Hey everyone!

I posted quite a while ago about my Elektronika not heating up. Between Covid, a surgery and work I haven't had much time to work on my machine. All of those who replied to the earlier post, I'm sorry I didn't post my results and thank you all for your suggestions.

So far I have replaced the pressurestat, the two way valve, the boiler level probe, and the Gicar (thanks Pat!) I had a couple of problems at the same time. The boiler is now filling correctly but it is still not heating. When I replaced the Gicar several years ago ECM sent me an SSR kit to remove the high current for the element out of the Gicar. It worked and I hadn't any problems for a while. I'm now wondering if the SSR has failed.

As I was writing this I took a pic to post and discovered a small crack in the SSR housing, so I am pretty sure this is the problem.

I get 120vac across the high voltage side of the SSR as well as the high voltage input side of the SSR to ground.

When I leave a probe at the input side of the the high voltage side of the SSR and make contact with the safety switches the heating element, I get 120vac. When I do the same thing but with the probe at the high voltage output side, I get no reading at any of the previously mentioned terminals. The light on the SSR stays on all the time. I have also checked the resistance at the element terminals and it is about 10 ohms.

I'm thinking that because the light at the SSR remains on, the circuit that tells the SSR to provide current to the heater is working, but because I do not receive any current from the output side of the SSR I'm guessing the high current side of the switch isn't closing.

What would cause the SSR to crack ? Too much heat? If I need to replace it do I need to get an exact replacement? or as long as it is 20A 240vac with an input of 32vdc should I be ok? or perhaps I should get one with a higher amperage?





thanks all!

PJMac wrote: I get 120vac across the high voltage side of the SSR as well as the high voltage input side of the SSR to ground.

I'm thinking that because the light at the SSR remains on, the circuit that tells the SSR to provide current to the heater is working, but because I do not receive any current from the output side of the SSR I'm guessing the high current side of the switch isn't closing.

Yes. If you read 120VAC across the SSR while the SSR's indicator is on, then that SSR is shot. The fact that there's a crack is just more evidence.

Part # P6029 if your ECM dealers in Vancouver don't have them, or someone is asking more than $100 for it, message me. It is $45 in the U.S. it should be about $60 in Canada.

Thanks for the reply and offer. No one has them in stock right now. I do have the ability to order from the USA as I live very close to the border and have a mail box on the US side. I have another SSR coming today. It's not the same brand but the input and output voltage is the same . It is for 40Amp instead of 20. I'll try that and at the same time order another.

thanks again!

So here is an update on the ECM Elektronika.

I have had a difficult time finding a replacement SSR as everyone is out of stock but I was able to get a replacement SSR from Digikey made by TE.. here is the link in case you are ever in a pinch.

https://www.digikey.ca/en/products/deta ... 5/12343647

I have never seen an SSR quite this small. It is half the size of the one that ECM sent me (P6029) when I had to replace the Gicar a few years ago which was half the size of the regular panel mount SSRs I had seen in the past.

Thanks JRising for the offer of selling me a P6029. That was very kind.

I attached the TE SSR and the boiler is now heating nicely.

Now I have a boiler overfilling problem I need to figure out. It overfills when I pull a shot. I recently replaced the two way valve but am wondering if it is faulty. I didn't have the overfilling problem before but I thought I might as well replace it while I have the case open. I might put the old one back in to see what happens. I wonder when and how this saga will end.

Some in this group have kindly helped me with my ECM Elektronika Profi II. I really appreciate the help.

I had no heat which was solved with a new SSR. It heats up fine now. I had a 2 way valve that was installed backwords which caused the boiler to overfill when drawing a shot. That seems to be good now that I switched it around.

Now I have another issue. I turn the machine on hear a few clicks, pump comes on for a moment and it heats up. Lots of steam, hot water but after a bit all 5 lights on front start to flash. The owners manual says that means it isn't getting water. I know there is water to the machine. I just checked the cold waterline (it's plumbed in). I changed the water filter as it has been a while and then I disconnected the water line from the machine and ran it into the sink. Lots of flow. any ideas?

thanks

PJ

i have left the machine on for a while now and the lights occasionally flash sometime for a minute and then they stop flashing and everything goes back to normal for a bit then it happens again. My understanding is the flashing lights suggest the water reservoir is low on water. This seems strange as i have it plumbed in and i have double checked the switch to make sure I didn't switch it. Any ideas?

Another problem solved! I was thinking this morning about the volumetric dosing buttons intermittently flashing. Sometimes when turned on, the machine would work. Sometimes the lights would start flashing right away. If I turned the power switch on and off a couple of times the machine might work. I started to wonder if maybe a relay in the Gicar was sticking.

I had another Gigar for this machine that I had had repaired and when I was having problems with the boiler overfilling I thought the Gicar might be at fault so I swapped it. At the same time I replaced the boiler fill valve as I had a spare . Back to my thought process. This morning I realized I had changed the Gicar before I had swapped out the boiler fill valve and the original Gigar might be ok so I swapped it back. Everything seams to be working now! I hope my journey might be able to help someone else in the future.