# Repair Help—no heat



## RancilioSilvia (10 mo ago)

Hi All.
I’ve tried resetting the high temperature thermostat. That hasn’t helped. 
Machine lights up as usual but doesn’t heat for either steam or pulling a shot. 

I read online that getting the light but no heat could meant the high temp stat needs to be replaced. I have one coming.

questions:

1. What/how do I test good operation with a multimeter for the thermostats and for the boiler?

2. In the photo you can see where the boiler seems to have leaked at some point, does this mean it needs to be replaced? Or maybe just the o-ring?

3. How can I tell if this is the old boiler (welded element) or newer one?

Thanks so much!


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

The thermostats would normally be closed to allow power to pass to heating element, only opening when temperature is achieved. Test meter set to ohms should give a tone if set to low ohms or a positive reading.
To test the element remove the leads from the boiler and connect the meter to each terminal with the meter set to low ohms, this should give a reading of 40 - 50 ohms ball park.
If zero reading / open circuit the element is kaput. You can test between one terminal and boiler case, if this gives a reading the element is definitely kaput.
Looking at the photo it looks as if the element is welded in ie no nuts to secure it. 
Several of the connectors look quite burnt / overheated. Possibly worth crimping on new connectors if you repair it.


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## RancilioSilvia (10 mo ago)

Thank you so much for the quick reply. This information is really helpful. I’ll borrow a multimeter ASAP and check it out as you have suggested. 

It seems to make the most sense to repair even if it requires the entire boiler it is available for 270 CAD a new machine is 1100 CAD. Thoughts? 

kind regards
P





El carajillo said:


> The thermostats would normally be closed to allow power to pass to heating element, only opening when temperature is achieved. Test meter set to ohms should give a tone if set to low ohms or a positive reading.
> 
> To test the element remove the leads from the boiler and connect the meter to each terminal with the meter set to low ohms, this should give a reading of 40 - 50 ohms ball park.
> If zero reading / open circuit the element is kaput. You can test between one terminal and boiler case, if this gives a reading the element is definitely kaput.
> ...


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## moatl (10 mo ago)

RancilioSilvia said:


> Thank you so much for the quick reply. This information is really helpful. I’ll borrow a multimeter ASAP and check it out as you have suggested.
> 
> It seems to make the most sense to repair even if it requires the entire boiler it is available for 270 CAD a new machine is 1100 CAD. Thoughts?
> 
> ...


The steps mentioned by El carajillo are definitely the first thing I would do. If the heating element tests OK it could also be there's not enough water in the boiler which will prevent the heating element from being switched on. A reason for this could be scale in the pipe that feeds fresh water into the boiler. Most scale is deposited where cold water meets hot water. Just an idea


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