How to Repair the Thermal Fuse on an Espresso Machine

Co-authored by Ricardo Mitchell

The "on" light on the espresso machine goes out when you are not doing anything. What do you do now?! Try the steps suggested.

Steps

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It will be held down against one of the massive metal parts of the "boiler". The thermal fuse is ¹ ⁄ ₈ inch (0.3 cm) diameter and half and inch long and looks like a piece of glass, and is usually encased in a plastic insulating tube.
You can't get the electrodes of an ohmmeter or multimeter on the ends of the fuse, so you have to trace the wires back to some metal connection point, and touch the conductivity checker probes there. If the fuse does not conduct electricity, it must be replaced.
Unscrew the clip holding the plastic tube and fuse to the metal part, and pull one end of the plastic tube back as far as you can towards the fuse, and cut the wire from the fuse. If you can't get the tube far enough to see the wire leading from the fuse, try pulling it the other way. Remove the plastic tube and cut the wire on the other side of the fuse.
Go to Radio shack with the old fuse, and buy several (3) new fuses ($1 each) of the same temperature rating (printed in tiny letters on the side of the fuse) , and a bunch of crimping connectors to connect the new fuse wires to the old wires.
Crimp the connector using a proper tool, or pliers if you have not got a crimping tool.
Screw the clip back on so the fuse is held securely against the metal part.
perhaps with the instruction book that you have so carefully saved. You will certainly need them in a year or two.

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There is a significant chance that you will kill yourself if you remove the cover and put a tool into this device while the electricity still plugged in.

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