# Barista Express Tripping Electrics RCD



## Fahed2000 (6 mo ago)

Hey There,I have recently got myself a faulty Barista express that was leaking due to a leaky solenoid elbow which I replaced. Seemingly the machine worked afterwards (except for the steam and water dispenser which seemed blocked but hot water came from the group head as expected) so my natural instinct was to descale thoroughly over a 2 hours period. During the descale waiting period (10 minutes wait between each shot through the group head) there was a little leak (around 15ml of descaler) from the 3-way solenoid top connector as I attempted to check for a clogged hose (from the solenoid to the steam wand corner). Next thing as soon as I press a shot button the machine trips the electric circuit breaker (sometimes managing to push through few ml of water through the group head first. I pulled removed the solenoids and descaled them by dunking the metal part in descaler for a couple of hours and re-assembled the machine. On my first try the machine successfully did two back-to-back shots before the tank ran out. The sad part is that once I filled the tank and tried again it went back to tripping the RCD.
The machine starts and warms up successfully but will trip the electrics once the shot button is pressed. Alternatively, if I try the water dispenser or steam wand nothing comes out (and doesn't trip the RCD) but the pump seems to work and the over-pressure valve relieves some of the pressure into the drip tray. Similarly post steam activation I do not hear the machine releasing the pressure from the stream back to the drip tray. Similarly, if I remove the power (orange) from 3 way solenoid then it seems to pressurise and run without tripping the electrics. Is it the solenoids, main board, or perhaps the thermoblock overheating and getting damaged?
Not sure what my next steps are but I would appreciate any advice or experiments to try out. Thanks


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