Hello everyone,

I had just repaired my ponte vecchio lusso. I had changed both steam and hot water valves, and pistons gaskets (with the dedicated tool) and applied silicon grease. I descaled it. It worked fine for a week but recently as it was already warmed up, I heard a strong steam noise. Then when I came back, the machine was warming up without pressure. Now when I turn it on, the machine is warming up, gets quite hot, but there is almost no pressure. Pressure stays low and it is mostly false pressure. It quickly falls down to zero when I open the steam valve. But it is continuously warming up, and the machine is actually getting more hot externally than before. I hear the water boiling. So, guess there must be a leak which I cannot identify. I do not see any steam nor water leaking. I also changed the safety valve but it does not change anything.

Any input?

Thanks a lot,

Best regards,

Damien

Does the light go out after it gets hot? That means the pressurestat has turned off. If that is the case it could be set way too low.

If you do adjust the Pstat be sure the overpressure valve is working and keep a close eye on the pressure gauge - don't let it go too high.

If you had a small pinhole leak or leaky gaskets I'd guess you'd be hearing rushing steam and you'd eventually get some pressure.

Thanks a lot for your answer!

No actually the light does not go off.. As this has been covered previously.

I am sure it keeps heating. Last time I could get the pressure gauge to 3psi I also hear the boiling water quite loudly. This would cover the steam noise at that low pressure. I can get some hot water to flow gently when I fully open the corresponding valve. So there is some very little pressure. Maybe the heating power is down for some reason? But then the machine would not get that warm. Otherwise the leak has to be situated over the water level I guess because there I cannot see even the tiniest droplet. But I really can't find anything.

How much water is it filled with? If it's underfilled, this could happen, but that would be way too obvious so I doubt it.The leak has to be quite significant for it to be warm but not build up pressure properly. Take off the panel and observe to be sure. The elements sound okay from your description. Might be hard to tell, but did you notice any difference in the 'warm up' time? How long do you leave it on until you feel the machine is warm(disregarding the pressure)?

Trying to link your steam noise description and no pressure later, with hot external frame, could it be one of the fitting popped off? But if you say there is absolutely no steam/water leak that's quite odd....

If the water is getting hot, to a boil there will be pressure in the boiler - that is a physical fact. If it is getting boiling hot there will be a lot a pressure, so it will be making a lot of noise - that is how the steam valve works for steaming milk. At full brewing pressure, even as low as 0.8 bar, my steam valve makes a roaring sound when open.

What pressure is the machine coming up to now? Sometimes the rubber gasket inside the boiler screw cap goes bad - but then it is usually easy to hear steam escaping when the machine gets hot.

It sounds like perhaps the heating element is not really working correctly. What pressure is the machine reaching when it has been on for say 10 minutes?

Thank you guys so much for answering!

Indeed the boiler is filled. The maximal pressure I could obtained was below 3 psi or about 0.2 bar. It took at least 20min to heat the casing. When I shut it off, even 3hours later I could hear the fain bubbling of air leaking into the boiler. I always had this. So this indicates that any leak should be minimal and that the problem comes from the heating element (or the brain?). But then, what was this noise I heard when I completely lost the pressure all at once?

Unfortunately as I wanted to make sure and wanted to completely remove the casing to further check everything, I had a great difficulty removing the steam valve. I can't manage anymore to remove it and I bent quite a lot the junction of the valve arm to the boiler (such a poor mechanical design). It has been quite warmer than usual over the last days. I was afraid that this valve would leak over the electrical components so I probably tightened it to much too. So now I am stuck. The coating of the boiler cracked around the junction and I probably need a new boiler. In the end I do not now if it is worth it. It will have cost me more than a new machine.