# No hot water from hot water tap - Faema Carisma - Casadio Dafne



## NightRave (Feb 28, 2020)

Hey all!

I'm struggling with my Faema Carisma A1 that I've bought used. It is very similar to Casadio Dafne S1. Everything works just fine, I can make espresso and froth milk, but the hot water dispenser doesn't work (for tea/Americano etc.). I opened up the machine and tried all the pipes one by one that lead to hot water tap. I literally took everything apart to the exit of the boiler where the hot water should be coming from and there is nothing. When I turn on the machine there are small drops of water coming out when it heats up. So is it clogged or is there some internal valve in the boiler itself that opens and lets hot water flow? I'm clueless.


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## ArisP (Dec 17, 2019)

Most likely the tap itself is at fault, rather than the pipe leading to it. Probably worth taking it apart and making sure no scale or debris inside.


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## NightRave (Feb 28, 2020)

But wouldn't the water start running from the boiler (right side of the picture) if nothing would be blocking it?


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## ArisP (Dec 17, 2019)

Not sure what you mean, and the photo is not clear enough to understand. Did you remove the pipe from the boiler?


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## NightRave (Feb 28, 2020)

Here is a bigger version. Yeah, I removed the pipe from the boiler and yet nothing happens. Yet I can still steam and froth and make espressos. I do not understand how this whole thing works


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## ArisP (Dec 17, 2019)

You seem to have a weird little machine. The pictures you took, and your description, are only helpful for someone who is already familiar with the hydraulic diagram of your machine (clearly not me).

I did a search on the interwebs, but the results are not detailed.

In any case, unless this is a one-off, no there shouldn't be any internal valve (inside the boiler) for hot water dispensing, it is a pressure fed service.

Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

As AP said , most likely cause is a partially blocked H/W valve (tap) It is possible the sealing washer is / has started to break up and a piece is restricting / blocking the outlet.

Has it been used in a hard water area and there is scale settled / blocking the pipe / outlet ?


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## NightRave (Feb 28, 2020)

I tried descaling it again, was overflowing the boiler couple of times and the thing started to work. I've another issue now though. It seems, that I managed to clog the group or the 3 way solenoid. Would you mind giving me advice on what to tackle here? it doesn't even backflush as it seems.

Here is a video that I just took.


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

Remove the 22 mm nut on top of the mushroom valve and check the gauze filter and the gicleur (jet) in the top of the mushroom / remove the jet with a 7 mm socket. Do NOT poke the jet as the aperture is critical for flow.

Remove the solenoid below the brew head and carefully disassemble noting how components fit, clean / d-scale parts if necessary, reassemble and refit.

Check that the solenoid is clicking when operated.

Do NOT run the pump for long periods as they are intended for short 'bursts'.


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## ArisP (Dec 17, 2019)

El carajillo said:


> Remove the 22 mm nut on top of the mushroom valve and check the gauze filter and the gicleur (jet) in the top of the mushroom / remove the jet with a 7 mm socket. Do NOT poke the jet as the aperture is critical for flow.
> 
> Remove the solenoid below the brew head and carefully disassemble noting how components fit, clean / d-scale parts if necessary, reassemble and refit.
> 
> ...


 Exactly this!

Also, good on you for going at it, most people would have given up.

From what you have said so far, and seeing in the video the pressure rise to 14bar when you try to pull a shot, there is a clog somewhere, very likely in the mushroom.

There are plenty of how-to's both here and on YouTube if you're not confident on taking it apart.

Good luck!


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## NightRave (Feb 28, 2020)

So I made progress. Took apart the solenoid and the bits underneath. The bit in the picture on the left has a lot of scale bits around the nozzles. I can blow into the hole B and it is clear, but not sure about the hole A. When I try to press the coffee making button now, the water flows from the hole as seen on the picture on the right. I assume then, that because the water goes through the mushroom and the head up to there, this means the blockage can be only in the piece I'm holding on the left. When I assemble it, the blockage is still there, but at least now the backflush works and it spews the water our of the solenoid.


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

Strip, inspect and clean the rest of the valve (in hand) The central part is operated (open and closed) by the solenoid.

If the solenoid is NOT working (clicking) OR if the components in the valve are seized / scaled up or damaged it cannot pass water.


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## ArisP (Dec 17, 2019)

If you can't strip the solenoid completely, you can try a citric acid bath to see if that helps.

Also, considering the amount of trouble you have been dealing with regarding scale, I would reccomend you start thinking about cleaning or replacing every part of the machine, especially "mission critical " ones like safety valves, and then opv, pump later on.


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## NightRave (Feb 28, 2020)

Hey all! Thank you so much for all your help! I DID IT! It works! I'm soooo happy!


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## ArisP (Dec 17, 2019)

NightRave said:


> Hey all! Thank you so much for all your help! I DID IT! It works! I'm soooo happy!


 Congrats mate.

Now it would be nice to make a proper introduction ti the forum, tell us a bit about your weird little machine etc!


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## NightRave (Feb 28, 2020)

I'd love to. My coffee career is almost 15 years. I was in fond of coffee for a while, was lurker on so many forums, subreddits, websites and never had the guts to open up the wallet for many reasons. I tried with used Gaggia Classics, never had much success, had a Pavoni Europiccola lever machine - couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong. So at some point I sold everything I had from the coffee equipment except my Gaggia MDF Grinder and started the waiting game. Most of that time I was living in Dublin, Ireland and last year I moved to Portugal . Weirdly enough, the market of used quality espresso machines here is really bad and it's really hard to find something. I started to look at ebay.co.uk and ebay.de to find something decent used, as I still didn't want to spend 1.5k on a coffee machine. Finally my thoughts began to solidify towards Bezzera BZ10 and I almost got one new when this beast popped up in the local ads for 900Euros. It was quote expensive for me at first, but a) I drove the price down to 750 b) it had automated a lot of stuff.

The point B Was really important to me as with a purchase of the machine I wanted to minimise human (my) error as much as I could. It's a Faema Carisma A1. It looks very similar or is perhaps quote identical to Casadio Dafne A1 (apart from group head). It retails for anywhere from 1.8k to 2.2 euros new. Feature wise it looks very decent. In addition to a semi-automatic e61 brew head where you can program the amount you want o a single/double shot you also have a programmable steamwand where you can set the temperature to start steam/start air/stop air/stop temp altogether ( I'm still figuring this one out in regards to what the best temp is). It has a stops when there is not enough water and I have to say, looks pretty sexy. My piece was in need of descaling and cleaning and couple of gaskets had to be replaced, hot water tap was not running and I managed to clog the grouphead while cleaning, but I am a happy owner of a sexy e61 group and I love it.

Additionally, I recently snagged a grinder. It was advertised locally as a commercial grinder for 100 quid with no further information and a couple of flaky images. All I could tell that it is a some kind of a Rancilio grinder. After half an hour of zooming in it I thought that it actually might be the MD40 which would be a pretty good price for it. Went there, grabbed the grinder (heavy as hell) and looked beneath. It was the MD80!! So I spend the weekend trying to disassemble and clean the years of coffee rests and oils of it, ordered new burrs and not I'm in the process of waiting for them and the setup will be complete!!!


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