Hi all,

I'm wondering if you can help me. I rebuilt a Nuova Simonelli Appia with volumetric dosing and I am now at the point where I'm putting it through its paces. I noticed the power button is stuck in the "on" position, a few of the LEDs are not illuminating including the one over the power button, and when I first started the machine the pump motor would continue to run after the autofill probe had shut off the autofill solenoid. I had to unplug the machine a few times to make this symptom disappear. The machine will continue to heat whether the keypad is plugged in or not. All other functions are normal including the pressurestat, it will cycle the element on and off according to boiler pressure.

I was very careful to only remove as many wires as was required to remove the harness from the frame. Everything was labeled, and put back in its proper place. It is possible a wire may be crossed but everything matches visually to the photographs I took before disassembly.

I wonder if anyone knows how I could narrow the problem down to the keypad or control card, and what points to check with my meter. The pump was seized when I bought the unit, so I did not run it up completely before disassembly, but I'm pretty sure the power button worked as it should. Also, is there anywhere I can send either the keypad or control card for repair, or am I stuck buying new units. Thanks very much

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I've not seen a board damaged by ESD in 18 years of working on espresso machines.  And I'm not all that cautious when working on them.   

A few questions-

What's the incoming power in your shop?  

Voltage high or low?  

Could you have dirty power from somewhere nearby?  

How good is the wiring in your shop?

What was the voltage these machines were running on at the previous location?  And how long were they installed  there?   Is the new voltage within +/- 5% of that voltage?  

Do you have a microwave in the shop?  

What about humidity? 

Hi Scott,

Thanks for the interest. I'm not sure what you may mean by "dirty", but I can say that the incoming voltage does not fluctuate here very much. I have repeatedly measured 120V at various plugs in the house, and the machine has not left my shop since new control board, keypad card, and ribbon cable were replaced. Everything else in the house works fine and I have not had any issues. According to the specsheet, the Appia should tolerate voltages of up to 125V.

http://nuovadistribution.com/images/Pre-Installation%20Checklists/A...

The only microwave is upstairs and a safe distance away, and humidity is controlled with a dehumidifier.

Thanks again for your help.

This is a really strange issue and I wish we had something to help you.

Is your neutral pretty solid? Sometimes I run across "loose neutrals" which check fine on simple multimeters but don't really work.

Any chance your ground has a DC offset?

I'm not convinced that you don't have another issue with this machine, though unfortunately it will probably be hard to isolate. I'm thinking a short in some component that sends voltage somewhere it doesn't belong?

Good luck!

So I found a used replacement for my Faema's board on eBa and the replacement board cured the problem. So I'm really not sure what the deal is with my luck with cards, but I don't have another $100 to replace the Appia's keypad again. It looks like hell without all the lights lit up, but I'll have to cut my losses - everything still operates and it is a used machine.

Thanks to everyone for the assistance.

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