After 6 years my Pavoni needed to be rewired. I use my machine every day so it takes a lot of abuse. The main reason for replacing a wire is that your machine has started blowing fuses on a regular basis. You may even smell that familiar electrical odor. That will be another indication that a wire is going bad. Some wires will show continuity even though they are causing the problem. Look for burned, black or melted spots on the wire or connector. Go ahead and replace a suspected wire, it's probably the cheapest repair on the machine. Remember to salvage the white heat sheathing that is on the original wire. If the original sleeving is in bad shape, look in the LINKS & PARTS section for a source for a replacement 1/4" fiberglass sleeving. I recommend the 1/4" so you can cover the connector as well as the wire. The replacement fiberglass sleeving has a protective silicone outer coat but is still flexible. Another reason for replacing a wire is if you have to go to a different heating element. The replacement element may not be in the same orientation as the original. Wires may have to be lengthened or shortened.
NOTE: Another option for wiring your machine is to use some high temperature wire. This way you don't have to fool around with the sleeving. It might sound like overkill but you probably won't have to replace your wiring as often and it's not that expensive. The source for this wiring is the same as above for the fiberglass sleeving. I would buy the 16 gauge wire, (482F). It is more than sufficient to handle the electrical requirements of your Pavoni. The source I list will sell you the sleeving and wire by the foot. There are other sources out there but I had a hard time finding one that would sell you the wire and sleeving by the foot and they had a minimum dollar order.
The method I use for making up a new wire is a very simple procedure, no soldering involved! I use solderless connectors(terminals), which was the wiring setup in my machine. You need to purchase a combination cutter, stripper, crimper tool. You can purchase a cheap one at any hardware or home center. Don't spend a lot of money on one. The next item you need is the solderless connector itself. You want the kind that is the insulated version. It's a .025 female insulated connector. The connector will be colored blue, which designates it is used on 14-16 gauge wire. It just has a plastic shield around the metal connector. Don't use the uninsulated kind. You want to avoid a electrical shock. You can find all of these items at any Sears Hardware Center, hardware, or home center. The next item is the wire itself. I used 16 AWG copper stranded wire. This wire can be found almost anywhere. There is nothing special about this wire. Just don't use solid wire. It's not good for solderless connections.
The first thing is to determine what length of wire you need. You don't have to be real critical on this. Close is good enough. If you're just replacing a original wire, use the original as a guide. Lay the old and new wire side by side and cut the new wire to the same length as the old. Make sure you allow for the amount of wire that goes into the terminal on each end. Strip off 3/8" of insulation on the new wire on both ends. Use the portion of the crimper tool that is marked 10,12,14,16, etc. This part of the tool forms round holes when it is closed. Choose the corresponding number to what your wire gauge that you have. In this case choose 16, open the handles and leave 3/8" of wire showing on one side of the tool. Close the handles, rotate the cutter around the wire and pull. If done correctly, only the insulation will come off leaving bare wire exposed. Shove one end of the new wire in a new connector till the wire hits the metal stop inside the connector. If you see bare wire sticking past the neck of the connector, pull the wire back out and snip off the same amount from the end of the wire. The object here is not to have any bare wire showing past the neck of the connector. Now with the wire inside the connector, grab your crimping tool. Place the insulated portion (colored blue) of the tool around midpoint of the neck of the connector and squeeze. You may have to exert a little pressure here to get a good connection. You should be able to give the wire a good tug without the wire coming out of the connector. It's probably a good thing to buy extra connectors and practice on crimping. You can crack the connector if you exert too much pressure. If you don't use insulated connectors, use the uninsulated portion of the tool to crimp your uninsulated connector. It's marked on the tool. When you're done connecting one end of the new wire, snip off one end of the old wire and pull off the white heat sheathing. Place the white heat sheathing on the new wire. Now crimp another connector on the new wire. That's all there is to making up a new wire for your Pavoni.
If you had to make a longer wire the sheathing, of course, will not be able to cover the whole length of the wire. Just make sure that the portion of the wire which comes in contact with the heating element is protected. I would recommend buying replacement sheathing in this case. You should not only cover the whole wire but try to cover the connectors also with the sheathing. I won't tell you to make yourself an espresso on this repair because you don't deserve it! This was a simple repair. Remember, if your machine is old, you may not have solderless connections. You will then have to replace the wire with how the original was made up.
Back to the Troubleshooting Section
