La Marzocco GS3 clock not working

Equipment doesn't work? Troubleshooting? If you're handy, members can help.
Felipe
Posts: 6
Joined: 4 years ago

#1: Post by Felipe »

Hi everyone!

Hope someone can give me a few lights on this one.

Yesterday I was draining the steam boiler when unfortunately water started to leak to the base of the machine. Although I had turned the machine off from behind, I forgot to unplug it, so that was the first thing I did. After I dried everything, I plugged it again and two things happened:

-Machine not recognizing the tank ('Refill Tank' message displayed).
-Clock stuck (froze at 20:06).

Next, I opened the brain box and noticed that some water was inside (not on top of the components, but under, on the corners). Dried everything with a paper towel (didn't unscrew the brain card) and left the box open for 24 hours for everything to be fully dried.

So, today I put everything back together and find out that the machine is now recognizing the tank (it heats up and works well), but the clock is still stuck at 20:06, although the two dots (:) are blinking.

Is the board fried? Should I open it again and clean it more thoroughly with some alcohol?

Any comments on this would be really great.

Thanks!

Felipe (original poster)
Posts: 6
Joined: 4 years ago

#2: Post by Felipe (original poster) »

UPDATE
Opened the brain box again, unscrewed the board turned it over and there was scaling (precisely on the area of the RTC chip). Cleaned everything thoroughly with isopropyl alcohol, let it dry a few minutes and everything is running smooth again.

Cheers!

User avatar
Peppersass
Posts: 3690
Joined: 15 years ago

#3: Post by Peppersass »

Sorry I didn't see your first post, but you did exactly what I would have recommended.

Failure of the RTC is pretty common when the logic board gets contaminated by water. You were fortunate that the chip wasn't fried!

Felipe (original poster)
Posts: 6
Joined: 4 years ago

#4: Post by Felipe (original poster) »

Thanks!