# Prima Donna ESAM 6600 hot water dispense problem



## rogerjames99 (Dec 23, 2017)

Hi,

My Delonghi Prima Donna ESAM 6600 has stopped dispensing hot water (again). It has been repaired under extended warranty twice in the past for this problem. The symptoms are, when the hot water dispense button is pressed, the display shows "hot water" for about 5 seconds and nothing happens, the display then reverts back to the standard "ready for coffee" message. There is no click from the solenoid and no pump activity. The machine dispenses espresso with no problem so that side of the water circuit is OK. I have accessed the test menu and checked out both solenoids. Both sound to be operating OK. Something is stopping the water dispense cycle from starting. The same thing happens when any milk heating or frothing is required. Without a service manual it is very difficult to check this out. Has anyone got any ideas, or pointers to where I might find a service manual. I have searched and not had any luck. I am a competent engineer and have fixed a number of gaggia and saeco machines in the past.

Cheers

Roger


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## johnealey (May 19, 2014)

You may have to wait a while for any thoughts on this as the machine above is not a very common one on here and may have been something members started off with rather than currently still have.

Above offered so you don't think we ignoring you, we are friendly honest









You could also do an introductory thread about your coffee journey so far and see if that draws out someone that can assist

John


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## rogerjames99 (Dec 23, 2017)

Thanks for the tip John. I will do that. The post may be a long one as my journey started in the 80s working with Olivetti in Ivrea, and moved on via Seattle in the 90s.

Roger


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## DrRSG (Jul 11, 2017)

Roger, are you in a hard water area and how often do you descale?

Richard


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## rogerjames99 (Dec 23, 2017)

No the water is extremely soft. The machine was regularly descaled when it was last in use. It has been in storage for a about 18 months. It took a while to get the pump properly primed. It then worked properly for a couple of days, dispensing coffee, hot water and milk. It then started to have trouble at initial switch on with the pump priming. This did not appear to affect its ability to dispense coffee. However it soon started with the hot water and steam problem I described above. I did some tests and opened the machine and fixed the usual problem with a sticky back flow protection valve on the ULKA pump. That has sorted all the priming problems, but the steam circuit related ones remain. It may be a blockage in the steam circuit but I think that is unlikely, as is does not get that far into the dispense cycle. As I said in my post once you press either the hot water of one of the milky coffee buttons, the ready for coffee message disappears and is replaced by the "heating up" message (not "hot water" as I said in my original post , sorry) and after about two seconds reverts back to the "ready for coffee" message. The is no sound other than the initial button bleep, the solenoids do not activate, the brewing/diffuser unit does not move, the pump does not run. It is as though some sensor is not working or is being interpreted as an error, and the cycle aborted.

By the way, for anyone who is interested here is a short summary of how to get into the service menus on an ESAM 6600. Thanks to http://computer-aaaargh.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/delonghi-magnifica-coffee-machine-test.html for most of this info.

*Product counters:*

Remove power from the machine. Pull plug or switch off at socket. Press and hold the P button and the hot water button. Keep buttons pressed and restore power. When you see the dispensing counters appear release the buttons. Press rinse button to see the second page. To exit, power cycle the machine.

*Test mode:*

Remove power from the machine. Pull plug or switch off at socket. Press and hold the "2 small cups" and "2 large cups" buttons. Keep buttons pressed and restore power. Wait until "Load Test Mode" appears on the display. Release the buttons

The following tests can be performed:

Diffuser motor: use the "1 large cup" and "2 large cups" for up and down

Thermo block: "P" button

Steam heating: "Flush" button

Pump: Press the "Water" button

Grinder: Press "Aroma selection / coffee"

Both solenoid valves EV1 + EV2 on: Press "Cappuccino"

Single solenoid valves: "1 small cup" -> EV1 and "2 small cups" -> EV2

To exit, power cycle the machine.

