Francis!Francis! spare parts anyone?
For the last six months or so, I’ve had my Francis!Francis! (aka FF) X1 espresso machine taken apart and laid out in my work area in the basement, and I’ve known for a while now that the only thing wrong with this overpriced but stylish espresso machine is a faulty thermistor. This little d0-dad simply opens/closes a circuit when the boiler reaches (I think) 125 degrees Celsius. I’ve found some close but inexact matches at various electronic parts stores online, but I would really love an exact match. Anyone know where I can grab some spare parts? (Oh, and I won’t go into the long and dreadful story of contacting customer service for seeking a replacement part and not a full blown repair requiring the whole unit to be shipped.)
May 26th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
can uou find a number anywhere it should hav temp stamped on it somewhere
May 26th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
Yeah, the stamp (somewhat visible in the second picture) says 125 degrees Celsius.
May 27th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
that would be 257 F I see the pic and i see
can you get them to give up any specks it may be possible to find if you can get the exact specs somebody has to make that can you figure the manufacturer out those little signs mean something start calling parts house’s Let me know your progress I think we should outsourse these machines to china and get it over with LOL
June 17th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
hi for parts i found coffetech.co.uk, ther will send diagram of parts list etc or email me ill forward,
having probs my self fitting new therostat it dose not fit replce old one yet differs and fits in an new slot, do i clip the wire and solder??
August 23rd, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Has anyone been able to determine a good source for X1 parts? I have a similar problem with the boiler unit. All I need is the new part for installation. This is really an amazing situation with lack of parts source.
January 14th, 2009 at 6:37 am
Hi,
I found this site to be helpful on another blog this site that has the same parts that FF uses (although NOT “authentic” FF parts, they have many that are exactly the same) they do not have a 125C but they do have a 100C and 140c
http://www.1st-line.net/cgi-bin/category.cgi?item=I374&type=store
side note: can you tell me how to remove the FFX1 steamer dial, so I can remove the top.
April 7th, 2009 at 2:26 am
Was there any more info on the X1? Am thinking of taking mine apart, but cant find any decent info anywhere… or where to get spares!
April 9th, 2009 at 8:06 am
deedee, thanks for that post! I bought the 100C, but as I suspected, I can’t really generate steam from the X1 with that because the boiler shuts off once it reaches 100C. Please let us know if you find a 125C. I’m tempted to try the 140C, but I’d rather not take the boiler past any rating it might have.
RE: remove the steamer dial, you just need a short phillips screwdriver that fits in the hole next to the steamer wand hole. There’s a screw in the steamer dial shaft that prevents the dial from coming all the way out. You don’t need to remove the screw all the way–just loosen it until you can free the dial.
April 18th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
Update: 1st-line.net does have a 125C thermostat, but I’m not quite “there” with a full repair of my X1. Steam works now, but barely–not a lot of force with the steam. Also, the espresso drip head leaks water when the steam wand is engaged–whether or not it’s in steam or hot water mode.
June 21st, 2009 at 2:59 pm
Ive had my francis francis for over 15 years i had a similar probem and I just googled for a tech in my area found one and for $30.00 bucks walla its like new again so try googling the area that u live in and you may get lucky
Stan
June 29th, 2009 at 9:59 am
I own a Francis Francis X6 Trio. It has quite suddenly stopped working. I turn it on, it heats up and beeps to let me know it’s ready to dispense the espresso. However, when I depress the button to start the brewing, nothing happens. Any ideas on how to remedy this would be much appreaciated. Thanks!
November 21st, 2009 at 12:30 am
Empire Fulfilment & Service in Rochester, New York has Francis Francis parts and will send you a parts list. I had the same problem last year and they shipped parts right out to us.
There number is # 877-855-4540
Good luck!
December 16th, 2009 at 10:04 am
My X1 started tripping the circuit breaker. I’ve narrowed it down to the boiler. If I disconnect the current from the boiler, it doesn’t trip the ckt. A whole new boiler is $200 from Empire. Any ideas of what to do next for debugging?
Thanks
December 16th, 2009 at 10:36 am
Joe, I would ask Empire if they sell the boiler element inside the boiler separately. It’s not too hard to open the boiler and take out the element.
If they won’t sell you the element, don’t buy a whole new boiler if you know how to use a drill press. The closest boiler element fit to the original X1 boiler is this one from Saeco, for $50:
http://www.cerinicoffee.com/Heating_element_kit_saeco.asp
Make sure you ask that the include the o-rings. Mine didn’t and they had to send them separately. Probably just an oversight. Also, it doesn’t come with the nuts to secure the element to the boiler shell. I had to go to a local hardware shop to find two nuts that fit the thread. They were a bit large, but they did the job.
The Saeco boiler element is a slightly lower wattage, but I haven’t noticed any significant difference. I got the recommendation and instructions here:
http://www.fixya.com/support/t387142-francis_francis
Go down to “Solution #2″.
If you have any questions, I’d be happy to help.
January 15th, 2010 at 5:46 pm
Deedee, to remove the steam control knob, look for the hole next to the steam pipe — there’s a little phillips screw inside on the steam control’s shaft. Remove that little screw and then the knob will unscrew all the way out.
Good luck!
John
April 29th, 2010 at 12:21 pm
I am looking for a black steam knob for my Francis Francis X1 but I cant find any online shop. Do you know where I can buy it?
August 4th, 2010 at 3:24 am
hello folks! strange to find a francisfrancis thread on a flash site, but none-the-less good. i sent my x1 to a place in seattle a couple of years ago for a new thermostat, and the tech guy called me. he said that while it is a great machine for coffee, the steamer isn’t all that powerful, so it may be frustrating to make good froth. there is a little hole in the steamer wand that he said sucks the milk in to steam, so it should be kept at the level of the milk as it froths. i don’t know if this is similar to other machines, but it does seem to work. the problem is switching from espresso mode to steam mode, as i believe the pressure/temperature changes for the steam. anyway, my gasket is leaking a bit, so i want to find a replacement, which shouldn’t be too hard. does anyone know of a current parts supplier? oh, the other thing that the tech guy said is that he only uses distilled water, so that the boiler doesn’t get calcium and other deposits. i found that just using brita filtered water keeps down the deposits. anyway, happy coffee making!
September 15th, 2010 at 12:16 pm
I just ordered the part from Empire fulfillment. it is a $15 part. I emailed them a while back and they sent me parts manual for the X1. you call them at 1-877-854-4141
the part number is 26 on the list, number 0000013
the manual is in italian and the part name is:
TERMOSTATO BIMETALLICO 125
September 15th, 2010 at 12:22 pm
Here is the link to the parts manual. It can only be downloaded 10 times from rapidshare, so be nice
Francis Francis X1 Parts Manual:
http://rapidshare.com/files/419267648/X1-0A_Parts_Diagram.pdf
You can just give the part number to Empire fulfillment that you need, and they will ship to you.
Cheers!