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The Undiscovered Country

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  • The Undiscovered Country

    I took my Faema Family down to be looked at today and discovered that it will cost at least $300 to have it repaired. Not much I can do - I already new the parts would be at least about $120 and labour at $85 is about average over here. However our fridge died today, so between that and other expenses I can afford to have someone fix my machine - I will have to do it myself.

    I have a fair degree of experience with electrical devices - but this is my first time with a coffee machine.

    I must say I love Coffeeparts.com and Im glad they are a sponsor - there is just about nothing for my machine that they dont stock - ok one thing - a new knob but I can sort that out myself.

    So, it is likely that Ill be here for some advice as I progress - I havent opened the machine yet so any advice before I start?


  • #2
    Re: The Undiscovered Country

    Originally posted by grendel link=1163231746/0#0 date=1163231746

    So, it is likely that Ill be here for some advice as I progress - I havent opened the machine yet so any advice before I start?
    Make plenty of notes (or even better- take some pictures along the way)....

    label any wires etc (especially on the heater - generally they not colour coded or identified in any way) - so you know where to replace them...

    And if unsure at any stage - stop - have a coffee and ask yourself "should I be doing this?"-

    then press on regardless (which Im sure you will )

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: The Undiscovered Country

      Originally posted by grendel link=1163231746/0#0 date=1163231746
      I havent opened the machine yet so any advice before I start?
      Take lots of pics of everything from all angles before disassembly begins, including closeups of any junctions or adjustment screws, and more as you go along.

      Disassemble only what is needed to get the job done.


      Java "Let the fun begin!" phile
      Toys! I must have new toys!!!

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: The Undiscovered Country

        Grendel,

        I forgot to add....

        If you need some "on location" assistance I can always be tempted by green coffee beans.... (I know where there is a coffin full of em ) and the occasional coffee whilst working ;D

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        • #5
          Re: The Undiscovered Country

          Yep, pictures pictures pictures...whenever im working on something that i have no clue about (i.e. coffee machiens) i take heaps of photos so if i forget how something goes back together i can consult the third umpire.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: The Undiscovered Country

            Thanks for all that - the labelling of the wires was on the cards and the digital camera is being plied frequently - although all I am intending to do tonight is crack open the case and familiarise myself with the Inner Faema. In the morning I will identify what I need to shift to get to the boiler and I can already see the nuts I need to remove to open the boiler. Fortunately the coffeeparts site has all the family boiler components on the same page - seals and all so that I can just order what I need to put it back together.

            Im putting all parts into a bag and then into a box as I go so I cant lose them.

            thanks again for the advice - keep it coming.

            JavaB - if your phone rings and has an unusually urgent tone you know who itll be!

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: The Undiscovered Country

              grendel....

              It probably is the heater element..... but dont order any bits until you check....

              You might have a problem like I had.... a machine repair man whilst it was in its previous life replaced a heatshield and trapped the pump wires underneath..... it eventually cut through the insulation...

              Also the pressurstat is worth checking.... has a diaphragm with water pressure behind it and all the electrical contacts.... a leak there will also cause a partial short.... and drop an ELB.

              And by the way ELBs and its modern equivalent RCCBs (residual current circuit breaker) meaure the current flowing in the active and neutral.... if there is a difference it is assumed it could be flowing through someones body.....

              But if there is a short or even a partial short between neutral and earth in the machine some of the current flowing through the active will return via the earth instead of via the neutral....

              Inbalance in current..

              And one tripped breaker.... so also check isolation earth to neutral.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: The Undiscovered Country

                OK - I am now in a position to ask some more directed questions - Sparky, this ones for you oh great druid of the frankenfaema!

                At point A we see some small nuts with hex release - is removing these the way into the boiler to extract the element?

                At point B we see what I assume is the power to the element itself - what do I remove from this to release the element.

                At point C we see the group head itself, anything I should know here? Im thinking of giving it a good clean and de-scale while I have it off.

                At point D we can see some other terminals into the boiler - there are some ceramic O-rings here about 3mm across. one of these is broken in half and at least one other is cracked. Can these be replaced - do they need to be replaced?

                Ill be halting work until I figure the next step out but its going pretty good so far.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: The Undiscovered Country

                  Grendel...

                  The element has two screw fittings as it exits the boiler...

                  To me it looks like D and the one at about 2 oclock are the ends of the element...

                  B looks like an over temp cut-out (bit hard to tell from a photo.....) really need to trace the wiring.... but the two grey "nuts" appear to be the element...

                  In which case - yep you would have to remove the hex headed bolts (A) to get it out.... this model the element comes out from inside rather than the normal method where you dont have to pull the boiler apart...


                  The gasket needs to be replaced when the end secured by (A) is replaced...


                  (also added a bit to the earlier post above)

                  EDIT "B" is actually the brew thermostat and Im sure those two grey nuts are holding the ends of the element (and those are cracked... not a good sign and probably part/all of the problem)

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: The Undiscovered Country

                    Gotcha - that looks right. I should have paid more attention to the diagram on coffeeparts!

                    I figured on replacing all the gaskets anyway during this job - I wonder if these need any kind of adhesive sealant? My first reaction would be no - not near coffee, but if anyone knows from prior experience if a gasket goo of some kind is needed Id love to know.

                    Still, a not-too-hard task it seems.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: The Undiscovered Country

                      Grendel,

                      You can use a "food grade" silicon adhesive (the same type which is used for aquariums) but with new gaskets you shouldnt need any - plus it takes a long time to go off.

                      You basically remove the whole group assembly from the boiler and the element is removed from that end.

                      Looks pretty simple.- removing the bolts might be the most difficult.

                      PS ignore my earlier reference to a pressurestat - the Family doesnt have one :-[

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: The Undiscovered Country

                        Thats a relief - I couldnt find one!

                        The Family is pretty simple but Id love to get my hands on the full manual because I just love to know what everything is.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: The Undiscovered Country

                          I now know a lot more about my coffee machine.

                          I suppose that is a good thing - but finding the gunk inside the boiler was not great! Im beginning to think that the last time it was sent of for service they did all the exterior work and not much else. Still, Ive made friends with the innards and we are getting along quite well. I thing though that Ill see if I can replace some of the screws holding it all together - a lot of rust action going on.

                          And here is the element.

                          You can see the cracked ceramic disks I mentioned - fortunately it appears as if they are part of the element and will be replaced when I install the new one.

                          THe brass chamber is very solid but I did notice that Sparky had installed some fibreglassinsulation around his - considering that for mine now also.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: The Undiscovered Country

                            Grendel...

                            You have done well....

                            If you want something done well - do it yourself!!!

                            The "professional" service agents do a quick and dirty job and charge top dollar (not all - but a lot). The innards of mine (including "recently" replaced group gaskets) were a disgrace.

                            That element looks like it has lots of scale on it! was the boiler regularly descaled?

                            That ceramic is the insulation inside the element and the fact it is cracked probably means it has- or is failing.

                            Fibreglass is not a good material to insulate a boiler - sheds little glass bits over time...

                            See ...

                            http://coffeesnobs.com.au/YaBB.pl?num=1156047023

                            for a good discussion on boiler insulation (the same applies to yours as a HX ... the difference being anything which comes off the insulation has a vertical path - STRAIGHT INTO YOUR COFFEE

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: The Undiscovered Country

                              Just be happy it didnt look like this. ;D


                              Java "Knows about scale!" phile
                              Toys! I must have new toys!!!

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