*Reset:*

Remove power from the machine. Pull plug or switch off at socket. Press and hold the P button and the Power button. Keep buttons pressed and restore power. Still keep buttons pressed and wait till the diffuser motor stops running. Release the buttons.

*Electrical test mode:*

*
*Remove power from the machine. Pull plug or switch off at socket. Press and hold the rinse and the hot water buttons. Keep buttons pressed and restore power. I am still waiting investigating what this does.

*Display and button test:*

To follow.


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## DrRSG (Jul 11, 2017)

I suggest you try descaling with just fresh water. If there is something blocking a tube this may force it out. It has worked for me in the past.


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## ty vole (Sep 10, 2018)

Hi Roger,

Did you ever solve this issue? I have the exact same problem with my wife's machine. It does not dispense water or hot milk. The display just reverts to the home screen with no sound of moving parts inside after you push the buttons. I have tried descaling with fresh water and it pumps it out of the nozzle with no problem.

I found your additional information very useful and have run all of the physical diagnostics, as you described, with everything seemingly working fine.

I am at a bit if a complete loss and, as you seem to be much more informed than me, was wondering if you ever solved the problem ... and if so, if you don't mind me asking, how?

Thank you.

Phil


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## rogerjames99 (Dec 23, 2017)

ty vole said:


> Hi Roger,
> 
> Did you ever solve this issue? I have the exact same problem with my wife's machine. It does not dispense water or hot milk. The display just reverts to the home screen with no sound of moving parts inside after you push the buttons. I have tried descaling with fresh water and it pumps it out of the nozzle with no problem.
> 
> ...


The quick answer is. Yes I did fix it. What you probably do not want to hear is that I cannot remember what it was. I will have a look through my old emails and see if I can find a clue. Did you check the thermal cutouts and temp sensors.

R.


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## ty vole (Sep 10, 2018)

rogerjames99 said:


> The quick answer is. Yes I did fix it. What you probably do not want to hear is that I cannot remember what it was. I will have a look through my old emails and see if I can find a clue. Did you check the thermal cutouts and temp sensors.
> 
> R.


Thanks Roger, glad you managed to fix it. I haven't checked the thermal cut outs and temp sensors. I will start looking into how to check them. If you could find what you did previously it would be very much appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to respond.

Phil


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## ivi (Feb 6, 2019)

rogerjames99 said:


> The quick answer is. Yes I did fix it. What you probably do not want to hear is that I cannot remember what it was. I will have a look through my old emails and see if I can find a clue. Did you check the thermal cutouts and temp sensors.
> 
> R.


 Hi roger i have the same problem coukd you let me know how you fixed it


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## ivi (Feb 6, 2019)

hi phill

did you fix the problem as i have the same, if so can u tell me how?

thanks


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## Rosskhopkins (Jul 8, 2019)

I have the exact same problem too... Anyone found out how to resolve it?


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## Rob MacWhirter (Dec 15, 2019)

Yet another with exactly the same problem , surely it must be a sensor or the pcb. Any help greatly appreciated as I am completely stumped !


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## david0908 (Dec 26, 2019)

me too - same problem - would be great to hear the fix please! I have some time off over Xmas and would like to fix it!!
thanks


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## raymondf (Apr 12, 2020)

I have the same problem, Diagnostics say every thing normal. it started after an attempted descale. it will not run hot water or pump milk. it is making single and double coffees and rinsing normally. It gives an error message after trying to pump water that the beans are ground too fine which is not so as they are at a coarse setting about 6. When i had the back off to look it appears to have an air lock and is not resolving this to pump hot water. I tried priming it manually but the water just flows away. The pump seems to be working as it pumps water to the rinse and coffee making but not to the hot water or steam for milk and will not continue with the descale program Any ideas on likely reason for this problem. would be warmly welcome. Thanks Neil


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## Biff5 (Apr 26, 2020)

I had the same issue and took the back off to find a loose wire on the boiler. Looked like the tab the wire attached to had burnt out but there was enough left to reattach the wire to and the machine is back up and running.


