# Isomac Rituale Fault



## Jon (Dec 3, 2010)

Hello folks, I'm posting this on behalf of a friend - he'd really appreciate any help any of the techies can offer:

"My apologies for asking for help without having added any useful answers to anything before!

I recently bought an Isomac Rituale from eBay - on receipt it had an intermittent issue with the boiler heating up. It would heat at first but then would turn off and not reheat - several hours later the machine would be cool and the pressure gauge would show 0 bar - but the green light indicating brew readiness would stay on. The green light is dim too (if that's related?).

Each time after a period of rest the boiler has decided to heat up again - but within no specific timeframe.

I have spoken to a couple of people who are mechanically minded who seem to think it could be a pressure stat fault, but I thought I would ask the experts on here.

Obviously I can just send it back to the seller as it is 'not as described' - but I like the machine and if replacement of a component would resolve the issue I'd be keen to keep it."

Any help you can offer would be much appreciated; many thanks.


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

It could be a P/stat fault they do tend to stick as they age (not consistently). The P/stat is mounted on the top of the boiler and has an adjusting screw in the middle, some times they can be "encouraged " to work by ---- Measure how far down the adjusting screw is (this is only to reset to same position afterwards) remove the adj/screw and look inside. In the centre is a small metal "tit" carefully grip this with needle nose pliers or tweezers and gently work up and down to full limits. Replace adjusting screw to original position and check to see if problem cured.

The dim light sounds as if there is a resistance somewhere in the wiring /components, could possibly be P/stat. also check thermal fuse near end of boiler.


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## Jon (Dec 3, 2010)

Thanks for this - I have shared, hopefully this will sort him out!


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## marcuswar (Aug 19, 2013)

This sounds amazingly similar to what has just started to happen to my Isomac Tea machine except I don't even get a dim green light. The pressurestat was also my first suspicion but having just replaced it with a new one I have found that it hasn't rectified the fault. Having delved a little deeper into the machine with a multimeter and done some further research on the internet I think the issue is actually the transformer in the Gimme Controller Box. It seems to overheat and turn off after 20mins and so no power is getting through to the heating element (and red light). The controller boxes themselves are crazy prices (~£145) but I believe it should be possible to repair it as it is really such a simple device just a transformer and a few relays, probably only about £5-£10 worth of parts (if that!)


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

From reports on other forums and technical publications, it is not unknown /uncommon for new P/Stats to be faulty or sticky.









Worth checking resistance across contacts ?


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## marcuswar (Aug 19, 2013)

Yes I'd also read that, but in my case its definitely not the P/Stat as I've checked the outputs with a multimeter when the machine is hot. All contacts (COMM, NO.NC) show as having no voltage (once hot) so I think its definitely a power supply issue. The OP also mentions his green light glowing dimly which would also imply a power related issue to me.


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## marcuswar (Aug 19, 2013)

For the sake of clarity and completeness I thought I'd just post a link here to a thread I started over on ISOMAC sub Forum detailing how I fixed my very similar issue with my Isomac Tea machine

http://coffeeforums.co.uk/showthread.php?18994-ISOMAC-Tea-stops-working-after-20-minutes-heating-up-and-how-I-fixed-it

Hope it helps.


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