Hi there. One of my customer got brown water inside the gauge in a Simonelli Appia. Have anyone see this before? Or would know what’s cause of it? Thanks.
1 Like
A critical bad care of the steam wand( but it would be more yellow than brown and stincky when you use it) or a pretty old filter cartridge.
I wonder how would water leak into gauge at the first place.
Water in the steam boiler freely travels into the gauge. So there’s likely contamination in that boiler due to either a) milk siphoning up the steam arm (not sure if the appia has an anti-vacuum valve, but I assume not), or b) the water coming into the machine is tainted.
Thanks Matt, that’s very helpful.
This happened to us as well with a LM Linea 2gr.
Shortly after we began seeing this, and after much purging and re-freshing of the water it continued.
Turned out that the heating element was on its way out, and started to seep. It lasted about 2 weeks before finally calling it quits. If the machine is any older than a few years, I would have one of these elements on hand…just in case it is the same problem.
In our case, water out of the ‘tea’ tap would taste extremely metallic. We were drinking the heating element.
Nothing to worry about, just burnt milk. I’m guessing your not steaming your milk right. Always close the steam wand after you take it out of the milk. If this only happened once then don’t worry about it but if it keeps happening then close your machine. Let it cool down. Then open the drain screw to drain the tanks. That should fix your problem. But like i said gotta always remember to close the steamwand after its out of the milk. If you dont do this this problem will keep happening. I read one of the guys actually had a bad heating element which was coming out of the water. That is possible but very very rare. usually if the heating element is about to go bad then it simply stops working and you will know because your machine wont heat up. Anyways that my two cents. I thought I give my opinion since I’m a certified espresso tech from many companies. Have been in the business for the past 10 years. So this is something I live and breath everyday.
I think we need to clarify what we mean by the word “Gauge” By my read, you are talking about the pressure gauge with the two pointers that give you the pressure of the steam and brewing pressures, correct? It seems the responses you are getting assume you are referring to the sight glass. I will play devil’s advocate here and assume you are referring to the actual pressure gauge.
I have run into two instances in the past year where I have found a pinhole in the bourdon tube inside the gauge allowing steam to enter the gauge works and condense, filling the gauge with water that eventually turns brown from rusting out the metal parts inside (the dial and two screws inside are steel the rest is brass and copper). One was with a Simonelli Appia, the other was with a Linea 3/EE. Both use the same style of gauge from the same manufacturer, but with co-branded dials. The only resolution is to replace the gauge assembly. If your machine is still in its warranty period (2 years for NS) and you are a qualified dealer, you can request warranty coverage for this repair but it would be wise to check the pH of your incoming water to ensure bad water is not dissolving the metals in your machine. Good luck
1 Like
when is the last time you had preventative maintenance? The old school Nuova Simonellis didn’t have vacuum breakers/anti suction valves and had issues with milk working its way back into the boiler. It can become a bacteria factory.
Another thing it could be is that it could be a filtration issue. i’ve seen prefilters and carbon filters caked up with dirt and debris hit a critical mass then tear which allows sizable amounts of dirt and debris enter the boiler.
I hope its the latter
1 Like
