Can't blame you there. I thought I might be the only one repairing a home espresso machine. There must always be good coffee.
So much so I have at least two units of the same stored as backup. Almost thought that was "it" for the one in use, due to a single fastener failure. Good thing stuff still occurs to me, otherwise perhaps "it" for me, as it hangs in there for another 5 years; me drinking a Cadmium laced brew twice a day...
Now I am laughing! I also have exact back up units. Have repaired this little guy more than once. The key for me though is not to ask too much in the way of pressure from this unit. Grind slightly coarser. And of course, get great beans.
FWIW, I have had my grinder for 35 years now. Um yah, it has a crank on the top. Expensively made in Germany. Works perfectly.
FWIW, I have had my grinder for 35 years now. Um yah, it has a crank on the top. Expensively made in Germany. Works perfectly.
Had a customer return of item not working.
Powered it up and it worked fine !
So left it on for 10 hours occasionally pressing a few buttons to check it was still working but was fine.
Twisted pcb a few times to see if bad connection but it was fine.
So returned it and not heard back so hoping no news is good news.
Powered it up and it worked fine !
So left it on for 10 hours occasionally pressing a few buttons to check it was still working but was fine.
Twisted pcb a few times to see if bad connection but it was fine.
So returned it and not heard back so hoping no news is good news.
I'm not a fan of pods. They're an environmental disaster and the selection of coffee is pretty limited.
I use a burr grinder and a French press. Six scoops of beans into the hopper, twist timer. Dump grinds into French press and pour hot water over. Wait four minutes. I usually get dressed or answer my first email of the day while the coffee is brewing. To me, that's not a monumental task.
I used to roast my own coffee. I had a drum roaster that could roast about 500 g at a time. That was fun. I made some really, really good roasts with that but I also made some tasteless charcoal. By the time I stopped the coffee selection had improved in the stores so I could get a consistently good medium roast.
But getting back on topic. The last thing I repaired was a Carver C-1 preamp with a scratchy pot.
The graph below shows the output voltage with 1 V RMS applied at the input as the volume is turned all the way up then all the way down. It's pretty obvious what the issue is here.
This is the same measurement after the repair.
Much better.
Tom
Ya there's something to be said about being able to have a consistently good cup of coffee in about a minute. It also reads a code on the cup and tailors the brewing properties so that's nice.
And the CAN be recycled, it's just a pain in the behind.
FWIW I used to get coffee from a local coffee roater that only dealt with fair trade, ethically sourced organic roasts but getting the same cup twice was almost impossible, especially since I was using a percolator at the time.
I've also repaired my coffee machines a few times over the years but the current one is too new to need it and so far only needs descaling. I'm lucky as my brother is a coffee roaster (retired chef, doing this in retirement) and works for one of my school mates, so I have a good source for coffee, although I do try many others.
https://www.leafbeanmachine.com.au/
https://www.leafbeanmachine.com.au/
New battery terminals on the Suzuki Grand Vitara. Much cursing as non-captive nuts disappeared through the engine bay into the grass.
It may seem minor, but yesterday charging the truck battery as a sort of maintenance keeps things in check. I do this in tough weather and as routine too. My brother on the other hand, got buy a new battery two weeks ago after only 3 years of use. I am betting that it just needed charged.
I hope that i have repair my washing machine again!
Miele novotronic W149.
No start,flashing "start led".
Pushing start nothing start 😞
Looking at the main board i found a leakege capacitor 220uf close to the step down converter.
Input to the step down is 20V and output must be 12V.
It was 5V.
Replacing the capacitor voltage is 11,87V
Unfortunately,no start again.
Behind the drum it is a mechanism for drum parking.Inside this, apart from others, it is a small toy motor.This motor is faulty.The faulty motor is a short circuit(this appears to eat 2A).
The rest of circuit is a promixity sensor TDA0161 and two platine position switches.
This mechanism is for the drum parking with the door in the up position.
As soon as this 12V voltage power all the relays, nothing happen when press start because the faulty motor short the voltage.
I have disconnect the voltage from this toy motor and power this via a bench power supply.
Pressing start ,all good now!
