangerous and I don't generally like doing things I don't fully understand...

Yes, running the machine without earth is a bit dangerous, and running a machine that has tripped an earth leakage circuit breaker with the earth disconnected is tweaking the tiger's tail. If you do it, treat the machine like a live exposed wire on your countertop.

#10: Post by **drgary** » March 11th, 2014, 2:27 pm

Andrea,

I think you're leaning toward the Orphan Espresso method because you don't risk plugging it in with the ground disconnected. It will take more disassembly but is safer.