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FrancisFrancis X1 Repairs and Servicing
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FrancisFrancis X1 Repairs and Servicing – CraystoneShop
FrancisFrancis francis x1 repair service. We service machines and fix faulty machines. Contact CraystoneShop for repair advice.
Source: www.craystoneshop.co.uk
Date Published: 11/14/2021
View: 3318
Broken Francis Francis X1 Personal Repair Advice …
Seeking troubleshooting advice for personal repair. Full story: I recently got a very old (15 years) Francis X1 machine thats been in storage a good time …
Source: www.home-barista.com
Date Published: 2/24/2021
View: 7309
FrancisFrancis! X1 Espresso Machine DIY Temperature …
I’ve done several repairs to it over the years including fixing leaks, temperature gauge replacement and other minor modification enhancements …
Source: bstassen.wordpress.com
Date Published: 4/20/2021
View: 6451
Francis Francis illy Home Espresso Machine Repair
For external parts for your FrancisFrancis, please call to speak to a technician for confirmation. At this time, we are unable to sell internal parts. To …
Source: saporifineflavors.com
Date Published: 5/1/2022
View: 6387
Should I repair my old Francis Francis X1? Or buy something …
I sent my Francis Francis X1 in for repairs, and learned that it needs a new boiler and a new circuit board. I spent $120 to have it looked …
Source: www.reddit.com
Date Published: 6/6/2021
View: 7924
Francis Francis X1, 1st Generation Repair Help – Coffee Forums
Hi, Have had our X1 for 14 years, and it’s worked great the whole time until recently. … Francis Francis X1, 1st Generation Repair Help.
Source: www.coffeeforums.com
Date Published: 5/19/2021
View: 5007
Francis Francis X1 Repair Manual – Wakelet
… illy francis francis repair, x5 francis francis repair, francis francis espresso machine repair, francis francis x1 repair, francis francis x5 repair …
Source: wakelet.com
Date Published: 6/20/2021
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FrancisFrancis X1 Repairs and Servicing
If you are not using your machine at its best, if your household fuses are tripping, your temp gauge stops reading, you have poor water pressure, you are losing steam or maybe you are leaking water/coffee from the brew head/handle area then your machine would greatly benefit from a service.
We offer a comprehensive repair service, from a basic service to a full disassembly and overhaul. PLEASE EMAIL us at [email protected] for more information and we will reply with all the information to guide you through the process. We also have packing tips and a trusted, low-cost courier – it’s never been easier to get your machine to us.
Spare parts are: group head gasket, o-ring, steam faucet o-ring, expansion spring and mushroom gasket, water inlet pipe, water overflow pipe, cleaning products, lubricants and other related products to do the job.
Labor costs are £50 + VAT = £60 for the service which is excellent value as we spend a total of 5-6 hours on a single machine. The labor fee includes the initial inspection and the dismantling of your machine with the installation of the parts mentioned above. Parts are removed from the machine and disassembled and then cleaned with descaler/wire brush/wire wool/cleaner, this includes both halves of the boiler, steam wand, group head cover, brew head etc. Your handle, tank and drawer are also cleaned. After the conversion, machines are functionally tested, cleaned and polished, they really look great again.
Spare parts for a 3rd gen X1 are £24.17 + VAT = £29.00.
Spare parts for a 2nd generation X1 are £28.33 + VAT = £34.00.
Spare parts for a 1st gen X1 are £32.50 + VAT = £39.00.
So the price for basic maintenance, including labour, is either £89.00, £94.00 or £99.00.
Returns by courier cost £15.00.
Any defective parts outside of the standard service items will be fitted labor free – you only pay for the replacement part as per the prices in the replacement parts sections of our website.
As part of the repair process, your machine will be checked for faults, boiler disassembled, manually descaled, repaired, put through its paces, cleaned, polished, repackaged and couriered back to you at the requested time.
FrancisFrancis! X1 Espresso Machine DIY Temperature Control Repair
introduction
I have a pretty old FrancisFrancis! Espresso machine X1. It’s not a good espresso machine, nor is it particularly reliable, but it looks nice.
I’ve made several repairs to it over the years, including fixing leaks, replacing the temp gauge, and other minor modifications like flipping the European switches to “right side up” and securing the drainage grate, which moved every time , if you wiped it.
The problem
Recently I’ve used it and found that all the lights work but no heat in the boiler. Every time it breaks, I assume something important is broken and not worth the cost of fixing it. Although things are generally disposable these days, I’m happy to investigate the issue just in case I can address it.
First things first, I need an espresso. When my machine is down, I go old school – “oppa cooktop style”.
diagnosis
Time to take it apart and take a look. It’s quite a rat’s nest with wires going in all directions. The first thing that strikes me is the telltale smell of broken electronics—that smell of burned plastic that seems to permeate everything nearby. The second thing that strikes me is that the plumes of smoke from whatever burned have deposited on almost every surface inside the machine. A can of compressed air made short work of this little mess.
