# Fracino Piccino Espresso Machine - Boiler on/off switch - electrical fault



## GerryM (Feb 6, 2016)

I have a 3 year old Fracino Piccino, when I switched it on today I smelt burning and smoke came out of the top, I removed the front cover and the red and blue wires that come to/from the boiler on/off switch were very hot and had melted together.... up until this point the machine appeared to be working very well.

(as you look at a Piccino from the front it's the switch on the left).









I wonder if anyone on the forum would be kind enough to point me towards what the fault may be please and how I might fix it, I have emailed Fracino requesting a wiring diagram but not had a response so far (although it's very early days so they've not let me down yet), does anyone know where else I might find the wiring diagram please?

Thanks for taking the time to read this and for any advice on what may be happening and how to fix it.

Gerry


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## Motherpucker (Apr 18, 2016)

GerryM said:


> I have a 3 year old Fracino Piccino, when I switched it on today I smelt burning and smoke came out of the top, I removed the front cover and the red and blue wires that come to/from the boiler on/off switch were very hot and had melted together.... up until this point the machine appeared to be working very well.
> 
> (as you look at a Piccino from the front it's the switch on the left).
> 
> ...


Gerry

If it's creating enough heat to do that then I would suggest the element or relay has had it,without spying inside the machine I couldn't be sure exactly. Is thus the feed onto the boiler or in/off switch sorry? Switches can also go and are cheap to replace


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## espressotechno (Apr 11, 2011)

If the switch looks clean & unburnt replace the cooked wiring & see what happens.... sometimes poor quality wiring just overheats & cooks.


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## GerryM (Feb 6, 2016)

@Motherpucker @espressotechno, Thanks for your input , I very much appreciate you taking the time to post your suggestions on the electrical fault.

I decided this morning to bite the bullet and take the machine in to Fracino, they are only half an hour from me and the machine was ready for a service so I thought that it would kill two birds with one stone.

It's been inspected I've agreed to the machine being overhauled overhauled whch means they will fully strip it down, replace anything that needs replacing and give it a full service for a fixed price of £150 plus VAT.

Whilst it's quite a chunk of money, it seems fair to me as should mean that by the middle of next week I will have a fully rebuilt, serviced and fault free machine that's going to be trouble free for the foreseeable future.

I was suprised by the size of Fracino's setup, it was much bigger than I imagined, the service department occupy a seperate building from the warehouse and offices. Everyone I met there was very helpful and so far I am impressed with the service, I will post an update once I get the machine back and see how it is.

Thanks again.

Gerry


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## espressotechno (Apr 11, 2011)

Fracino are a good UK company: Still family owned & run. I think the founder Frank Maxwell is still allowed to roam about the place by his offspring !


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## GerryM (Feb 6, 2016)

I think that the service co-ordinator who booked my machine in and helpfully advised me, is the daughter of the current MD who is Frank Maxwells son so definately a family firm.


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