# Oscar II wet steam issue



## realist7 (Feb 12, 2019)

Hello there.

I hope you could help. I just bought a 2nd hand Nuova Simonelli Oscar II. The previous owner said that he has descaled it and also installed an OPV valve (purchased from elektros.it) which he said was preset to 9.5 bars of pressure. I'm not sure if he purchased the OPV designed by elektros (40 euros) or the other one they are selling (30 euros)?

Also he said that he replaced the pressure switch with another oem Campini switch which is what the machine comes with when new. He did not replace with a sarai switch.

He also said he descaled boiler 3 times before shipping.

The machine seems ok when pulling espresso shots. It is producing crema.

However I noticed 2 things already with this machine which I would very much like to resolve with your kind assistance :-

1. The steam wand is producing very wet (watery) steam. It is not dry as it should be. The first time I pushed the steam lever water was spraying out from all 4 holes in steam tip. After some time the water is replaced by steam but there is still some water coming out of the steam holes. But when you first switch on the steam after some time it sprays water. I have included 2 videos to show the problem. One video with steam tip on and one video with steam tip off. The links are below :-



http://imgur.com/Cs63oaj




http://imgur.com/aYIhLWu


2. The espresso does not seem very hot it is only warm. A new pressure switch was apparently installed so I'm not sure what is the issue here but I would like to resolve it.

3. The water that is coming out from the steam wand is very cloudy white colour. I know the seller said he descaled the boiler but I think maybe that was the boiler for the water not the steam. I've included a pic of the water which came out of steam wand below:-



http://imgur.com/eXFgHMe


I would really appreciate if you could help me solve these issues so I could use this machine for many years to come and make fantastic espresso.

I paid £430 gbp for this machine and also a grinta ammt grinder together as a package so I think I got a good deal if I could just fix these issues and get this machine perfect.

Also the top plastic cover has many cracks so I would like to replace this with a brand new one once I get the machine working perfectly.

Thanks and I look forward to your response.


----------



## NewboyUK (Jul 14, 2018)

Does the steam smell funny?


----------



## NewboyUK (Jul 14, 2018)

And what pressures is the machine running at?


----------



## realist7 (Feb 12, 2019)

NewboyUK said:


> And what pressures is the machine running at?


Hello mate. Only got the machine yesterday.

I havent smelt the steam but looking at the water it's left behind in the drip tray (I pointed it down towards the tray before pushing the steam lever) it's so cloudy and white it clearly isn't clean. Pic is attached of the water which came out of the steam wand in my original post.

No idea what pressure the machine is running at, I don't have a pressure gauge to attaché onto my portafilter to check. although I assume it's 9.5 bar because the seller told me he had fitted an OPV from elektros which was preset to 9.5 bars by them so I'm assuming he just fitted it using their guide?


----------



## realist7 (Feb 12, 2019)

Not sure what temperature the water is coming out of the brew head either? I assume the new campini pressure switch which was fitted to this was preset to a correct temperature?

I don't have much experience fixing coffee machines but I'm literally going on eBay now to buy teflon tape and that red grease because I know I'm going to have to open this thing and work on it to get it up to scratch asap. I paid too much to have it not work properly.


----------



## Oblivion (Mar 5, 2018)

My Guess is the boiler is overfilling up to the steam pipe. As you use the steam, the water level drops to the point where there is enough of an air gap for only steam to come through.

The milky colour may be milk contamination or crud from the descaling attempt.

If you do this yourself I would suggest total boiler removal for a thorough descale and cleanse. Whilst this is done you can find the water level sensing device and replace or clean.

Chances are a descale might have partially blocked other pipes or components so flush everything through.

A big job but doable if you are confident. Take pictures as you go so you remember how everything goes back together.
​


----------



## NewboyUK (Jul 14, 2018)

If it smells funny it might be milk 'soured'

Id drop a camera in the boiler or drop the element maybe? You would soon see and get bicarbonate of soda ready. Lovery job

Not familiar with that machine - 2 boilers or hx? If hx then pressure for steam shoukd be around 1-1.2 bar? Higher pressure gives higher temps

Make a coffee and test the temp in paper cup maybe? Around 90c?

All this is food for thought


----------



## realist7 (Feb 12, 2019)

It's a hx machine so I'm assuming it has only one boiler? The seller told me he descaled it 3 times before selling so I'm surprised at the amount of white residue in coming from the steam wand. I usually descale using citric acid not bicarbonate but not sure that's possible with this machine as there is no water outlet as such.

Taking the actual boiler out to descale is something that I would like to only use as a last resort. My first issue is getting the steam to come out dry tbh.

Could either be the probe or upon further research could be the 2 way solenoid valve faulty and not sealing well.

Or could be the water level probe going into boiler is too high and needs to be pushed down.

Not sure which tbh


----------



## realist7 (Feb 12, 2019)

Anyone got a link to that red grease they use and the teflon tape which is usually recommended when repairing coffee machines?


----------



## NewboyUK (Jul 14, 2018)

Bicarb not for scale - its to desour the boiler if its that


----------



## espressotechno (Apr 11, 2011)

Screwfix for teflon tape.

Red grease ? Could be the loctite type sealant used in factory assembly of espresso machines..... (silicone gease is colourless)


----------



## Oblivion (Mar 5, 2018)

The only red grease I know of is red rubber grease for o rings and gaskets. Not sure it's food safe though.


----------



## baji86 (Nov 9, 2020)

2 years later.....i bumped into similar issues with the wet steam. Did you manage to fix it?


----------



## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

Check the fill probe on the boiler.= scale


----------

