New member here but long time reader. Anyway, I own a La spaziale mini vivaldi ii with a baratza vario W that I purchased from Chris coffee January 2012. All is good until all of a sudden, my steam boiler is not getting water and will shut down and get the blinking red light. I would just turn off the boiler and still able to just pull espresso shots. I went online and try to figure out and troubleshoot the problem. I was able to fix the problem by cleaning the solenoid, it would fill the boiler again but as soon as it tries to heat up, it would trip the gfci outlet.

I called chris coffee and they helped me diagnose my issue. It looks like the heating element needs to be changed and they said that the solenoid may also need changing since it may leak eventually. Unfortunately, the heating element is sealed inside the boiler on my unit and will need to change the whole steam boiler. They also recommend descaling it since its more than 6 years old. I don't think I can do all the repairs myself and would be better to send to chris coffee so they can check everything. Given the price of the boiler, solenoid, descaling, labor and shipping back and forth to chris coffee, is it still worth it to have it serviced and fixed? or would you just buy a new one? Let me know what you think. Looking forward to your replies. Thanks

What's the total cost of getting it repaired? Seems a shame to replace it if it just needs some upkeep, albeit fairly extensive and costly upkeep. But if it's even a few hundred less than a new one I'd be inclined to do the repairs. Espresso machines are one of the increasingly few things in life that can be repaired, so I think it's the thing to do, unless you're looking for an excuse to upgrade...

Not sure of the total cost but they said the boiler is 279.95, solenoid is around 96 or so (he wasn't sure), descaling cost he didn't specify much but labor is gonna be 75/hour (maybe descaling and repairs would be around 3 hours?), shipping is around 100 each way. They will check if there are other things that needs to be done. They can't give me an actual quote until they have my machine and go over it but my guess would be at least $600-700 maybe. Thats why I'm not sure if its worth it since the worth of a used one, at least from what i have seen in this site, are just a few hundred more. Maybe its time to replace it?

Blackfish823 wrote:Not sure of the total cost but they said the boiler is 279.95, solenoid is around 96 or so (he wasn't sure), descaling cost he didn't specify much but labor is gonna be 75/hour (maybe descaling and repairs would be around 3 hours?), shipping is around 100 each way. They will check if there are other things that needs to be done. They can't give me an actual quote until they have my machine and go over it but my guess would be at least $600-700 maybe. Thats why I'm not sure if its worth it since the worth of a used one, at least from what i have seen in this site, are just a few hundred more. Maybe its time to replace it?

There is a repairs forum here you can probably get help from.

Why not pay yourself $300 to fix it?

Every time you ship an espresso machine you run the risk of more damage anyway. Plus buying a used machine runs the risk of more headaches from other issues.

Go slow, take lots of pictures, label everything, use the right tools.

You'll be able to handle future issues on your own too.

That is still an excellent machine. I would fix it.

If I decide to replace it, I don't know if I will be able to sell this machine as is at a reasonable price.

That's the other problem. I'd do as suggested above and try to fix it myself, or maybe find a local technician to give you a quote - either they can come to you or you could drop it at their shop. No damage in shipping that way.

I'd recommed doing some basic maintenance yourself first to see if you can resolve the problem.

Descaling is a simple one to do yourself and depending on how hard your water is in your local area, how much you use the steaming wand, and how often you flush out your steam boiler by dispensing water through the hot water tap, you should be descaling anywhere between 1-6 times per year. This is easy to do by mixing some Urnex Dezcal with warm water, dumping it into the reservoir and running it through your brew and steam boilers. Wait 10-15 minutes and then run a few reservoir's worth of water to fully flush out the system. If you have some serious scaling issues, buying a new machine won't solve the problem as you'll run into the same problem in a few years time.

Beyond regular descaling, to reduce scale build up in your steam boiler, one thing you can do is periodically run fresh water into the steam boiler by despensing water from the hot water tap. Make a habit of flushing 8oz of water (just press the hot water dispensing button once and wait till it automatically stops) at least once a week if you're making a 1-2 milk drinks a day. Whenever you use the steamer, only pure water vapour exits the steam boiler and the water will get harder overtime since all the minerals stay in the steam boiler. By dispensing hot water, you help dilute the heavily mineralized water in the steam boiler.

As for tripping out the GFCI outlet, it's worth unplugging your machine and checking all the electrical connections to the heating elements. If you see rust or other build up near the contacts, clean it off with a metal bristled brush and see if that helps to get rid of any potential short circuits.

If the above still doesn't work, I'd send the machine in to get it fixed. It'll definitely cost less than $1k and you won't be able to replace a Vivaldi Mini for less than $1k anyway. It would be a terrible waste of a machine if it got sent to the landfill or junk yard since the components on there are built to last with proper regular maintenance. I've had mine for 10 years with regular basic upkeep the odd replacements of gaskets, solenoids, valves, fuses, etc. Espresso machines are a lot like cars, they take regular maintenence and things will wear out. Just as you'd expect to change the tires and brake pads on your car every few years, same thing applies to espresso machines.

For any well made commercial grade espresso machines, it's best to budget about $100-200/year for maintenence and replacements. So far, I've averaged about $150/year for upkeep of my Vivaldi Mini. After my most recent overhaul (3rd in the last 10 years), the machine is running as good as new.

thanks for all your replies.. I have decided that I will have it fixed.

Are you on Highway 66? There may be qualified techs near you that also can do it to save the $200 shipping.