Mini is leaking

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Abnuceals

Mini is leaking

Post by Abnuceals »

Hi,
Since a couple of days, I have an intermittent leak on my 30 months old Mini Vivaldi. The puddle is on the left side, at the back of the machine. I noticed that water was flowing when machine was not necessarily in use (pump not running). And this morning, I noticed that water was not hot at all when flowing. It indicates that water is flowing directly from the tank, no ?
Now that I know that, how could I know if the problem is on the tank side or on the machine side. If the problem is only with the rings (part 586), I will change the threes. I saw in the parts catalog there was one ring on the tank side and two outside.
Am I the only one who had this problem or is it a fairly common issue with the Minis ?
Thanks in advance.
caf4brains

Re: Mini is leaking

Post by caf4brains »

I've had this problem before. The issue was that the tank outlet did not quite meet up with the water line going to the pump. Possible fixes are to push the tank in harder, slightly bend out the tab that hold the fitting that accepts the tank water outlet (not too much!) or get the longer fitting from Chris' Coffee.
LDT

Re: Mini is leaking

Post by LDT »

My Mini has an o-ring seal at the back of the tank. I lubricate it with a food-safe lubricate and so far have not had an issue with leaking, but it is important to push the tank all the way back.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk 2
Abnuceals

Re: Mini is leaking

Post by Abnuceals »

Thanks. I will begin by checking and lubricating that part.
richardcoffee
God Shot
Posts: 172
Joined: Tue Dec 07, 2010 4:59 pm
Location: Michigan City, Indiana

Re: Mini is leaking

Post by richardcoffee »

You might be interested in this posting. This ended my experience with a leaking tank. At the beginning, I found a big puddle of water under my sink. I had called a plumber thinking I had a leak under there I couldn't find. Then, something made my set up a chair in the kitchen and I sat there and watched the mini unplugged but with a full water tank. Sure enough, there was a very slight leak, which over the course of a day amounted to quite a lot of water. I replaced the o-ring at that time and stopped the leak, but then I had this experience. It suggests to me that just because you are not leaking doesn't mean you have completely solved the problem. In the end, it seems to me, I still wasn't getting good feed to the boiler.
richardcoffee wrote:This is the letter I sent to Chris' Coffee along with my Mini when the steam boiler failed a week or 2 before Christmas:

"My wife turned it on this morning at 5:30. When I got up at 7 the machine had turned itself off with alarm lights 19, 20 and 21 lit. I turned it back on with the boiler off and the brew boiler got up to temp fine. I drew a shot and then called you and spoke with Roger. He suggested I turn it back on and watch the right pressure gauge to see if it moves - and also suggested I try to draw some steam. I fired it back up, once the group was up to temp, the boiler light started to blink - 5 minutes later I got the same alarm - lights 19, 20 and 21. The pressure gauge never budged and I tried the steam lever but there was nothing there. Roger then had me see if I could press the reset button on top of the steam boiler - but it wouldn’t move. That’s when Roger suggested I need to send the machine back to you as it’s probably the heating element in the steam boiler."

It was, in fact the heating element. Tim from Chris' called me on Jan. 16 to tell me they had replaced the steam boiler, the steam boiler sensor and the nipple that pierces the water reservoir. They suspect the nipple wasn't going in far enough, thus, as I understand it, causing insufficient water flow to the boiler. (In fact, from the time I got the machine, it was always somewhat difficult to get the drip tray back in place after putting the water reservoir back - that is no longer a problem.) All covered by warranty - except for shipping both ways. I wish I lived closer to Chris.

I got this machine new in early February, 2011. It is back in 1st class shape and I'm glad to have it back. I missed it.
Abnuceals

Re: Mini is leaking

Post by Abnuceals »

It appears that food safe grease was not enough to stop the leaking. I hope it is not the boiler's heating element. :-( A service guy from Espressoplanet told me it was probably the safety valve behind the tank. I will order and change the part before further investigation.
southpaw
Latte
Posts: 21
Joined: Sat Mar 16, 2013 6:21 pm
Location: Southampton UK

Re: Mini is leaking

Post by southpaw »

Is the longer nipper for the water tank a standard la spaz part or is this a Chris coffee special?
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