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ECM Technika - Water tank and power light fault
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Good job fixing this up Steve. Will be checking my Musica to see if it has similar tank support issues!
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12 months warranty - the original seller wanted the $120. (Not a sponsor of this forum)
The cheapest replacement came fro a sponsor.
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Good tip for other owners, thanks for sharing.
At only 18 months old and given the cost of ECM gear I would've been disappointed. Did you seek to have it repaired under warranty and if so what did the seller say?
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Hi Steve,
I just got got A teknica Profi about a week ago and thought the tank didn't feel right. Thats a great retro fit i'll have to do to!
Cheers
Aaron
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ECM Technika - Water tank and power light fault
Subtitle: How to avoid spending $106
The old saying about bad things coming in threes works for me.
My 18-month old ECM Technika (profi) started leaking recently. Initially I thought it was the water connection in the machine - where the tank connects. So I tightened that up and tried again. Still leaking.
After a lot of fiddling around and taking the machine apart, I finally noticed a split in the bottom of the water tank from the hole for the water valve. The photo is the 'after repair" but the split is visible against the tape. I used epoxy to join the split and placed some heat resistant duct tape over the split and around the hole for re-enforcement. This fixed it, but to be sure I bought a new tank (they range from about $85 to $120 delivered).
Why did it split? Well it appears the weight of the full tank sits only on the nylon nut holding the water connection in the machine (see pic 2). That nut is 6mm thick and the stress is all on a weak spot created by the hole drilled through the bottom of the tank for the valve. Take the tank out for cleaning a few times and voila! (BTW - don't lose that nut - it's $19 to replace!)
The solution? (I hope) I sliced up a plastic cutting board that is 7mm thick and placed two pieces at either end of the tank cavity (pic 2), so all the weight is now on the vertical walls. There will still be stress on the bottom of the tank when it is removed and replaced for cleaning, but at least the constant full weight is being taken in a much strong part of the tank.
The 2nd and 3rd parts of the trifecta were another leak and the power light failing - and they're connected.
I noticed I still had a small pool of water in and under the machine - and at the same time the green power light was fluctuating in brightness.
Turns out the nut on the pipe into the steam wand needed tightening because water would drip under pressure - onto the power light connections. (240v). This caused corrosion, making one of the resistors on the LED increase in resistance and go open circuit. A replacement light starts at $21 delivered. (Trivia: it's made by a company in Poland and is used by about 20 different different manufacturers around the world)
However, a 220k-ohm resistor comes in packs of 8 for 55-cents from Jaycar. A quick soldering job later with some heat shrink for added protection and I now have a bright power light, no water leaks and I'm back to just making coffee.
Happy days.Tags: None
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