Help! Quick Mill QM67 - no steam- steam boiler not heating up

#1: Post by **Durrsaku** » September 10th, 2021, 2:09 pm

I have a two year old QM67. About a month ago the steam boiler stopped working. Not heating up. The brewing capability of the machine is not effected just no steam.

I have searched endlessly but have not found what is wrong with it.

I have measured the resistance of the heating element and that seems ok.

Any help would be much appreciated

#2: Post by HB » September 10th, 2021, 5:03 pm

I haven't used that particular model, but I'll ask just in case: Is the steam boiler "on" light illuminated? It's possible the heating element isn't getting power because the over-temperature switch has tripped. On most espresso machines, they're located on the top of the boiler and have a reset button.

#3: Post by **cafeIKE** » September 10th, 2021, 5:25 pm

OT cutout location

IF you have a VOM and know how to use it, there should be A/C voltage from the blue wire to the case when the steam boiler should be heating. If there isn't, trace the blue wire back to where there is line voltage. The fault is device that is blocking the voltage.

September 10th, 2021, 6:52 pm

Thank you for the reply. I do have a VOA and will test that. What should be the voltage here? 240v or 12v?

September 11th, 2021, 3:32 am

The little green light is on but the red light which shows the boiler heating does not come on. I also checked the OT switch and it hasn't tripped. I swapped for another one just in case and it made no difference.

September 11th, 2021, 9:21 am

Durrsaku wrote:Thank you for the reply. I do have a VOA and will test that. What should be the voltage here? 240v or 12v?

It should read whatever the line voltage is at your house.

#7: Post by **cafeIKE** » September 11th, 2021, 10:00 am

Durrsaku wrote:Thank you for the reply. I do have a VOA and will test that. What should be the voltage here? 240v or 12v?

240V AC. Use a cliplead to attach the common lead to machine earth, hold the hot probe in one hand and keep your other hand in your pocket.

If you don't have it, exploded parts diagram here https://shopify-er.s3.amazonaws.com/res ... akdown.pdf

We're I in your position, I'd cut the tie wraps around the steam wiring harness to make troubleshooting easier.

<rant>
Many espresso machines are still 'garage built'. I wish manufacturers would include a schematic!
</rant>

September 11th, 2021, 2:06 pm

Thank you for your responses I really appreciate it. The voltage on the blue cables at the top is about 5-6 V. I traced this to the switch but the green light is on. I then traced the black cable that feeds the heating element of the steam boiler. There is no voltage here therefore the machine is not attempting to heat this. This black/grey cable goes to the L2 terminal of the SSR. I am reading 240v at the T2 but nothing at the L2. Switching the boiler on and off makes no difference. Yet on the terminal T1 and L1 which are connected to the brewing boiler there is 240v while the boiler is being heated. The question is has the SSR relay gone wrong or is there something else controlling it. I also noticed that on the Gicar transformer when I switch the steam boiler on I get 240 from brown cable but 5-6v from the blue cable. Thank you for the advice of keeping one hand in the pocket too.

#9: Post by **Jeff** » September 11th, 2021, 2:18 pm

The SSRs in many European-made, home-market machines seem to fail long before their "expected" lifetime. I believe a lot of this has to do with them being poorly heat sinked (stainless steel isn't a good thermal conductor) and operating in a hot environment.

The manufactures have changed names over the years, Crouzet, Crydom, and, last I checked, Sensata. Obtaining the part through an electronics supplier can be significantly less expensive than through an espresso-machine parts house. No matter the supplier, I'd suggest cleaning the mounting surface in the machine with isopropyl alcohol and applying new heat-sink compound. What is used for CPUs works well for me. You don't need to "glop it on", but want a thin, even coating across the entire bottom of the relay.

September 11th, 2021, 2:33 pm

Thank you for the advice, will certainly do this. You are 100% right in the fact that it is mounted direct on stainless steel. So do you think I have found the cause of this or could there be another reason why the relay is open? Checked the price of it and it's £100. Gulp! Do not want to buy the wrong part.