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## David Seweryn (Nov 1, 2020)

I had similar issues on a faulty machine I've just purchased and repaired. 1 - No water coming out on rinse or through coffee grinds. 2 - When pressing hot water button it would say "heating" for 1 or 2 seconds and then go back to the normal screen. 3 - No steam for milk. So, from the beginning... The machine would start up and try and do a rinse, after it had finished trying to do this it would then say something like "coffee grinds too fine, adjust mill and retry". This was down to the pump been seized and faulty. Stripped it and freed it off and it all seemed to be working fine out of the pump itself, but when connected to the machine there's still no water coming out. After further investigation i realised there was no actual pressure from the pump when putting your finger over the end of the pipe as you could stop the flow. I bought an exact OE pump from Amazon for £16 delivered same day, connected it up and all seemed perfect on the coffee side of the machine. After trying hot water and steam, I still had issues on that side of the machine. After some YouTubing, I found out that on the back of the steam thermoblock, there are 2 thermo fuses. If one of these have blown, then the steam thermoblock will not function causing no steam and no hot water. I tested the connections of the heating element on the top of the block with a multimeter and no voltage was there (should be 230AC in the UK). I then tested both thermo fuses with a multimeter for continuity, the top one was fine, but the bottom one was open circuit. I bridged across with some wire for test purposes and it worked straight away. Hot water and steam were restored. I ordered a replacement fuse from Ebay for £6.18 and the machine is all working perfectly now. Hopefully all this will help everyone with similar issues. Also in test mode, I was operating the solenoid valves manually and the steam one wasn't working. I tapped it a few times and kept pulsing the button and it suddenly started working. If these are faulty, they're not that expensive from ebay.


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## Gracjan (Feb 25, 2021)

David Seweryn said:


> I had similar issues on a faulty machine I've just purchased and repaired. 1 - No water coming out on rinse or through coffee grinds. 2 - When pressing hot water button it would say "heating" for 1 or 2 seconds and then go back to the normal screen. 3 - No steam for milk. So, from the beginning... The machine would start up and try and do a rinse, after it had finished trying to do this it would then say something like "coffee grinds too fine, adjust mill and retry". This was down to the pump been seized and faulty. Stripped it and freed it off and it all seemed to be working fine out of the pump itself, but when connected to the machine there's still no water coming out. After further investigation i realised there was no actual pressure from the pump when putting your finger over the end of the pipe as you could stop the flow. I bought an exact OE pump from Amazon for £16 delivered same day, connected it up and all seemed perfect on the coffee side of the machine. After trying hot water and steam, I still had issues on that side of the machine. After some YouTubing, I found out that on the back of the steam thermoblock, there are 2 thermo fuses. If one of these have blown, then the steam thermoblock will not function causing no steam and no hot water. I tested the connections of the heating element on the top of the block with a multimeter and no voltage was there (should be 230AC in the UK). I then tested both thermo fuses with a multimeter for continuity, the top one was fine, but the bottom one was open circuit. I bridged across with some wire for test purposes and it worked straight away. Hot water and steam were restored. I ordered a replacement fuse from Ebay for £6.18 and the machine is all working perfectly now. Hopefully all this will help everyone with similar issues. Also in test mode, I was operating the solenoid valves manually and the steam one wasn't working. I tapped it a few times and kept pulsing the button and it suddenly started working. If these are faulty, they're not that expensive from ebay.


 Hi David.

I have the same problem. Could you send me link for You tube where i can find those two thermo fuses and how to get there?

Regards

Gracjan


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## LattebutnotLate (Apr 9, 2018)

Okay, oldish thread but still relevant. As David mentioned, the horseshoe shaped flash boiler/steam boiler has 2 safety thermal fuses attached. If one or both blow, no hotwater attempts to come out and the display reverts back to ready.

