# Expobar Leva HX - machine tripping electricity after descaling



## pebster (Jul 14, 2014)

After giving my machines group head a full descaling and finding it in a pretty gruesome state, I decided my next task was to give the boiler a full descale.

Maybe a little over-enthusiastically I opted for this method where you overfill the boiler.





 .

It all went well - removing the level probe connection, filling the boiler with dezcal and the heat exchanger, leaving it for an hour, running several litres of clean water through the system. Then I hit a problem at the end. The last step where I had reconnected the water level probe and switched on the machine to heat it up to expel the excess water through the hot water tap. During this process, I found a lot of water was pushed out and there were minerals in the water (not sure if relevant). I don't recall the pump coming on (I may be incorrect) and then as water was being pushed out the circuit breaker tripped the plugs in the house!!!

As there was some water on the internals from the process mentioned above (from the pressure release valve) which they said was normal from overfilling it. I assumed something got wet and best to let it dry out I have now left the machine for about 18 hours and it seems dry but switching on the machine trips the house electricity instantly as you flick the switch. I am going to wait overnight (say a little prayer) and see in it works in the morning - I am doubtful. Anyway, any thought as to what might have happened to cause the machine to trip like that? Is there a safety mechanism that may be causing it. Could have something to do with the pump or maybe the boiler not being filled? I am at a bit of a loss as to how to debug it.

Any help welcome?

thanks

Peter


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## Rob1 (Apr 9, 2015)

Just having a stab in the dark here but maybe the heating element is cracked? It could have been caked in scale. Maybe take it out and have a look.


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## pebster (Jul 14, 2014)

Rob1 said:


> Just having a stab in the dark here but maybe the heating element is cracked? It could have been caked in scale. Maybe take it out and have a look.


Rob thanks for the feedback. I just removed the two wires going to the bottom of the boiler and switched on - No tripping!

Would this mean the heating element is the culprit.


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

You will need to test it with a test meter (if you do not have one does a friend )

With the machine unplugged and the meter set to resistance (ohms)

First test across the two terminals= this should give a positive reading.

Then test between one terminal and body, then repeat on other terminal to body.

Report back. It does sound as if the heating element has short circuited / cracked +leaking


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## pebster (Jul 14, 2014)

El carajillo said:


> You will need to test it with a test meter (if you do not have one does a friend )
> 
> With the machine unplugged and the meter set to resistance (ohms)
> 
> ...


Ok took some quick measurements before leaving the house today. (Note: I do own a multimetre but electricity is not my forte)

First test across the two terminals = 29.2 ohms

Then test between one terminal and body = OL

then repeat on other terminal to body = OL


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

Element sounds to be OK. Look for wiring / connections that are wet /damp. Leave machine open to allow air to circulate and dry.

You could use a hair dryer to help speed things up ( also check switches for moisture)


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## pebster (Jul 14, 2014)

I guess that was a too easier solution, unfortunately. Ill let it dry out some more. I am less confident of it being water as it has been drying over 24 hours.

Question: the fact that it does not trip when the boiler is disconnected, does that isolate it to less potential culprits?


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## pebster (Jul 14, 2014)

I will get the hair dryer out tonight as I have a couple of hours to play with the machine. I suppose other than disconnecting all the electrical leads and drying and feeling around for dampness there is not much else I can do. Its been over 48 hours now so I expect it had dried anyway. Will feedback later.


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## pebster (Jul 14, 2014)

Hi

Just to feedback. It was the Heating Element. I got it replaced and all working well.

I spent about 10 mins looking at removing the element myself and decided I may do more harm wrestling with it. You certainly need the right tools.

I took a drive up to Bella Barista this morning and their service was unbelievable. Changed out the element in 30 mins and gave the machine a once over. Really nice bunch of people and so helpful.

Anyway, caffeine flow has been restored to the household. thanks for all the pointers.

Peter


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

Glad you got it sorted:good:


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## justsaying4 (Jul 2, 2020)

Rob1 said:


> Just having a stab in the dark here but maybe the heating element is cracked? It could have been caked in scale. Maybe take it out and have a look.


 Ive the same issue, but my heating element is working do you have any suggestions? I have a exobar markus, and i think that the motherboard of my machine is defective. But when i look at it is seems fine.

Im looking forward to your answer.

Sorry for my bad English btw


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## Rob1 (Apr 9, 2015)

justsaying4 said:


> Ive the same issue, but my heating element is working do you have any suggestions? I have a exobar markus, and i think that the motherboard of my machine is defective. But when i look at it is seems fine.
> 
> Im looking forward to your answer.
> 
> Sorry for my bad English btw


 No idea.

You'll have to be more specific if you want anybody to help you. Go step by step...Right now as far as I know your machine is tripping the RCD and for some reason you think the motherboard is defective, but you also don't think it's defective based on whatever tests you've done on it (just literally looking at it?).

So in a way that is as clear as possible.

The machine was working at some point. Did you see anything wrong with it? What exactly was happening?

What did you do to the machine before it stopped working?

What is happening with the machine now and under what usage conditions?