After a minute of snooping around, the problem became apparent. Two resistors on the control board went up in smoke. Time for a plan:
– disassemble
– Identify all faulty components
– source replacement
– replace defective components
– reassemble
– Test
Dead easy!
reverse engineering
I reverse engineered the machine wiring and controller PCB. The controller circuit is an analog temperature PID controller design. I traced the component connections and used Microsoft Visio to recreate the schematic. The PDF version of it is available here: Francis Francis X1 espresso machine wiring diagram and wiring diagram.
Description of the operation
As with most espresso machines, there are two temperatures of interest: espresso brewing and steam brewing. The temperature of the espresso brewing in this unit is controlled by the circuit board with input from the RTD thermistor mounted in thermal paste in the boiler probe well. The board uses a triac to control the power to turn the boiler’s heating element on and off. In parallel with this triac control circuit, the steam generation control switch is mounted on the front of the unit. The steam generation temperature is regulated by the thermostat mounted directly on the boiler, which opens at the steam generation temperature and closes at a lower temperature. The thermostat is normally closed so the control board uses a triac to turn the heating element on and off based on a low temperature setpoint controlled by its variable resistor. When the steam switch is on, the control board is effectively bypassed and temperature control is via the upper temperature limit of the thermostat, which opens and closes around its higher rated temperature.
No adjustment can be made to the upper temperature limit for steam generation. It is controlled solely by the boiler-mounted thermostat, which has inherent hysteresis. This hysteresis creates a narrow range of temperatures around the steam generation temperature in which the boiler heating element is turned on and off.
The temperature for espresso preparation can be set. The “blue box with red dot” is a variable resistor used as a rough factory calibration to set a relatively wide range of temperature control. A red glue dot is used to hold it in place and further adjustment should never be necessary. Fine-tuning the actual target temperature for making espresso is done with the other “Blue Box” variable resistor next to it. By playing with this setting, you can adjust the effective temperature for making espresso.
Mysterious Components
The challenge was to identify the mysterious fried components, damaged beyond recognition. I’ve searched the internet and after a lot of trawling through forums and emails to various people having similar issues I haven’t been able to find what the resistor values are supposed to be. Most people with similar symptoms have either replaced the entire control board or threw the entire machine in the trash. A new replacement controller board costs about $100. None of these options are acceptable to me.
Eventually I found an eBay listing for a used control board harvested from a working Francis Francis X5 machine. It seems to be using the exact same controller. This eBay listing included some high quality photos of the board which helped me determine the resistor values. Use resistor color decoding, voilà! The mysterious resistors are 180Ω and 1kΩ.
error analysis
Analysis of the reverse engineered circuit reveals the most likely failure mode: the TRIAC shorted out, which then caused an overcurrent condition in the 180Ω and 1kΩ bias resistors. It’s also possible that the optocoupler has also been damaged.
All four components should be replaced. I now have my shopping list:
[1] 180Ω resistor [2] 1kΩ resistor [3] BTA12-600B TRIAC [4] TLP3062 PhotoTRIAC (AKA Optocoupler)I first went to Active Tech to see what they had in stock and found that they only had the resistors. I bought them and went to Gervais Electronics to see if they had the rest of what I needed. They had an NTE5671 TRIAC which is an almost exact cross reference equivalent for the blown BTA12-600B TRIAC. In this simple circuit application it should work perfectly. ~$25 later I had the main suspect spares but the optocoupler wasn’t available locally. I figured I’d replace the parts I had and test the circuit, hoping the optocoupler didn’t get fried and might still be functional.
design improvements
I had some thermal paste left over from a CPU upgrade in my PC. The blown TRIAC had no thermal paste between itself and its heatsink. Also, the TRIAC did not sit flush on the heatsink because the mounting hole was too close to the bend of the heatsink. I used my drill press to open up the mounting hole to create a little slip and allow the new TRIAC to sit flush on the heatsink. With its newly optimized cooling, it should last longer this time.
I proceeded to desolder the fried parts and solder in the new spares. Luckily, I had “help” because it was difficult to hold the board, desolder components, clear out the PCB through-holes with solder wick, and solder the new parts in there with just my two hands. I put everything back together and fired it up… No boiler heat. I took the cover off and started poking around the circuit with a multimeter to see if I could tell if the optocoupler was actually fried. I measured a forward voltage across the LED side of the optocoupler of ~1.17VDC. I downloaded the datasheet for the TLP3062 optocoupler and found it to be within spec. I then measured the output side and found that there was a constant 120VAC across the optocoupler outputs. That doesn’t sound right. If the optocoupler’s LED is lit, the output stage should also be on and behaving almost like a short circuit with little to no voltage across it. So the optocoupler seems to have blown after all. Since it’s not available locally, I ordered a few off eBay.
