Help a newbie out- Water out of steam wand - Page 2

#11: Post by **vit** » June 14th, 2018, 4:01 am

Found a blog with some pictures, maybe it would be useful, you can translate it to english with google translate or something

http://tuttolog.blogspot.com/2014/06/ma ... acqua.html

It seems to be aluminum boiler, there are usual 2 thermostats attached (steam and brew) and thermofuse. Not sure about the item marked "4" on one photo, looks like a kind of solenoid valve, maybe to release the pressure at the end of the brew ??

June 14th, 2018, 4:48 am

Thanks for this, it's a great help to see the internals before actually opening it up. Yes there is a solenoid valve that releases pressure and pulls the water out of the filter. Of the components you've seen inside the machine, what would you say is likely to the the cause of the issue?

I doubt that if there is any limescale issue with mine, that it would be as bad as it is in the blog post

#13: Post by **vit** » June 14th, 2018, 5:59 am

Steam valve seems to be attached directly to the boiler on the opposite side of solenoid valve
Did you try opening / closing it to see how it affects the flow ?
I don't believe it can be dismantled though
Think twice before dismantling the boiler - it may break the seal between two halves and you will have problems to find the replacement

June 14th, 2018, 12:44 pm

Haven't really checked what happens if I open and close it, what should I be looking out for?
Yeah, it's probably best to avoid screwing with the boiler, have no clue how I would locate a replacement gasket.

#15: Post by **Nunas** » June 14th, 2018, 4:41 pm

Correction...did not know your machine is a single boiler. Not likely an water sensor in the boiler, as commented on earlier. In any case, before you do anything, you really need to fix that leaky steam wand valve.

June 16th, 2018, 6:21 am

Finally got some time to open up the machine:

Turns out the steam valve was not closing all the way. After having opened the machine, and seeing how the steam valve functions , I realised I didn't even have to open it. For anyone else that might come across this thread in the future, all you have to do is remove the steam wand lever (by turning the top portion with the plastic ball anti-clockwise). Once you've unscrewed that, the entire metal piece will pop off, you'll then be able to set the limit for the valve by screwing it in further. Finally, reattach the lever, and the valve should close properly.

#17: Post by **civ** » June 16th, 2018, 7:52 am

Hello:
Welcome to HB.

5plus2equals9 wrote:Hi,
... whenever I start brewing now,a stream of water just pours out of the steam wand ...

Here's a photo of a boiler replacement for a Ariete Cafe Roma Deluxe from a spare parts site:

Photo courtesy Creticambi.it

If it is not the exact one, I'm quite sure it is much the same as yours.

It's a step forward from what was my first 'espresso' coffee machine in the sense that it has a three way valve (black thing on the left) and more than one thermal protection.

The brewing temperature seems controlled by a fixed value thermostat on the side while the steam (and over-temperature protection) would be controlled by another fixed value thermostat on top (small brown things).

These units have no other sensors and to produce steam, you throw a switch that overrides the water temperature sensor (probably 95°C) and then the water inside the boiler gets heated to above 100°C, ie: whatever the limit of the sensor at the top of the boiler (usually not above 120°C).

Whenever you are brewing a shot or heating up to make steam, the pressure inside the boiler rises: when brewing a shot because the pump is working against the puck/pressurised basket and when making steam because of the brew sensor override by the steam switch, heating the water past 100°C.

Now, in this particular design, the steam valve is mounted on the side (in others it is mounted on top) so if the stream valve (brass thing on the right) does not close properly or leaks, water will come out when brewing.

As the boiler is at brewing (and not steam) temperature you see water and not steam come out of the steam wand.

You have to get the unit serviced (probably not worthwhile in $ terms) or you can take apart the valve and see why it is not closing properly.
Not a hard thing to do if you are DIY oriented.

In any case, please take into account that electricity and water do not mix well and that anything you do with your machine should be done with it unplugged.

Cheers,

CIV

June 16th, 2018, 8:57 am

civ wrote:Hello:
Welcome to HB.

Here's a photo of a boiler replacement for a Ariete Cafe Roma Deluxe from a spare parts site:

<image>
Photo courtesy Creticambi.it

If it is not the exact one, I'm quite sure it is much the same as yours.

It's a step forward from what was my first 'espresso' coffee machine in the sense that it has a three way valve (black thing on the left) and more than one thermal protection.

The brewing temperature seems controlled by a fixed value thermostat on the side while the steam (and over-temperature protection) would be controlled by another fixed value thermostat on top (small brown things).

These units have no other sensors and to produce steam, you throw a switch that overrides the water temperature sensor (probably 95°C) and then the water inside the boiler gets heated to above 100°C, ie: whatever the limit of the sensor at the top of the boiler (usually not above 120°C).

Whenever you are brewing a shot or heating up to make steam, the pressure inside the boiler rises: when brewing a shot because the pump is working against the puck/pressurised basket and when making steam because of the brew sensor override by the steam switch, heating the water past 100°C.

Now, in this particular design, the steam valve is mounted on the side (in others it is mounted on top) so if the stream valve (brass thing on the right) does not close properly or leaks, water will come out when brewing.

As the boiler is at brewing (and not steam) temperature you see water and not steam come out of the steam wand.

You have to get the unit serviced (probably not worthwhile in $ terms) or you can take apart the valve and see why it is not closing properly.
Not a hard thing to do if you are DIY oriented.

In any case, please take into account that electricity and water do not mix well and that anything you do with your machine should be done with it unplugged.

Cheers,

CIV

Hi there,

Thanks for the detailed response, I have actually opened up the machine, I managed to tighten the steam valve until I could actually feel a physical stop point, I then reattached the steam wand lever, and have since made three cappuccinos with no leaking at all- Vit, in his posts above helped me out quite a bit