Has anyone had any luck cleaning out one of these when they clog up please?
Mine has been slowing down for a few weeks and today it stopped passing water through it completely.
There is a metal filter which unscrews but cleaning above doesn't unclog the machine at all. Even though I can smell white vinegar coming through the central hole.
Or is this unit otherwise sealed?
The unit is about six months old and every day I use it, I push a cop of water through an empty portafilter to clean before turning off.
Try Clorox . It cuts the oils that are a byproduct of brewing . I use it to clean my filter basket and pot , the parts that only see watewr get a citric acid flush when things slow down . