My son bought a used Profitec Pro 700, for the serial number i believe a 2015 model (if the first 4 digits refer to age).

the brew side works perfectly. The steam boiler does not get upto temperature but does heat to a certain point.
-We removed the connection to the temp probe to see if pump is activated. all good
-We pressed the black buttons on the high limit switches and one had popped out so pressed back in again.- seems all good now
-We opened hot water tap when pump runs and water comes out- no blockage. We did not get the temp high enough for the pressure to force water through the water tap, without the pumps help.
-removed level sensor - was very clean so placed back.


-The vacuum breaker does lead to a bit of "dribble" from the front exit so need cleaning or replacing, would prefer to clean but cannot find o-ring size so replacement probably due. luckily not expensive.
-as there is not a cloud of steam coming form there, i suspect this is an "additional" issue rather that the cause.

Weird behaviour: once it reaces a certain temperature (it varies sometimes 80ish, today around 100) it stops. switching off and then on again, does NOT re-start the heating process (only brew boiler behaves as normal).
Once he lets it cool down and switches on again, the heating works as normal at first: first brew boiler and then it starts on the steam boiler (upto a seemingly random point were it stops).
The lights indicate power to the steam heating circuit function as normal at all times (when they should come on).

He really stretched his budget buying the machine so this is unfortunate. I am at a loss (and hoping something simple and not heating element).

Does anyone have any ideas? I am not at his place (or near) so can only help by phone. I have taken my duetto 2 apart several times, which is similar, so not too daunted. My son, not having any transport, is limited to doing repairs at home as he woudl not be able to bring it to a repair shop.

Hope someone has some pointers for us!

Many thanks,

Jaap

a short update:

We have just replaced the washer in the antivacuum valve.
Now the machine did heat up to the required 124C, then stopped.
We drew off some hot water from the water tap until the pump kicked in to top up the steam boiler.

This, I expected, would then start reheating the steam boiler.

This however does not happen and the steam side is now cooling down.
The heating element therefore seem to work ok but something does not reset until the machine has cooled down.
Then, once restarted, it works ok until the steam temperature has reached its set temp. (and after that does NOT reheat)

Does the PID display show the steam boiler temps as it is cooling down after you draw hot water from the tap and the pump turns on? The PID should show the steam and brew boiler temps alternately while the machine is running (i.e. not in ECO mode, at least in the newer versions of the P700). If your machine is from 2015 you may have the earlier PID and not have an ECO node.

In any case the problem you describe could be: 1) A faulty PID that is not directing the Gicar control box to direct current to the steam boiler heating element; 2) A faulty Gicar component; 3) A thermosensor or its connections on the steam boiler.

#3 would be the cheapest to fix. The main difficulty will be determining which item is causing the problem.

A 4th and less likely diagnosis is that there is an intermittent problem with the heating element circuitry itself, such that after it heats up to proper temperature and shuts off, it fails to close when the temperature in the boiler drops below the set point.

Does the PID Controller think it's working? Blinking the little indicator/decimal indicating that it's signalling the SSR?

If Yes... Does the SSR think it's working, blinking its own little indicator indicating that it's powering the element?

If the PID is working/"indicating" and the SSR is not indicating in time with it, I think the SSR is failing when hot, but it's not conclusive. The PID could be failing to signal despite the indication. You would need to do tests with a multimeter.
If the SSR is indicating along with the PID Controller, then the PID Controller is almost certainly working properly, and the failure to heat is most likely the SSR failing to work despite still indicating. You could confirm by testing if you are comfortable testing on a live machine and are certain you know what you're doing and how to use your multimeter.

I strongly suggest that you have a qualified pro repair your machine if you're not comfortable testing inside a live machine or aren't sure how to test voltage using a multimeter in a live machine.

Thank you John!

I suspect the SSR is gone but will get my son to check later (we join via video remote as he is in UK and I am on mainland europe.)

I am quite confident with electronics so will be guiding him.(but obviously not an expert)
we have jointly restored an old Faema 2 group E61 and a Faema Faemina and I have had my old Alex Duetto 2 apart a few times;)

I will update the thread as we proceed. many thanks!

just checked as per Johnms suggestion, PID is correctly sending voltage to SSR but SSR not working when hot.
Will order SSR and report back. fairly sure this is the issue.
thanks, Jaap