I don't know anything about your machine, maybe photographs of internals could help somebody (if not me) help.

Depending on what you've done it might not be the machine. E.G You could have just plugged it into a different socket and found a faulty socket.


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

justsaying4 said:


> Ive the same issue, but my heating element is working do you have any suggestions? I have a exobar markus, and i think that the motherboard of my machine is defective. But when i look at it is seems fine.
> 
> Im looking forward to your answer.
> 
> Sorry for my bad English btw


 If your issue is the machine is tripping the electric "which was the issue" and *we assume it*:



Has shown no other faults prior to this


Is regularly serviced


has not been moved or transported,


had nothing spilled inside it


makes no hissing sounds when warming up


Is fairly new, or is it old


When you examined the motherboard, you actually opened the machine, opened the cover of the motherboard/removed it, so examine the components, relays and circuit tracks, plus the power supply visually (and didn't use a multimeter)


All the wiring is OK on inspection especially the mains wiring


You had sufficient knowledge to do all the above.


Then it's probably a faulty heating element. My suggestion is you get an electrical engineer to test the heating element with a Megger....

In english we call it "Occam's razor"


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## justsaying4 (Jul 2, 2020)

Rob1 said:


> No idea.
> 
> You'll have to be more specific if you want anybody to help you. Go step by step...Right now as far as I know your machine is tripping the RCD and for some reason you think the motherboard is defective, but you also don't think it's defective based on whatever tests you've done on it (just literally looking at it?).
> 
> ...





DavecUK said:


> If your issue is the machine is tripping the electric "which was the issue" and *we assume it*:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 Excuse me that I didn't properly provided the information that you guys needed. I appreciate the quick responses though!

So what happened first? The coffee machine was just working fine since four weeks ago. After it kept tripping our electrical circuits. At the time I didn't had the time to troubleshoot the issue.

The machine itself has some been repaired once or twice. I think it was the same issue as right now. Last time they replaced the motherboard to solve this current issue. But to me the motherboard looks just fine.

The condition of the machine: it is operating in a clean working environment, the machine is 8 year old, and it only received light maintenance.

So last week I did some research about our machine, so I turned it on and it just worked fine (somehow). My aunt told me that the coffee machine was shutting itself down while it was building the pressure and heat. What I did was lower the amounts of bar to 1 (with the pressurestat) and replaced the pressure valve (because it made an irregular sound, the 'sst ssstt' sound). After that I seems to be working. After that I dropped my screwdriver into the machine ( didn't hit anything) and I turned off the machine, to safely get my screwdriver out. When I turned our machine on again, it was tripping our electricity circuit again&#8230;.

The troubleshooting I worked on:

I tried a different a different wall socket but no luck
checked the conductivity of the heater elements, they all looked fine (all around 31 ohm orsomething).
I checked for unplugged cables, but everything looked fine.
i measured the connectivity through some cables, seems fine
I did not checked any relais 
wet spots, no electrical components were wet at the time.
hmm maybe I just need to buy a new circuit motherboard&#8230; idunno haha

some pictures:



http://imgur.com/R0w6JpH


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

Replace the heating element.


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## justsaying4 (Jul 2, 2020)

DavecUK said:


> Replace the heating element.


 Why? I was able measure the resistance ( between 20-30 ohms). I also used the the the multimeter mode where you check electrical flow through the heating elements, so those heater elements should be fine right?


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

Possibly, possibly not.


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## justsaying4 (Jul 2, 2020)

DavecUK said:


> Possibly, possibly not.


 But i also turned the machine on while the heating elements were plugged off, and the result was that the circuit got tripped


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## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

justsaying4 said:


> But i also turned the machine on while the heating elements were plugged off, and the result was that the circuit got tripped


So you have short-circuiting somewhere else then? Time for some investigation.

Edit: there was a similar issue with another member, but with a La Pavoni. Finds out it the electrical cable was damaged. And the chap was using a cheap adapter, without earth connection!


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

DavecUK said:


> If your issue is the machine is tripping the electric "which was the issue" and *we assume it*:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## justsaying4 (Jul 2, 2020)

MediumRoastSteam said:


> So you have short-circuiting somewhere else then? Time for some investigation.
> 
> Edit: there was a similar issue with another member, but with a La Pavoni. Finds out it the electrical cable was damaged. And the chap was using a cheap adapter, without earth connection!


 Im doing it! But I can't figure it out...


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## Scamps90 (Jul 23, 2020)

justsaying4 said:


> Im doing it! But I can't figure it out...


 Sounds Intermittent - Are you sure that your not overloading the ring main? If its a two group I think they pull around 14amps full whack so if you have recently added a kettle or anything else with a heating element then this could be your issue. Ive worked on various coffee machines for the last 8/9 years and when the MB goes it can trip the electrics when it blows and arcs out but once its dead it usually doesnt cause the same issue and from my understanding on these machines the power supply board is on top of the pump in a plastic housing and your touch button pad (Small voltage) controls drink measures / flow meter and apart form those there arent any other pcbs


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