# Rancilio Silvia V3 needs repair - Suggestions please



## verymau (Apr 15, 2012)

Hi Guys,

My Rancilio Silvia V3 from 2012 stopped heating up yesterday. I read several threads on several forums, and I tried a couple of things.

The BOL light, the one next to the power button is always ON, and the pump works fine, I tried to extract water and water comes out normally, it just won't heat up.

I opened it up to try to reset the safety thermostat. In case it was the safety thermostat, I read that the little red button should've popped out and I would have to click it back in and actually hear a clicking noise, which I didn't. The machine still won't heat up. I'm not very savvy regarding electrical things so I think I'm better off taking it to a repair shop as it might be the heating element/boiler and I'm way out of my league there.

Does anyone know of a trustworthy shop in the walton-on-thames/weybridge/Guildford/Surrey area? Which is where live/work, or even in southwest London?(I want to avoid getting into London), where I could take the machine to be repaired?

Thanks everyone in advance.


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## UbiquitousPhoton (Mar 7, 2016)

The bad news is it sounds like the element, and because of the way the v3 is built, you need a new boiler, thus this is going to be costly









http://www.ferrari-espresso.com/product/element-with-boiler-rancilio-kit-inox-220-240v-silvia/

85 quid for the part, not sure what labour would cost. I dont know any repair shops in that area either, sorry. Maintenance of the Sylvia is actually a lot easier than you think, although removing the boiler does mean pretty much taking it to bits, admittedly.


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## verymau (Apr 15, 2012)

Hi UbiquitousPhoton, thanks for the tip. A electronics engineer friend, helped me out to diagnose the problem with a multimeter and I just ordered a new boiler(with heating element), as it is a broken heating element. I will repair it with his help, and come back here to report back on it.

Thanks


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## verymau (Apr 15, 2012)

So the problem was a damaged heating element. I ordered one on http://www.myespresso.co.uk which is where I bought my Silvia back in 2012, and also was where I found the boiler cheaper, and replaced the boiler myself with the help of my friend. It's not hard at all, just like you said UbiquitousPhoton.

I only made a couple of espressos since I put it back together and the coffee now feels a bit different than before. A bit more burnt, more bitter. This is with the same coffee I usually use and with the same grinder settings. Would changing a boiler cause this? Can this heating element heat the water to a different temperature than the previous one?

Thanks guys


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## UbiquitousPhoton (Mar 7, 2016)

Hm, without a pid this could be tricky. My suspicion would be that the temperature is too high, which potentially could be a side effect of your boiler now working properly admittedly. I would check the thermostat connections though. The boiler light does go off when it's reached temperature, right? Do you temperature surf?


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## verymau (Apr 15, 2012)

You're right. A pid would be super useful. I'm sure all the thermostats are working fine. The light does go off, yes, and it stops heating the water up when it does. So it is working properly.

I temperature surf, yes. Around the time I bought the machine in 2012, I saw a video from Seattle coffee gear where they said the right temperature for an espresso on a Silvia is around 30s after the BOL light turns off, so I always only started brewing 30s after the light goes off. Until around, possibly a year ago, I don't remember exactly, when I tried to start brewing as soon as the light went off. These espressos I did with the new boiler, were brewed as soon as the light turned off, so admittedly I might have to go back to the advice from Seattle coffee gear and wait 30s again. I have to try that.

Thanks a lot for the help


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