I have a Silvia V3 with an Auber PID that I've been using for about 5 years. Today I'm getting some odd behaviors.

The PID is set to 218F (which is supposed to be about 201F at the grouphead), as it has been for many months. (I live at 5430 ft elevation, so water boils at about 202F). Today, I made two double cappuccinos, and then went back about 45 minutes later to make a split espresso. As I started the shot I could hear the steam in the grouphead, so I stopped it, flushed the grouphead, trashed the coffee, and then started again.

This time I tried flushing the grouphead before the shot (a step I don't usually take, because it seems to cause boiler temp to drop right away). Each time, tons of steam pouring out of the group as I watch the boiler temp drop rapidly (i.e. 10 degrees in a few seconds).

My assumption had been that I can have boiling water above the boiling point under pressure in the boiler, and it drops to the actual boiling point as it travels to the grouphead. This theory has seemed to work for years.

Thoughts? Do I have a blocked line somewhere? Is my boiler full of gunk? I descaled about 2 months ago. I don't have a ton of discipline on descaling since my water isn't very hard, but I do it at least twice a year.

-Alex

Is the boiler dropping in temp faster than normal?

Yes, I would say the temp is dropping faster than normal.

Also, I would say that the machine often settles these days at a temperature 3-4 degrees F above the set point, as if the PID were overshooting.

Do you leave it on 24/7? - Nothing wrong with that btw. Or perhaps something in your water building up?

Either way, could be the heating element reaching end of life. Would possibly explain the lack of recovery time, and the PID struggling to regulate temperature, and it over shooting.

Just did a search... Here's how you can test it (1:35 onwards):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pR5IHO08ntI

I don't leave it on 24/7, but sometimes I leave it in steam mode for a few hours by mistake on weekends. I did open it up today, wondering if the temperature sensor for the PID might need new thermal paste or something. The paste looks fine, but I did find this:



The melted connector doesn't seem quite right, does it? I wonder if it's related.

alexjp wrote:I don't leave it on 24/7, but sometimes I leave it in steam mode for a few hours by mistake on weekends.

Leaving it in steam mode would speed through the life of heating element. No big deal in the scheme of things. Did you measure it like in the video?

And that connector doesn't look right. Can't quite tell whats going on there. What is that stuff?

This is the third (fourth?) thread this month with melted connectors. WTF is going on here?! is the gov'ment trying to control our thoughts with weird power frequencies???

Anyway, A new crimp and a good scrubbing of the element contact will probably help. If not, you could be getting near a element replacement.

Recently I had to replace a TRIAC, re-crimp one of my heater connections, and upgrade from a pressurestat to a thermosistor.

There's a coffeegeek thread on this problem; the belief is that it's caused by arcing. This is a lead that got unplugged when I installed the PID years ago; maybe it's been arcing a little bit and working its way loose. The challenge is going to be finding a new connector in that size without buying a box of 100.

What about crimping the connector until you have a tight fit, then reinstalling using some thermal paste?