I have had my Rancilio Silvia for a year or so, but now it keeps tripping my kitchen circuit. What appears to happen is, I switch it on and it gets up to temperature fine. However, at some point a few minutes after that, the electrics trip - it appears to have no correlation to whether I have actually used the machine or not.
Can anybody point me in the right direction to how to fix? I am at my wits end and am considering packaging up and sending back to Rancilio for repair, but this will cost a fortune!

Thanks in advance,

Jon

The short answer is you have a ground fault. Others may be able to offer suggestions specific to the Rancilio Silvia, but in the meantime here are some general suggestions for diagnosing why a ground fault interrupter is tripping:

• Espresso machine tripping GFI during warmup
• Espresso machine trips GFI outlet
• Troubleshooting US/Canadian GFCI/GFI devices (definition from wikipedia: residual-current device)

Unfortunately one of the threads above diagnosed the problem as a defective heating element. Maybe you'll be lucky and it will be something more easily and inexpensively corrected (e.g., corroded wire connection).

PS: If you're not familiar with DIY repair work, I recommend sending it out for repair. It's not worth the risk of electrocuting yourself to save money.

try disconnecting the heating element first
most likely is the cause of your problem
ouch expensive

FIRST we need to verify that you HAVE a GFCI (A Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter). They detect VERY SMALL faults in the "Ground" or "Earth" line (basically they detect power or current flow ON the Ground/Earth wire). ANY power flow thru the Ground/Earth line indicates a fault somewhere in the circuit. Most probably it IS your Silvia (and the heating element is, unfortunately, and EXCELLENT client for that fault).

Thanks for the advice folks.

I am pretty sure I have GFCIs at home. Based on these responses I am arranging to send it back to Rancilio (it's still under warrantee in the UK so should just cost me the postage). Once they've fixed it I'll post here with the diagnosis FYI.

Cheers!

Jon, I suspected you DID have GFCI's but, depending on the age of the house, might not have been.... if it wasn't GFCI protected, then I'd suspect something (again, probably the heating element) "shifting" as it heated and shorting out to either neutral or to earth ground. I don't know the laws/regulations governing residential wiring in the UK (could probably make a pretty good stab at Industrial or Medical wiring! ) so, while I would expect GFCI installation on any "fairly" new construction (i.e. within the last 20-30 years), houses in the UK, in many cases, have been around for MUCH longer than utility electric delivery! Even here in the US there are many houses that pre-date electricity.

jboxall wrote:Thanks for the advice folks.
I am pretty sure I have GFCIs at home. Based on these responses I am arranging to send it back to Rancilio (it's still under warrantee in the UK so should just cost me the postage). Once they've fixed it I'll post here with the diagnosis FYI.
Cheers!

Try it on another GFCI protected circuit. It could be that the protection on that circuit needs replacing.

Hi Randy,
I'll give it a go on another circuit tonight - might be worth a try, although if it was the circuit then wouldn't I expect other appliances in the kitchen to set it off as well?
Jon

Very likely, yes, but before I boxed up my precious espresso machine for shipping I would try a lot of things first. If you consider the cost of two-way shipping, I would change (or at least examine or test) the heating element first, but that's just me... If it is still under warrant it could be another matter. I mentioned it because GFCIs do fail, and some are more sensitive than others. Since it doesn't pop the circuit right off, I too would suspect the heating element is on the way out as others have stated.