Exchanging these fuses may help but the chance that they blew on their own is slim. My primadonna esam 6600 is heating up this horseshoe boiler even in standby. I have now bypassed the fuse (new fuse blew again). Problem is likely the triac on the main powerboard being open circuit, ie not cutting power to the horseshoe element resulting in overheating and fuse blowing.

My current place is, or will be, multimeter leads to the element leads(unclipped from the boiler) to see if power is being sent, this will be after removing the suspected horseshoe boiler Triac { BTA24-600BW } from the power board(one of the two different ones attached to the largish heatsink) and replacing it with a new of same model. My current problem however is sourcing a decent one as they are obsolete, except from China? ..
I am wondering if the BTA24-600BWRG is its replacement but I cannot find any info on this and I am no expert by any means. Anyone help on this?

that is where I am today.

so to sum up, don't be wasting money buying and trying thermal fuses if the triac is causing the horseshoe boiler to be constantly on. If you want to test and bypass the bottom fuse, be around to see if it heats up whilst on standby. If so, unplug and then plan from there. Do not bypass as a 'fix' as you will cause a fire, these get mental hot.


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## Rincewind (Aug 25, 2020)

LattebutnotLate said:


> ...My current problem however is sourcing a decent one as they are obsolete, except from China?


Slow-boat for components is torture...however...Mouser is your friend 



LattebutnotLate said:


> ...I am wondering if the BTA24-600BWRG is its replacement but I cannot find any info on this...


It is indeed...the RW just denotes how it's packaged/sent i.e. on a reel/tube/tape/other for auto-placement by robot/other/pic-n-place...the RW comes packaged in a tube.

£2.93 from Mouser 



LattebutnotLate said:


> If you want to test and bypass the bottom fuse, be around to see if it heats up whilst on standby...


Dear reader :- NO NO NO do NOT ever bypass a fuse; it's there for a reason ⚡💥🔥



LattebutnotLate said:


> ...Do not bypass as a 'fix' as you will cause a fire, these get mental hot.


Well said [/QUOTE]


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## tgh (8 mo ago)

Hi. Probably bad form to resurrect this thread, sorry, it describes perfectly my problem and I have followed the advise without success. 
I was given my 6600 and it works perfectly grinding and brewing the coffee. Alas no hot water from the spout, or milk from the jug when connected. It beeps when these are inserted into the slot, but makes no sound at all when the hot water button is selected or milk is required. I have replaced the lower thermal fuse as suggested with no effect. Does anyone have a solution please?


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## LattebutnotLate (Apr 9, 2018)

tgh said:


> Hi. Probably bad form to resurrect this thread, sorry, it describes perfectly my problem and I have followed the advise without success.
> I was given my 6600 and it works perfectly grinding and brewing the coffee. Alas no hot water from the spout, or milk from the jug when connected. It beeps when these are inserted into the slot, but makes no sound at all when the hot water button is selected or milk is required. I have replaced the lower thermal fuse as suggested with no effect. Does anyone have a solution please?


One test for two results. -
*
Be Electricity aware and be safe.*
Power off machine by shutting down and then removing the plug from the wall.

Ensure both fuses are still okay by doing a continuity test across each( if there is a triac fault, it could have blown the new fuse if the horseshoe boiler got too hot)
If both thermal fuses are good, unplug the two power clips to the horseshoe element (ignore the ones attached to the fuses) and stick a multimeter probe into each of them (safely so the clips do not touch anything inside the machine - consider a bit of insulation tape)

Power On machine, again be safe.
Wait for fully started up and see if there is power detected on your multimeter when the hot water button is pressed or during its warm up cycle. 
If you have a 220-250v reading then it is likely the element is faulty and will likely need replacing.
If there is no power, then likely the Triac has become faulty on the mainboard; the one of type BTA24-600BW is the one likely needing to be replaced.

Power off your machine by shutting down and then removing the plug from the wall.
Remove your meter probes and reconnect cables to boiler.

Fingers crossed it is something simple.


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