Hi, after a few years of drinking tea for my daily caffeine (I don't want to talk about it) I have gotten back to taking coffee seriously. Since i'm now middle-aged, i decided to go ahead and get the machine i've dreamt about for years, and am now perched at my kitchen counter like a fat guy in spandex on a carbon fiber race bike. i'm intimidated, and anxious for tomorrow morning and the first ristretto.

i've cleaned the machine per the instructions, prepared all my tools, and everything seems right. except, the light on the power switch is always on. is that right? as long as it's plugged in (obviously) the power switch is lit up green. there's no heat, i left it for an hour just to be sure, and the water tank was still cool to the touch, but the manual and everything i read about the machine says it should only come on when the machine is switched on. is this abnormal? do i have bad wiring direct from the factory? should i even care?

i'm hoping someone with more knowledge of the pavoni machines can help, or tell me to relax and drink a coffee.

benposch wrote:and am now perched at my kitchen counter like a fat guy in spandex on a carbon fiber race bike.

The green light is on when the switch is on, and remains on even if the pressureStat or thermofuse is off. So the switch and light are OK, but yes, something is wrong with your machine. I think you have a resettable thermofuse that might have tripped (which would be good) or possibly a bad or stuck pressurestat.

You might want to talk to your vendor, who will probably advise that you can do it yourself on the thermofuse. Involves opening the base and pressing a little red button. If you have an ohmmeter, you can do continuity tests with the machine unplugged and the switch on. The link below is guidance from Doug at Orphanespresso about that.

Help with DIY europiccola repair - no heat

Agree with Pat. Sounds like the switch was on with no water in the boiler and the thermal fuse tripped. To reset it, drop the bottom cover (torx screw is under the drip tray) and I *think* you'll have a very tiny button in the center of the thermal fuse that you can press in. You should hear a click.

Make sure your boiler is full and turn the switch back on. This thing should spring to full temp in about 10 minutes.

Let us know how it goes.

Correct the ON/OFF switch on the professionale should be always on as long as in ON position
your pressure is regulated by a pressurestat and you will have a resettable safety thermostat (as mention above red button)
some newer machines have an access hole with a little plug under without needing to remove the base
other wise
remove base try pushing it
and see if the issue is solved otherwise you will need to check where the voltage stops
you can work your way back wards from the heating element, safety thermostat, pstat, switch, connector, plug etc etc

Ben,
I just reread your post, and I may have misunderstood. Are you saying that the switch is lit whether on or off, and that the machine stays cold when it's in the off position, but the machine heats and functions normally when it's in the on position?

If that is the case, then I think something is awry with the switch or wiring. That shouldn't keep you from making your morning ristretto, but is worth bringing up with the vendor and fixing. You kinda need that light to tell you whether your machine is on or off.

Homeburrero reads better then I do

if so then
IF the 2 line wires are mispositioned on the switch
light will stay always on
HOWEVER once you click it the power will not reach the other 2 terminals
(top and bottom of the switch double pole)

saying so after unplugging the unit
re-position the 2 entry wires ( they should be were the 0 is)
in place of the 2 in machine circuit ones

aha! That makes sense.

I didn't think of that. Surprising that the machine would get through the QA test they supposedly do on these. And if that's the case Ben will have to fix it before he can make a coffee.

Ben, rephrasing Stafano's advice a bit, when you unplug it and open it up, trace the two wires that go from the plug-in cord to the switch. They should both go to the side of the switch with the '0' , one over the other. This should be the back side of the machine (but who knows, maybe not in your case.)

Then on the other side of the switch (under the 'I') you should have one wire to the pStat, and another wire to the thermofuse.

well homeburrero, you were right, the machine is operating normally, but something is up with the wiring. i'll need to go buy that torx screwdriver and have a look. i'm not an amateur when it comes to wiring so i'll take a look at it myself. i purchased it from an online shop, so i'll have to do some research to find a local shop that sells la pavoni, AND speaks english! my machine does have the little rubber plug on the base to get to the reset button without opening it up, but pressing it did not alleviate the problem.

thank you all for your feedback, and i'll write back once i figure it out. it does seems a little odd that it made it past QA like this.

ben

well at long last, i've had the time to go to a hardware store and buy that torx. popped it open and the wiring seems fine. no sign of anything obviously wrong. there is not a local la pavoni pro that i can find, but the one place that sells good quality machines took a look as well and they can't find anything technically wrong. i guess i'll have to have to fill out that warranty and talk to la pavoni themselves.