My machine has been sent away as it wouldn't dispense coffee - you could hear it grind the beans - the expert has said that the board is "gone" as it has had water on it and will cost $450 to repair!!. I have beeen advised by another source that this is a known design fault with these machines around 2 years ago - the same age as mine -The machine has been descaled everythime it flashes and wouln't have made more than 500 cups overall. Your thoughts ? Thanks Wendy

More than likley its not the board. 3 things can cause this to happen depending on whats happening.
The only way the board can get water on it is to have a leaking hose or manifold but the board could be cleaned unless its has shorted, but then you would have had smoke coming out of the machine.
1. Brew unit. To check the brew unit, push the scoop button and then any coffee button. If you get water dispensing your brew unit is good. If nothing you have a clog in the brew head and just need to clean it.
2. The grinder is grinding too fine and is backing up in the grinder passage between the grinder and the doser. Open the big knob in the bean hopper to the max (18), now turn the small knob to the minus (-). If it works, turn the big knob back down, but only when its grinding, or you will break the grinder. Turn it down to a # that is a couple larger than what you had when you had the problem.
3. There is no design flaw in these machines. Its all in the set up. If they are set up correctly they will work forever, if taken care of. I got mine in 2004 and makes between 6 and 10 cups a day.