This particular machine is fitted with three identical(?) normally closed (NC) solenoid valves (see pic below). The pic is of a Vetrano Evo DB courtesy of Chris' Coffee but the Lucca M58 is essentially identical. Neither the steam boiler fill solenoid nor the check valve enter into the problem area.



The is a switch with markings Tanika (tank or reservoir) and Rete (plumb-in) which tells the machine's pump where to expect the source of water. When this switch is in the Rete (plumb-in) position, the reservoir level sensor is essentially disabled and only the plumb-in solenoid is powered when the pump motor is powered. Likewise, when the switch is in the Tanika position, the reservoir level sensor is active and only the reservoir solenoid valve is powered when the pump is powered.

Since the machine operates just fine when the switch is in the Tanika (reservoir) position, this would lead me to believe that In this specific case either the switch or the plumb-in solenoid is faulty.

Another update! To reference my previous post, "Still, I believe I may have re-connected a loose wire that was part of the reservoir/plumb switch, but I do not know if this remedied the situation."

As a result, this did in fact remedy the situation! Everything is fully functional. I'll speak to Clive on Tuesday to update them on the (hopefully isolated to just me) issue of a partially-disconnected reservoir/direct connect wire causing the machine to not switch.

Tangentially related, but the pump now operates at a touch over 10 bar. I've read and re-read the manual, and it's not clear exactly how to adjust the brew pressure (i.e. it's now something to adjust with the newly increased in-line pressure). Some questions come up:

1. Should the machine be on and plugged in?

2. Can you actually reach in with your fingers to loosen the lock nut?

3. Is the test completed with the brew lever engaged, and a blind back-flush disk inserted?

I'm on a roll with questions!

Here's a silly inquiry: does anyone else's PID Up and Down buttons become really hot after the machine being on? I wanted to reset some PID parameters, and to hold my fingers on the Up and Down buttons actually scalded them a bit -- had to get some ice.

Never experienced hot PID buttons even after several hours of the machine in operation.

I appreciate your experience! Just for my clarification, does operation include steaming/pulling shots? Or just idle?

Any of the above really. I have had the M58 idle for several hours, pulled shots, steamed milk and then made temp changes to the steam boiler. Have never experienced the PID buttons even relatively warm to notice.

For those on 20A and interested in using a timer, I recently installed an Enerwave 20A Z-wave smart outlet and connected it to a Samsung SmartThings hub. If you are tech savvy, it's a pretty neat way of controlling a 20A espresso machine. I have it set for different schedules based on weekday or weekend, and it knows to turn it off if both my wife and I leave the house (based on our phone presence.) I can also control it from my phone from anywhere and have "vacation" routine set to keep it off when we aren't there. Now I'm planning on automating my garage door, mailbox, lights, well pump, etc. I already have existing IP cams set up and will be adding water sensors to alert me to leaks. Fun stuff.

https://www.amazon.com/Enerwave-Wireles ... e+20+smart

https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-SmartThi ... martthings

I don't have a screenshot of the energy usage data recorded by the outlet (displayed in SmartThings app), but I do have a screen shot from my DTE Energy Bridge showing when the machine kicked on at 3am and turned off at 630am. I made a latte and then started a pot of coffee with the Brazen at 445am and you can see the spike there. It idles at around 200 or so watts, so shutting it down will definitely save some cash. From cold start it draws 1900 watts for 10 minutes and then settles down to around 200 or so. I haven't had the chance to run it for 24hrs straight to see what the outlet reports usage as.

idrinkjetfuel wrote:Any of the above really. I have had the M58 idle for several hours, pulled shots, steamed milk and then made temp changes to the steam boiler. Have never experienced the PID buttons even relatively warm to notice.

After several hours of idling (and just in general), what steam boiler temperature are you running? The heat from the PID buttons is not noticeable for less than 1 second of contact, but becomes quickly apparent over 2-3 seconds.

jph437 wrote:Not sure what baskets clive provides with the Lucca. But out of curiosity if they are the QM baskets, does anyone else have a hell of a time getting them out of the non-bottomless PFs? Because I sure am with my vetrano.

I had to unscrew the spout and push it out from below with a screw driver on my vetrano.