Silvia overheating

[latte_boy]

Hi all,

Have had my trusty Silvia for around 5 years. Have looked after her well.

Recently I feel she is overheating. I will run the water for say 15 seconds and the light indicating the heating cycle will switch on. It has never been so quick to switch on.

Makes it difficult to brew a coffee as I am forever having to bleed some water in order to get rid of the steam.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

[latte_boy]

Anyone, at all?

[Steve82]

it is overheating so we can assume for the time being it means the element is still working ok, so my first move would be to replace the thermostat.

[latte_boy]

Thanks steve. Which thermostat are you suggesting I replace? The brew thermostat? I can see three. There are two on the top of the boiler and one on the side which activates if you leave the steam wand on etc.

[Steve82]

Its been a while since I have looked inside a silvia, memory not so good. If your not sure about it maybe better to take it to someone that does? Or download the schematics for your machine and study up.

How does the machine behave when you try to steam - actually engaging the steaming circuit, if it works as it always has my first instinct would be to just change the brew thermostat as that where you say your having problems.

[latte_boy]

The steam works well with no issues at all. I have worked out which is the brew thermostat. Thanks Steve. I will try this first as it is relatively inexpensive.

[latte_boy]

I replaced the thermostat and while I was it, decided to remove the other thermostat. The outer screw snapped. Great. Will I still be able to use the machine? The other screws were fine.

It is still overheating

Everytime I press brew within 10 seconds the light goes and the heat cycle commences

[latte_boy]

This is driving me a little crazy. For years I have been able to enjoy a nice cup of coffee made by miss Silvia.

[smokey]

latte_boy, my bet was the same as Steve82's, the heating element's thermostat. You had a spare thermostat? Is it the correct one, not the one with the steam setting? My next suggestion is the same again, get someone to look at because she is still a great machine unless you want an upgrade. Good luck with it, Silvia is worth it.

[timdimdom]

would a PID bypass the thermostat problem?

[latte_boy]

I did replace the thermostat and still the same. How often does silvia heat cycle?

[Mouldy]

Did you notice any scale when you replaced the thermostat? Just wondering if scale in the boiler, element, etc could cause it to do what you're describing.

[Mouldy]

Just ran a test on my Silvia, had been switched on for 25 to 30 min. With the machine up to temp (light off) and with no portafilter in the group, I seem to get about 15 to 20 seconds of full flow before the heater kicks in again (light switches on). However with no portafilter (and no bed of coffee to flow through) this equates to 160ml of water dispensed (as weighed). How does yours compare in this regard?

[latte_boy]

Mouldy, I might try de scaling again. Any suggestions as far as the better methods of descaling and products used? Have just switched the silvia on, will monitor and time how long it takes for the light to switch on

[Mouldy]

Mouldy, I might try de scaling again. Any suggestions as far as the better methods of descaling and products used? Have just switched the silvia on, will monitor and time how long it takes for the light to switch on

I've not descaled my Silvia, but on the commercial machine rebuilds I've done, I've removed the complete boiler and descaled in citric acid solution. Not sure if it's a recommended method for Silvia though as I suspect it's not overly easy to do so on this machine. I'm not even sure what material the Silvia's boiler is constructed from.