The S1 Cafe - Helping Your Espresso Dreams Become Reality

This morning I pressed the cup button and my solid three green lights (91-93) turned off an then (94-96) flashed yellow. No brew for me… The frother and hot water work fine. Any ideas guys?

I assume you pressed the two-cup button? If so, then either the flow meter is not working correctly or else your coffee grind is too fine. You can easily check for the latter issue by trying to pull a shot with an empty portafilter. If there is no error when you try that, then your grind is too fine. If the error still occurs, they you either have a clog in the flowmeter or else the flowmeter electronics have gone bad.

Yup, I tried both buttons and it’s the same result without a portafilter in place.

In that case the first thing I would do would be to remove the three screws that hold on the lid to the flowmeter (accessible just behind the front panel). Then check that the white plastic impeller wheel is intact and spins easily. If not, order a new one. If that is OK, then remove the water lines and the screws that attach the flowmeter to the chassis and check for grit, etc. in the in and out ports. If all that looks OK, you might need a new one (lid only, is all you need, if you can find one. Otherwise, get a whole new unit.

BTW: Be sure that the S1 is unplugged and cooled down before trying any of the above steps.

First of all, thank you for your help thus far.

Took out the flow meter and the connecting pipes, cleaned everything . The impeller spun freely, actually surprised how clean it was. It is 10 years old after all.

Put everything back in, plugging it in. Pressed the cup button, again no click and then the flashing of yellow lights then back to green.

Next steps are to replace the flowmeter right?

Don't replace it yet. You mentioned something important that you didn't say originally - "No Click".

That could mean a bad solenoid or a blockage in the 3-way solenoid. You may want to completely remove that solenoid and connect it to a 110V source. If that doesn't make it click, then the solenoid may be bad. I have an extension cord that I cut the end off of and then put crimp connectors on the end just so I can do this test.

When I had a blockage in the output of my flowmeter, I also disconnected the opposite end of the output tube. I think it connects to the 3-way solenoid. Then I stuck the end of that tube into a bucket and pressed the 2-cup button, then almost immediately turned off the flow. If the flowmeter is not the problem, then water will squirt out of that tube.

You can also remove the power cable from the back of the 3-way solenoid, then use and AC voltmeter to check for 110VAC when you press the 2-cup button. This will ensure that the control board is good and can supply power to the solenoid.

Any luck getting your machine working? If so, what ended up being the real issue?