Ascaso steel-No steam or Hot Water-Help!

[Jonebarl]

Wondered if anyone has a similar experience. I can't see a fuse anywhere, and have checked all spade connections. Have previously replaced a sloneoid valve on this machine, otherwise reasonable good use over the last 3 years. NB - The boiler/brew water is absolutely fine. It's the Hot water and steam circuit thats gone somewhere.
Thx in advance

[CakeBoy]

The hot water through the brew head is not running? Have you checked your pump?

[Jonebarl]

Hot water through the brew head is working. This is a dual boiler machine with apparently 2 pumps, so could be the pump on the steamer thermoblock is dead, but then I would expect the thermoblock to still heat up, and it isn't. Darn !!!

[GreenBean]

Welcome to TMC Jonebarl. I am sorry you are not getting much help with your problem, I guess this is due to the lack of knowledge of your machine and the lack of clarity as to what exactly the problem is.

I know nothing about this machine and it sounds unusual to me. If you do not have the confidence to check all the elements in the hot water circuit I would suggest you enlist the help of an espresso repair company or a clued up electrician.

The first things to check in the hot water circuit would be the following:

If water is exiting but is cold:

The heater element
Any relay/solenoid switching the heating element
Any over temperature trip - if this has tripped you will see a pin sticking out this would need pressing in to reset the trip

If water is not exiting:

The pump
If the machine has not been descaled recently then check that it is not blocked

[JankSolid]

What GreenBean said.

Can you hear the pump working when you open the steam tap? If not, try checking the lever microswitch in the tap mechanism. If that's not working then the pump will not activate and the solenoid won't open. In this scenario (hot block c/w no water) then the safety thermostat(s) will trip and switch power to the block off.

Even if you can hear the pump buzzing it's no guarantee that it's actually pumping water. The coil and shuttle in these Ulka pumps are relatively robust. It's usually the other parts that fail and they often need replacing after just couple of years. It's possible to rebuild them if you're that way inclined (which I am) but at £20 it's hardly worth it.