# Elizabeth fault - help needed!



## Bainbridge (Feb 4, 2012)

My Elizabeth has developed a fault that occurs at the end of the warm up. I bought it from here, the original purchase was in Dec 2020 and the warranty was transferred to me.

I've noticed over the last couple of weeks that there's a occasional burble of water - this never used to happen but it didn't seem too much of a concern.

However once a few weeks ago when I was out my wife said the machine was making loads of noise so she turned it off.

Well.....this happened again today. The issue seems to be around the water pipes in the reservoir - the one nearest to me got very hot, plus there is a lot of bubbling.

https://youtube.com/shorts/mKVRSlCERGo?feature=share

Any ideas what might be the issue? I just phoned Bella Barista but they aren't open until Monday!


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## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

@Bainbridge - I bet your safety valve has popped. On the Elizabeth, the safety valve and the OPV all divert to the tank - hence why you see the water splashing about there.

from the video, the noise I hear are pops, almost as if it's coming from the pump, which, when you think about it, is the hose rattling about?

To confirm it's the safety valve:

- turn the machine on;
- immediately ECO mode on (only brew boiler);
- let the machine warm up as normal.

report back.


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

Pretty sure it's the safety valve as well.


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## Bainbridge (Feb 4, 2012)

@MediumRoastSteam @DavecUK

Just turned on the machine and set it to eco mode - all fine and no weird noises.

So if the safety valve has popped how do I reset it?

Thanks!


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

Bainbridge said:


> @MediumRoastSteam @DavecUK
> 
> Just turned on the machine and set it to eco mode - all fine and no weird noises.
> 
> ...


 Limit stats are resettable, safety valves require replacement.


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## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

Bainbridge said:


> @MediumRoastSteam @DavecUK
> 
> Just turned on the machine and set it to eco mode - all fine and no weird noises.
> 
> ...


 So, the reason a safety valve pops is because the boiler heated up / pressurised far beyond its operational temperature. I was looking into safety valves yesterday and the Elizabeth's safety valve is rated 5.5bar.

thankfully, your machine is still under warranty and the safety valve should be covered. It's also something you should be able to replace easily, not requiring you to send the machine back to the retailer.

Now&#8230; the safety valve is often the symptom, not the cause.

So&#8230;

can you tells what your advanced settings are, specifically what the values for

KPs
KIs
KDs
Bs
Es

And, of course, what's your steam temperature set to.

And&#8230;

what type of water do you feed your machine with?

Report back. 👍


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## Bainbridge (Feb 4, 2012)

All the setting are as recommended by @DavecUK

I backflush regularly and have descaled it three times fully since I bought it in February.

London tap water using a Brita filter.

Looks like I'll be calling Bella Barista on Monday morning!


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## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

Bainbridge said:


> I backflush regularly and have descaled it three times fully since I bought it in February.
> 
> London tap water using a Brita filter.


 😬😔


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)




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## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

@Bainbridge - needless to say&#8230; your routine will destroy your machine in no time. Not the backflushing, that's fine. But descaling every month or so will inevitably take its toll and, using hard water is just not a good thing. I bet what's causing the issue you have is that the temp probe has been damaged by your frequent descaling or by calcification due to hard water. It can no longer sense the right temperature, and the consequence is what you see&#8230; overheating of the steam boiler.

it won't surprise me that, if you change the safety valve, the same will happen again.

If you get it fixed, please try and avoid descaling by putting boiler friendly water in your machine. There's plenty of information in this forum. I had my Elizabeth for 1 year. It's good as new, I never descale and I don't ever plan to do so either.

Good luck and hope your machine gets fixed soon.


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## MCProtis (Feb 5, 2021)

@BainbridgeIf you somehow end up removing the top cover, would you mind taking a picture of what your Safety Valve looks like?


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## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

@Bainbridge - Did you manage to get this sorted?


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## Bainbridge (Feb 4, 2012)

MediumRoastSteam said:


> @Bainbridge - Did you manage to get this sorted?


 Yeah the temperature sensor in the steam boiler was defective. No scale on it, it just failed. Bella Barista replaced it under warranty and I fitted it, which solved the issue entirely.


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## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

Bainbridge said:


> Yeah the temperature sensor in the steam boiler was defective. No scale on it, it just failed. Bella Barista replaced it under warranty and I fitted it, which solved the issue entirely.


 This is excellent news. Kudos to you and to Bella Barista!


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