Troubleshooting the Top 5 Issues of Qi Aerista Smart Tea Brewer

 

If your 1^st generation Qi Aerista Smart Tea Brewer is having issues, in many cases we just need a simple parts change and we can return them to fully functional again.

Hi everyone. This is Rick from Qi Aerista.

Today I will go over the top 5 reported issues for the 1^st generation Qi Aerista Smart Tea Brewer and ways to resolve them. Let’s start.

 

Issue #1 - Water does not go into the infuser basket

When this happens, not enough water flow is being generated by the brewer.

As a result, the tea leaves will remain mostly dry and water stays in the pot unbrewed.

First, let’s do a couple of checks to verify the cause.

1. Run any brewing program. Do you hear sounds or vibrations during the brewing phase? Normally you should.
2. Pour in some cool water. Pull out the flow tube and run the "Cold Brew" program. Do you see bubbles rise from the oval cavity? Normally you should and the bubbles should be quite strong.

If you hear humming sounds but there are no or little air bubbles, this means the pumping actuator has been turned on correctly.

However, an internal valve may have become blocked and could not generate enough water flow.

Let’s open up the bottom cover of the pot to take a closer look.

Step 1 - Place your pot upside down on a soft surface.

Step 2 - Use a phillips screwdriver to take out the 2 screws.

Step 3 - Hold the pot handle and gently pull down the bottom cover below the spout.

Step 4 - Wiggle sideways to loosen the bottom cover.

Inside the pot, the one-way valve is connected to a short and long rubber tube.

Air from the pump actuator will travel in one direction through the long tube and the valve and exit through the short tube.

If the valve gets blocked, the brewer will not be able to drive water.

To unblock the valve, first remove it from the tubes. Then simply blow into it from each end to open it up.

After reinstalling the valve in the correct direction, your brewer should return to fully functional again.

A blocked one-way valve is prone to future blockages again. We suggest getting a replacement valve from us for self-replacement.

 

Issue #2 - Brewer leaks

When this happens, we would see tea dripping through the pot’s bottom cover some time after a brewing program has finished.

We would need to open up the bottom cover of the pot to check further.

Examine the components below the pot for signs of moisture and tea stains.

If we see fluids or tea stains inside the longer rubber tube, it means the one-way valve has become faulty.

Fluids would go past the one-way valve into the pump actuator and leak out.

To fix the leak, we would need to replace the one-way valve. You can order it on our website for self-replacement.

Also, some water may get trapped inside the pump actuator and lower its flow generation performance.

Click below to watch this other video on cleaning up the pump: 

Once your pump is cleaned and the one-way valve replaced, your brewer should work properly again.

 

Issue #3 - Can’t connect Qi Aerista app to brewer

First, make sure you have entered the Wi-Fi password correctly.

Next, app connection issues are mostly caused by the brewer’s Wi-Fi chipset being incompatible with your router settings.

Check out this video on the app connection process and our suggested mobile hotspot workaround:

If you have a dual-band router, you can also check out this video for more tips: 

Another workaround is the piggyback method shown in this video: 

 

Issue #4 - Can’t start brewing after pressing BREW

First, let’s check the temperature on your Qi Aerista app for any abnormalities.

Our brewer will only work with water that is above 10C/50F because of circuitry design.

If you use cold water from the fridge, you will need to wait for the water to warm up. Then the brewer should start normally.

If you use warmer water and the brewer still doesn’t work, then there could be something wrong with the temperature sensing circuit.

There are 3 possible causes:

1. Bad connection between the pot and the base.
2. Faulty PCBA inside the base
3. Faulty temperature sensor inside the pot

For cause 1, let’s try the following:

Step 1 - Check the upper ring connector under the pot to see if they have become dirty. Use tissue paper or a scrub pad to wipe the rings if necessary.

Step 2 - Connect the brewer and make sure the pot rests firmly on the base for a solid connection before each brew.

For causes 2 & 3, we can use a multimeter to check the following:

1. Place your pot upside down on a soft surface.
2. Locate the upper ring connector under the pot. Check the resistance reading between the center pin and the third ring from center.

If the resistance is around 50kΩ at room temperature, then the PCBA inside the base should be faulty.

If the resistance is infinity, then the temperature sensor inside the pot should be faulty.

For both causes 2 & 3, there is no simple fix unfortunately. Partial or full replacement of the brewer unit would be necessary.

 

Issue #5 - Lid pops up during brewing

When placed on the pot properly, the lid would push down on the spray cap to fully open the slits. This would spray the water better over the tea leaves in the infuser basket.

However, if we have a stiffer than normal spray cap or a smoother than usual infuser side wall, we may see the lid popping up during brewing.

We suggest fully cutting open the 5 slits of the spray cap. It would decrease the upward pushing force and reduce the likelihood of popping the lid.

Slightly pushing the infuser horizontally towards the spout and keeping the upper interior of the infuser dry before brewing would also help.

 

We will further improve our design and it will be much less likely to see these 5 issues and others in our upcoming brewer versions.

In case you need more help with troubleshooting, drop us an email and we will do our best to help.

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Thanks and have a great brew!