SPICE simulation
In the meantime I simulated the circuit using the very functional and free electronics simulator TINA-TI SPICE-Based Analog Simulation Program from Texas Instruments. This confirmed that my reverse engineering of the circuit was correct. Here is a screenshot of the circuit simulation:
TINA-TI simulation
Using this SPICE simulation, I was able to determine the properties of the thermocouple embedded in thermal paste and secured in the custom-made indentation at the top of the brass kettle. It is a negative thermal coefficient (NTC) device with a high resistance rating at room temperature. It’s not a typical RTD as these have a much lower resistance rating at room temperature. Edit: I recently re-examined the properties of the thermocouple device (thermistor) and have now concluded that my original simulation effort was flawed. The thermistor device has a nominal resistance of ~56k ohms at room temperature (21°C) – I know that after simply measuring it with my multimeter. Determining the rest of the properties is left as an exercise when I have more time to relearn TINA TI and proper circuit simulation.
Future possible design improvements
The research I’ve done shows that this is a fairly rudimentary design. I am planning to investigate adding varistors to protect the main circuit input and the TRIAC output. Other potential design modifications being considered are the use of a lab grade PID controller and a solid state relay (SSR) to replace this circuit entirely.
Conclusion
After finally receiving the replacement optocoupler device, I was able to complete the repair, test the circuitry, and end up with a fully functional espresso machine again. This whole exercise proved that with a little persistence and some electronics know-how, it is possible to repair some items around the house yourself. Several other people have experienced this exact error. I hope that in the future such people will benefit from my experience and find this DIY repair guide and be encouraged to repair their own machines. This way you can save a little money, but most importantly improve your skills and get a serious sense of accomplishment.
postscript
Parts Diagram and Parts List:
My favorite parts supplier is Gold Roast Coffee. Here is the X1 Parts Diagram PDF file hosted for your convenience.
Excessive dripping:
Recently my X1 machine was dripping more than usual. A few drips as the machine warms up is to be expected due to the expansion of the water and the small amount of air trapped at the top of the boiler. However, my machine kept dripping.
On the underside of the boiler, in the group head area under the shower wall, there is a valve consisting of a spring and a silicone valve that abuts the boiler outlet at the bottom of the boiler dip tube. The spring is held in place by a custom brass screw that is ported to allow the water to pass through. The spring tension is intended to hold the water until the pump is turned on, at which point the pump pressure overwhelms the source and hot water intentionally spills out of the kettle and into the portafilter.
Over time, this spring will weaken and the silicone valve will deform and wear to the point where leakage/dripping is more than acceptable. These are cheap and readily available parts so I set out to replace mine. This turned out to be a considerable effort as the brass retaining screw in the boiler on my old machine had seized.
I used a Dremel rotary tool to enlarge the tool groove to allow the use of progressively larger and more aggressive tools to remove the brass retaining screw. An impact wrench ended up being used to remove this stubborn screw.
I cleaned the kettle with a brass brush to make sure I didn’t damage it. I also measured the resistance of the heating element. My model is a 110VAC version, so the resistance is ~15 ohms, as expected. 220VAC models should be ~50 ohms.
Overall, the condition of my boiler was pretty good, which is more indicative of the water quality (I use filtered water) than my diligent descaling maintenance.
Post-post-scriptum
Control board versions:
There are several generations of the X1 machine with some notable differences, particularly in the regulation of vapor temperature. My X1 machine uses a medium version of the control board. It only regulates the temperature for the espresso mode. The temperature for steam operation is controlled by a thermostat mounted directly on the boiler.
There are at least two earlier versions and two later versions. A later version has steam temperature control as part of the control board and these machines do not have a thermostat fitted to the boiler.
Thanks to the readers and commenters for providing information and helping other commenters with their specific problems. The following images were provided by commenters:
early version
another early version
my version
newer version with steam control
latest version
Francis Francis & Illy Equipment — Sapori Fine Flavors
Francis Francis Repair by Sapori fine aromas
Sapori Fine Flavors is proud to be the official repair facility for all Francis Francis espresso machines without warranty. We are confident in our ability to quickly and successfully diagnose and repair your Francis Francis machine. Upon receipt of your machine, our goal is to have your machine on its way to you within 20-25 business days of receipt at our warehouse.
We will respond within 2-3 business days with a confirmation email containing your assigned work order number and detailed shipping instructions. By sending us your machine, you agree to our preliminary diagnosis and repair fee of $120. This fee includes machine diagnostics, the first hour of repair, and return shipping within the continental United States. Depending on the diagnosis, repair fees may be higher than our base price of $120. In this case you will be contacted for further approval.
There are some cases where Sapori cannot source an obsolete part for original X1s or X5s. In these cases, the diagnostic fee is only $65.
EXTERNAL PARTS
For external parts for your FrancisFrancis, please call a technician for confirmation. We are currently unable to sell internal parts. To purchase internal parts or for telephone technical support please contact illy directly at 877-469-4559.
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