Rancilio Silvia and meCoffee PID

[level3ninja]

I have encountered two problems with the device that happens after about an hour of uptime or more.

When i check the temp in the app it shows a cold boiler and when i try to run the pump it sounds very loud and the water is not flowing consistently:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASxvGTSM2J0





When this happens, i reboot the machine and everything works as usual again.


I have disassembled the machine and returned it to stock just to make sure it is not the machine that is faulty and it works perfectly fine when it is restored.


I have then installed the mecoffee once again and this time i skipped all steps after step 5, just to see if the issue had something to do with step 6 or 8, but here I am with a cold machine.
It did work fine first but after about an hour the boiler seems to switch off, the temp is 41°c according to the app.

This happens every time i leave the machine on for about an hour.


I e-mailed mecoffe a week ago but they have not replied.

Does anybody have an idea of what could possibly be the issue?

What is the auto off timer set to in the app? Default is 60min.

[cogli0ne]

I have encountered two problems with the device that happens after about an hour of uptime or more.

When i check the temp in the app it shows a cold boiler and when i try to run the pump it sounds very loud and the water is not flowing consistently:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASxvGTSM2J0





When this happens, i reboot the machine and everything works as usual again.


I have disassembled the machine and returned it to stock just to make sure it is not the machine that is faulty and it works perfectly fine when it is restored.


I have then installed the mecoffee once again and this time i skipped all steps after step 5, just to see if the issue had something to do with step 6 or 8, but here I am with a cold machine.
It did work fine first but after about an hour the boiler seems to switch off, the temp is 41°c according to the app.

This happens every time i leave the machine on for about an hour.


I e-mailed mecoffe a week ago but they have not replied.

Does anybody have an idea of what could possibly be the issue?

[Juku]

Hi, guys. I'm new to the forum. Just received the meCoffee and installed it on my Silvia 5E yesterday. Did all the checks and the machine worked fine. Today morning pulled some shots and everything was working smoothly up until a few hours ago, when I turned the machine on again to have it warm up but noticed the red light didn't come on. The brew button also didn't do anything. When I opened the machine up and checked the meCoffee there weren't any lights on (red and blinking blue).
I was wondering, could it be that a fuse has blown on the meCoffee. I sort of remember reading somewhere that somebody got sent an older version of the PID and if the fuse goes, it's done.
Wrote to meCoffee but haven't heard back from them yet.

[jazzleg]

Thanks. I'll try your settings. Right now I'm experimenting. Will let you know how it goes. Anyway, between the PID and a burr grinder my 15 year old Silvia has a new lease on life.

Agreed. I, too, can't really find a lot of good reasons to upgrade my Silvia now.

[ezorrilla]

Thanks. I'll try your settings. Right now I'm experimenting. Will let you know how it goes. Anyway, between the PID and a burr grinder my 15 year old Silvia has a new lease on life.

[jazzleg]

Just finished installing the PID and it's working as it should.
Do you mind sharing your best settings? Thanks

Sorry haven't checked back this thread for some time. The following settings work well for me (i.e. the temperature stabilises within +/-0.4deg of target temperature in 1 minute) much better than the default settings:
P - 21
I - 2
D - 150
Integral wind-down limit - 2000 (although I'm still not quite sure how much effect does this parameter have)


Let me know how you go...

[ezorrilla]

Just finished installing the PID and it's working as it should.
Do you mind sharing your best settings? Thanks

[ezorrilla]

Hi. If you still have photos of your install, I would like to see them.
Thanks

[Classictc]

Please disregard my previous post. I watched a video of the mecoffee on youtube and the mecoffee controller appears throttle the power, rather than pulse full power burst to control the heating element. Hence an external SSR will not work with mecoffee controller.

[Classictc]

I do not have a Silvia, but I have installed a simple Ebay PID and SSR into a Gaggia Classic that only cost me $40 and it is still going strong after 4yrs. I have read this post with great interest as these systems with more sophisticated microprocessors appear to have great potential. Especially the potential to control the pressure during shot cycle.
The mecoffee does appear to have great potential but from reading the posts the reliability appears to be a major issue. Looking at the photo of the unit circuit board it appears that they are only using a mosfet to switch the power rather than a solid state relay (even though SSRs use mosfets), this could be the reason for the reliability issue. My question is, has anyone used the mecoffee unit to control an external SSR and see if that improves the reliability. 4 years ago when you could only get simple PIDs it was standard to use an external 25amp SSR to manage the high current required for the heating element to ensure reliability. Just a thought!!!

[carlosarceleon]

Hey all,

Just received my meCoffee, and like I saw in a post at the beginning of this thread, my room temperature is reading about 200° C !

I have checked the cables, and they are connected the right way (not inverted, like in rayuki's case).

Has anyone had this happen?

[Smess1210]

Have a look at this thread on uk coffee forums....
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?url...3&share_type=t

SILVIA E 2016 - Disable auto shut off

[bandolero57]

It isn't very straight forward to get v4e/v5 Silvia switching remotely due to the negative switching arrangement of the auto shut down device.

I do however have my v4e/5 Silvia switching via a WiFi/timer socket....

If anyone requires more info on this I'm happy to help......

Hi can i ask you how can i turn it on remotly(i have V5)and ordered wifi/4g switch

[stab]

My mecoffee arrived and I have started the setup. I have attached the correct cables but there is no bluetooth. Im running Chrome on a 2016 Macbook Pro. Have loaded the app from the store and the me coffee is not showing up under bluetooth devices.
My unit does not have the connections numbered on the box either which makes it difficult to know which end of the box the black and red cables attach to.
Any advice. Have tried to contact info@mecoffee.nl but no response so far.

[Aloosh]

@Aloosh, I thought I'd reply to your PM here in case anyone else is facing the same issue.



Yes, I contacted meCoffee / Jan using the same email address, i.e. info@mecoffee.nl

I have sent him 2 queries so far, and Jan responded to both within a week's time. Maybe I was quite lucky. I understand from reading other forums that Jan can be somewhat 'selective' in responding to customer queries. Not the best customer service, but have to admit that the price we pay for the kit isn't exactly premium.

If you share your problem here, some savvy fellow CoffeeSnobbers might be able to help...

Thanks @jazzleg

My pcb and one or two of the components are well and truly fried, and probably beyond help from the bunch on this forum. Still I welcome any advice!

You're right about the non-premium price point... I'm up to 6 emails over the past 4 weeks with no reply, as well as trying to make contact via the query form on the website. At this point a reply email telling me to go away would give me greater satisfaction than what I've gotten.