All? Not exactly,you need to open the external door by hand using the emergency cord and to rotate the drum manually but at least you can wash now!
Miele novotronic W149.
No start,flashing "start led".
Pushing start nothing start 😞
Looking at the main board i found a leakege capacitor 220uf close to the step down converter.
Input to the step down is 20V and output must be 12V.
It was 5V.
Replacing the capacitor voltage is 11,87V
Unfortunately,no start again.
Behind the drum it is a mechanism for drum parking.Inside this, apart from others, it is a small toy motor.This motor is faulty.The faulty motor is a short circuit(this appears to eat 2A).
The rest of circuit is a promixity sensor TDA0161 and two platine position switches.
This mechanism is for the drum parking with the door in the up position.
As soon as this 12V voltage power all the relays, nothing happen when press start because the faulty motor short the voltage.
I have disconnect the voltage from this toy motor and power this via a bench power supply.
Pressing start ,all good now!
All? Not exactly,you need to open the external door by hand using the emergency cord and to rotate the drum manually but at least you can wash now!
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That's what I eventually used, although the little magnet kept jumping off the end of my screwdriver and attaching itself to the bodywork. :-/
My old Isuzu truck rarely gets a start these days due to rust. I consider charging the two 12 volt batteries an annual maintenance task.
I had to have my sewer cleaned out again. For some reason, my house has 2 sewers; one for the kitchen sink and one for the rest of the house. It's the kitchen sink sewer that has needed cleaning out twice since I've been here.
My buddy came over to help me. I had all the tools ready (or so I thought) and had made room in the storage room to work (or so I thought). The cleanouts opened up with a 5 foot cheater bar on a chain wrench. The drain was completely stopped. My buddy worked the snake up into the pipe from the lower cleanout. I held a bucket under the cleanout while he snaked through the pipe. He had one arm in the pipe up to his elbow when the dam broke. What a friend! It was like Niagara Falls of black, stinky, disgusting water. Of course the bucket wasn't big enough.
He scooped a few bucketfuls of black, disgusting sludge out of the pipe and put the cleanout covers back. What a satisfying feeling I had when that pipe opened up. I cleaned up in the storage room this morning and hauled a whole bunch of junk to the alley.
My buddy came over to help me. I had all the tools ready (or so I thought) and had made room in the storage room to work (or so I thought). The cleanouts opened up with a 5 foot cheater bar on a chain wrench. The drain was completely stopped. My buddy worked the snake up into the pipe from the lower cleanout. I held a bucket under the cleanout while he snaked through the pipe. He had one arm in the pipe up to his elbow when the dam broke. What a friend! It was like Niagara Falls of black, stinky, disgusting water. Of course the bucket wasn't big enough.
He scooped a few bucketfuls of black, disgusting sludge out of the pipe and put the cleanout covers back. What a satisfying feeling I had when that pipe opened up. I cleaned up in the storage room this morning and hauled a whole bunch of junk to the alley.
My home made voltage tester made from 2 digital displays like those in a bench psu. Only one lit when I turned it on so I suspected a flat battery.
Sure enough, one of the batteries had died, the blue display draws more current than the red one, so fair enough I replaced the battery. I gave it a final test before screwing the case back together. All good.
Tried to switch it on after reassembly… the power switch had broken, it was one of those tiny dpdt toggle switches from China rated at 125Vac at 3A. I have a few spares so no problem. I took it apart to see where it had failed and it was just the little plastic toggle that operates the leaf in the switch had come loose.
Having seen the internals, i dont think i’d ever use one of those above about 15V!
Sure enough, one of the batteries had died, the blue display draws more current than the red one, so fair enough I replaced the battery. I gave it a final test before screwing the case back together. All good.
Tried to switch it on after reassembly… the power switch had broken, it was one of those tiny dpdt toggle switches from China rated at 125Vac at 3A. I have a few spares so no problem. I took it apart to see where it had failed and it was just the little plastic toggle that operates the leaf in the switch had come loose.
Having seen the internals, i dont think i’d ever use one of those above about 15V!
Just a tip for those doing repairs: A good set of pipe cutters is perfect for opening older can capacitors when you want to re-stuff and preserve the original look.
