# Diagnosing Leak in Rancilio Silvia



## BeansBeansBeans (Jun 14, 2021)

Hi all,

My Rancilio Silvia has begun to leak over the last 3 or so weeks. The leak only occurs when pulling shots and when under pressure, and seems to come from somewhere between the spray shield and grouphead. Changing the gasket in the grouphead hasn't helped, and I keep it reasonably clean. You can see what the leak looks like in the video below.

Any ideas for what might be causing the leak and why?

Note that I modified the Silvia by adding an Auber PID about a year ago.


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## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

@BeansBeansBeans - have you opened the machine up to see where the leak is coming from? Looks like it's inside?


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

Unplug from the power and do not use until you find out exactly where the leak is from, failure to do this could result in a shock and damaging electrical / electronic components.

As above. open it up and find out.


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## 28267 (Dec 8, 2020)

@BeansBeansBeans - as others have said don't use with that much water spraying around inside.

Unplug and pop the top off, hopefully you can see where the water is coming from.

The parts diagrams for Silvia should give you a good idea on where the issue is. Thoughts:

Split/damaged/loose OPV pipe.

Same for pump to tank pipe.

Seal between boiler and group.

Seal for three way valve.

From the amount of water it should be easy to spot with the machine off. As you've put the PID in recently checking the pipes didn't get knocked would be the first thing I'd look at.

Once found and fixed let the machine dry out before using again. When connecting after repair ensure it is via an RCD protected circuit to protect yourself and the machine in-case there are any faults after the water.


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## BeansBeansBeans (Jun 14, 2021)

Thanks for the advice all. I'll stop using the machine until the leak has been properly sorted out.

I do have another recording (from several days ago) with the top cover removed that may yield some clues. See attached video. It looks to be coming from the steam valve, but I can't be sure.

@AdG - Thanks for the pointers here. I'll investigate each of these. Good tip about the RCD; I've confirmed that I'm on an RCD protected circuit.


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

Coming from the nut/ joint near the shake-proof washer. Separate all components and check for sealing washers or cone joints.

Clean joints, use PTFE tape on threaded joints check / renew washer /"O'' ring seals.Take care when fitting steam knob that you do not rotate the joint and loosen the joints. Have you removed the steam knob before ?? possibly loosened the joint in the process ?

I would remove all of the 'fluffy' insulation as it will hold moisture and cover / hide leaks in the future. As insulation I doubt it has much effect!!


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## BeansBeansBeans (Jun 14, 2021)

*Update:*

Leak was coming from the 3-way solenoid valve. Replacing the two o-rings (no longer creating a good seal) with new ones did the trick.

Thanks for the help all.


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