Hello everyone! I have been having some problems with my Vibiemme Domobar Junior. Purchased in 2013. It has been a good run and made great coffee this whole time.

A few months ago she started playing funny buggers with me each morning.

A bit of History:
I had it attached to a powerpoint timer so I could warm her up pre alarm and get coffee into my veins as soon as I got up. I noticed, she was pumping a bit longer than normal. After a few weeks of this, one day it didn't stop. Racing out of bed to turn it off.

I removed the timer and plugged it straight into the power point. (wondering if a power spike may have damaged the electronics)

Ever since then, she plays funny buggers, no morning is the same. Some days, she will turn on and play ball, some not. The most common games we play:

1: On turn on, she will pump water, I count to 15 seconds, power her off at the machine switch (I can ususally see pressure build to 3-4bar on the boiler gauge). I am not game to let her pump for too long.
2: Turn on again, the orange heating lamp turns on for a split second, I hear a click, this happens a few times.
3: Sometimes, it will go back to pump, sometimes not.
4: Sometimes, I get a split second beep, followed by step 2.
5: Sometimes I get nothing at all.
6: Sometimes it will work as normal.

Once the orange light stays on, she warms up and functions normal all day. She doesnt seem to be a morning machine (not a good trait for a coffee machine).

The only constant thing is my frustration.

Help me obiwan!

Tim.

jblaster wrote:
1: On turn on, she will pump water, I count to 15 seconds, power her off at the machine switch (I can ususally see pressure build to 3-4bar on the boiler gauge). I am not game to let her pump for too long.

So, it's got a few issues, fix the obvious ones first so they're not distracting you when you diagnose the others... The above has boiler pressure rising when it's cold and doing a boiler fill, correct? Fix or replace your breather valve/vacuum-breaker.

Fixing that issue, so that it fills normally and is only pressurized by steam production, may fix your momentary orange light issue (a pressostat doesn't know the difference between steam pressure and pressure caused by water being pumped into a closed container).

Good luck on step one... Let us know.

The above has boiler pressure rising when it's cold and doing a boiler fill, correct?

Yeah, 3-4 bars on the boiler gauge must be from the pump. The safety valve on the boiler should have already opened by then, which is somewhat disconcerting. And if the boiler is at 3-4 bar, then the computer won't activate the boiler element as the pressurestat is tripped.

I agree with JRising that you should check the vacuum breaker. It's a 15-20 dollar part, so you may as well throw one in to be safe. The longer pump running time is probably because it's now working against the pressure of the closed boiler, so it has to work harder and moves less volume.

I would also check the connection to the boiler level sensor and the ground connection on the boiler, an intermittent connection could be causing some trouble with inconsistent behavior when it fills.

Is the Junior HX or DB?

Hi, Sorry! it is the HX. I will replace the breather valve and see how I go. Thank you all so much for taking the time to help out.

Tim.

Complete HX Junior drawings @ Stefano's Espresso Care
You can click below the image to see a complete set of drawings.


How often is the machine descaled?

The click is normal to re-fill the boiler when the machine starts. Any pressure on the boiler pressure gauge is an indication the boiler is full of water