Help needed...faulty Fracino Little Gem in Africa!

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Help needed...faulty Fracino Little Gem in Africa!

Postby goodjuju » Mon Mar 11, 2013 1:52 pm

Hi everyone,

Happy to join your forum!

I recently helped a friend of mine set up the first coffee shop in Liberia, West Africa. In September last year I brought out a new Fracino Little Gem one group semi auto (needed to be hand fill, use a normal power supply, low frequency etc). Unfortunately, it has stopped working, and being in Liberia, there are no espresso machine technicians within a thousand miles, so it's up to me to try and get it going again!

The machine turns on. If I turn on the switch as if to pour a shot, the vibration pump goes on and water comes out of the group head. However, the water is cold, and according to the gauge, there is no pressure at all. Nothing appears to be burnt out, and the connections are secure.

Does anyone have any advice to offer as to what could be wrong? I'm concerned the element could have stopped working. I read elsewhere that some machines have a cutoff it if overheats. Does the Little Gem have this?

Any help greatly appreciated. It's quite tragic to have lugged the machine all the way here, be producing the only good coffee in the whole country, then for it to stop working!

Thanks
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RE: Help needed...faulty Fracino Little Gem in Africa!

Postby bruceb » Tue Mar 12, 2013 6:11 am

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Firstly, good luck on getting the machine working. It shouldn't be too difficult. You might look here. There are a couple of .pdf files that may be helpful.
Secondly, contact Fracino. Explain your circumstances. In the past they have been very helpful to owners of their machines.
Finally, I would be surprised it the machine did not have an overheat protection. It is usually on the heating element near the electrical connector and is a button that you push back in. Please don't open the machine without first pulling the mains plug. The heating element sticks out of the boiler and is not difficult to recognise. Again, good luck and keep us informed or ask more questions here. We have a number of members with Little Gems.[/url]
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Postby CakeBoy » Tue Mar 12, 2013 8:52 am

Welcome to TMC Googjuju :)

As Bruce said, safety first at all times. My first thoughts are also safety cut out or heating element. There are certainly references to it having a safety cut out in the machine description on various retail sites.

I too would contact Fracino. Rob at Pennine (linked by Bruce) is a member here and is extremely knowledgeable.

Does the machine have a two position on/off switch rather than a three position with pump only and heat/pump? This seems to suggest so and appears to be offering instructions as to initially filling an empty boiler without subjecting the element to heat without water. Presumably you know and did that? I only link to it only in case the element has been subjected as a potential indicator if it has subsequentl failed or the cut out has activated. Of course, if the power supply is in any way unstable the same could occur. Was your friend using any form of filter on the power supply in case of spikes?
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Postby goodjuju » Tue Mar 12, 2013 10:56 am

Bruceb and Cakeboy, thanks for your input! Thus far I have had no luck getting a response from Fracino, though I have emailed a few different addresses.

I think it's a two position switch, if I understand what you mean by that correctly (there is only on and off)! The initial setup instructions supplied were followed, and the machine has worked well for six months.

I'm interested that unstable power supply could be a factor, as in Liberia, the power supply is variable (and it's possible it was hooked up without a voltage regulator). Is what you're saying that it's possible this could damage the element or trigger a cut out? I've looked at the boiler, and also the Fracino parts system diagram. It appears to have a "safety valve" (which i assume is a different thing) but no cut-off re-set switch as in Rancilio Silvia etc. This would suggest the element is bust.

Are there any particular dangers with removing an element to check? I know this should be done by an expert, but there are none within thousands of miles. I'd read that you can check resistance of the element using an ohmmeter to check if it is faulty? Is there any other check? (I don't have a meter where i am).

Thanks once again for your inputs! Any more thoughts greatly appreciated.
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Postby CakeBoy » Tue Mar 12, 2013 11:34 am

You could remove the side panel and have a look at the element. It is okay if you have no power connected but it is also unlikely that you will diagnose a faulty element visually. A multimeter would certainly have been the way forward. I would be really surprised if there was no thermal safety mechanism and even more so if it had no switch. You could try sending a PM to RobC of this forum. He is at Pennine Coffee and Tea. He is also very helpful and knows these machines well.
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Postby GreenBean » Thu Mar 14, 2013 10:16 am

Hi Goodjuju, welcome to TMC. :D Without specific knowledge of your machine it is difficult to diagnose the exact problem without further investigation. As Bruce and Cakey have said, you would be best getting specific advice from Fracino or Pennine.

Without any knowledge of your machine I would say that the problem could be:

1. Heating element over temperature safety cutout tripped.

2. Your machine may turn the heater off if it detects a low water level in the boiler either because the level is low or due to a fault in the circuit.

3. The heating element has failed.

The most likely are 1. or 3. Without specific advice for your machine the only safe way to proceed is to unplug the machine from the mains, disconnect all the heating element terminals and measure the resistance of each element with a multimeter.

There are methods that could be used to test the element without a multimeter but they are either very dangerous if using mains voltages or more complicated that purchasing/borrowing a cheap multimeter. If you really can not source a multimeter you could remove the heating element from the machine and take it to an electrician or electronics repair shop or even a motor mechanic may well have a multimeter.
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