freewillow Senior Member Joined: 23 Dec 2011 Posts: 9 Location: Belgium Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: NS Oscar Grinder: Grinta
Posted Sat Dec 29, 2012, 8:02am Subject: My simonelli Oscar produces vapor when left alone for awhile
Since a month, my oscar does not produce water. When my machine has been "on" for a couple of hours, il produces vapor and NO water for some 3 to 5 seconds. Can somebody help me solving this problem? Thanks
Flynn Senior Member Joined: 28 Dec 2012 Posts: 8 Location: France Expertise: I like coffee
Espresso: NS Oscar w/OPV kit Grinder: Santos 6a
Posted Sat Dec 29, 2012, 8:33am Subject: Re: My simonelli Oscar produces vapor when left alone for awhile
I think people here will need more details to understand the problem.
What water do you use ? Has your machine been descaled ? Is it old ? You say it doesn't produce any water. What exactly are you doing ? Pressing the extraction button you get vapor for a few seconds then water or no water at all ? or intermittent water ? mixed water/vapor ? Do you use the water tank and did you run short of water lately ? (I mean before your trouble started ?)
Sorry to ask these details, but I really think they are needed to understand what is going on
germantownrob Senior Member Joined: 2 Dec 2007 Posts: 2,017 Location: Philadelphia Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Duetto 3, A Dead Oscar Grinder: Vario-W, Preciso w/Esatto,... Drip: Brazen Roaster: Diedrich IR-1, HT B
Posted Sat Dec 29, 2012, 9:04am Subject: Re: My simonelli Oscar produces vapor when left alone for awhile
freewillow Said:
Since a month, my oscar does not produce water. When my machine has been "on" for a couple of hours, il produces vapor and NO water for some 3 to 5 seconds. Can somebody help me solving this problem? Thanks
This is normal, well your boiler may be a tad hot but I bet you get a ton of steam production. HX machines need a cooling flush to get rid of the super heated water before you start your brew. My routine with an Oscar that has sat idle for 45min or more is to flush until water comes and count 5 secs to be close to 200f, lock PF, pray, and brew. Consecutive shots I will flush old grinds, prepaid next shot then lock and brew, the longer the pause the warmer the HX and group will get, time of pause will depend on how hot your boiler is set at.
The pressure stat that sits on top of the boiler can be adjusted to raise or lower your boiler temp, the hotter it is the longer the flash boil will be after sitting idle, steam pressure is increased, shorter time between consecutive shots for 200f shot. I like to keep Oscar's Pstat set where I only have a 3sec flash before a stream of water forms, this keeps flush amounts down when using a tank machine but for large gatherings I will turn up the temp so I can make consecutive drinks as fast as I can with steam power to do 12oz of milk quickly.
Since a month, my oscar does not produce water. When my machine has been "on" for a couple of hours, il produces vapor and NO water for some 3 to 5 seconds. Can somebody help me solving this problem? Thanks
Markarian Senior Member Joined: 27 Jun 2012 Posts: 474 Location: Seattle Area Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Modded Nuova Simonelli Oscar Grinder: Vario-W, Mazzer Super Jolly Drip: Moka, Aeropress, Melitta 102 Roaster: Wear-Ever Popcorn Pumper
Posted Sat Dec 29, 2012, 10:54am Subject: Re: My simonelli Oscar produces vapor when left alone for awhile
I do want to ask one thing, though: Does the boiler turn on all the time, like every couple of minutes? I had a bad nexplax/expansion valve and was losing water from the Heat Exchanger slowly throughout the day and my boiler cycle was constantly kicking in until I replaced it. I also got a lot of steam from the grouphead as well.
freewillow Senior Member Joined: 23 Dec 2011 Posts: 9 Location: Belgium Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: NS Oscar Grinder: Grinta
Posted Sun Dec 30, 2012, 12:21pm Subject: Re: My simonelli Oscar produces vapor when left alone for awhile
Thank you for your feedback. here is the answers to your various questions:
My Oscar is Only 11 months old I have been using water filtered with a Brita jug. It's hardness is mild I have descaled the machine 5 months ago, according to instructions given by Simonelli engineers. When I am pushing on the "pump" button, if the machine has not been used for 2 to 3 hours, it produces only hot air, then vapor, then water. The process can take up to 7 seconds. I DID NOT SEE THIS BEFORE. Like everybody, I have had my tank empty but I have purged the system as well as I could ( somebody has another idea than to open the vapor vent and push the pump button for 5 seconds half a dozen times). When the machine has been switched on for half an hour or is used every hour, I do not have this problem. The machine heater is not open all the time and I have no leak ( at least that I am aware of).
Thank you for the time you are taking in order to help me.
Coffeenoobie Senior Member Joined: 11 Dec 2011 Posts: 2,318 Location: PNW Expertise: I like coffee
Espresso: N S Oscar Grinder: Vario W
Posted Sun Dec 30, 2012, 12:38pm Subject: Re: My simonelli Oscar produces vapor when left alone for awhile
When did this change? When you descaled? I had pulsing steam and it was a safety valve on the left side of the boiler. It is plastic and I had to replace it.
Coffeenoobie
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