overlandsea Senior Member Joined: 10 Jan 2012 Posts: 10 Location: Seattle Expertise: Just starting
Posted Mon Apr 16, 2012, 8:09pm Subject: Loud pop, threw the circuit breaker and machine does not work. Ideas?
On my Nuova Simonelli Oscar. It happened about ten minutes after turning it on this morning. I've had a few instances of connections frying on this machine at the push terminals, but there's no indication of that this time. It's been on this breaker the whole time we've had it. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
Posted Mon Apr 16, 2012, 10:06pm Subject: Re: Loud pop, threw the circuit breaker and machine does not work. Ideas?
The fact that you have had other electrical problems is a bit troubling. As to the current problem I think that all we could do is guess, and that's not a big help. Time to open it up and take a look.
From that statement it woulds like you are a bit over your head here. The machine's operation is electricity + water which is the universal formula for death. With that said, if you have not worked on the machine in the past it will be difficult to help you out much. If there was a visible flash then there may be some visual evidence of the cause inside - some blackening, melted connection,. etc. which will indicate the location of the fault. it could be a loose connecting, failed wire, broken switch, bad pressurestat, or shorted heating element from a leak.
But if you are set on trying to diagnose and fix it yourself, start by opening it up, using a strong flashlight, and look for evidence to the "crime" and we can go from there.
PS. Yes, a volt/ohm meter may be what you need to do a diagnosis but it may be unnecessary... or not.
overlandsea Senior Member Joined: 10 Jan 2012 Posts: 10 Location: Seattle Expertise: Just starting
Posted Tue Apr 17, 2012, 9:01am Subject: Re: Loud pop, threw the circuit breaker and machine does not work. Ideas?
Thanks for the suggestions. I have taken apart to look but haven't found anything obvious.
The pressurestat was "hissing" much more than normal in the past few days. Does this indicate that it may have been failing? If so, what is the best way to tell if it's bad?
D4F Senior Member Joined: 15 Mar 2012 Posts: 1,225 Location: USA Expertise: I like coffee
Espresso: Gaggia Classic PID Grinder: Preciso
Posted Tue Apr 17, 2012, 9:06am Subject: Re: Loud pop, threw the circuit breaker and machine does not work. Ideas?
I happened to recently a thread, different machine, but the short version is that GFI popping and nothing obvious seen is often the heating element failing or a bad ground fault that hat failed too many times. Apparently not uncommon in machines with an internal tank element. Check continuity of the element and if is is ok, try another ground fault circuit. I should note that I am not specifically knowlegable about your machine.
Posted Tue Apr 17, 2012, 9:43am Subject: Re: Loud pop, threw the circuit breaker and machine does not work. Ideas?
overlandsea Said:
Thanks for the suggestions. I have taken apart to look but haven't found anything obvious.
The pressurestat was "hissing" much more than normal in the past few days. Does this indicate that it may have been failing? If so, what is the best way to tell if it's bad?
A pressurestat should NEVER hiss. The most likely thing is that you are mistaken and the hiss is coming from the vacuum relief valve. These will hiss from scale or just age. The other possibility is that it is the pressure relief safety valve. If these continue to hiss during operation it can possibly create enough moisture in the machine to cause a short.
Coffeenoobie Senior Member Joined: 11 Dec 2011 Posts: 2,372 Location: PNW Expertise: I like coffee
Espresso: N S Oscar Grinder: Vario W
Posted Wed Apr 18, 2012, 3:05pm Subject: Re: Loud pop, threw the circuit breaker and machine does not work. Ideas?
Your valve I believe is directly under your pstat. So that might explain the hissing. Can you move the machine to another spot to make sure it is not the electrical outlet at fault? Get under good light and open the top and turn it on and see if you water/steam/arcing etc. Remove the drip tray and extra water tank before moving. I put a washcloth where the tank connects to get the pump water soaked up.
If it is not the outlet then I believe something is shorting out, it could be easy to see or it could be the heating unit or some other part you can't directly see. But you need to rule out what you can see before going on to what you can't see.
Coffeenoobie
Buying advice: GRINDER GRINDER GRINDER. Don't cheap out on the grinder. My coffee treasure map... Click Here (maps.google.com)
Posted Wed Apr 18, 2012, 3:38pm Subject: Re: Loud pop, threw the circuit breaker and machine does not work. Ideas?
Coffeenoobie Said:
Your valve I believe is directly under your pstat. So that might explain the hissing. Can you move the machine to another spot to make sure it is not the electrical outlet at fault? Get under good light and open the top and turn it on and see if you water/steam/arcing etc. Remove the drip tray and extra water tank before moving. I put a washcloth where the tank connects to get the pump water soaked up.
If it is not the outlet then I believe something is shorting out, it could be easy to see or it could be the heating unit or some other part you can't directly see. But you need to rule out what you can see before going on to what you can't see.
Some caveats to the above advice: The OP stated that sparks were seen in the machine just before the GFCI opened. Opening the machine and running it on an outlet not protected by a GFCI has inherent dangers. If moving it to another outlet, be sure that it is protected by a GFCI. Once again: water + electricity = death
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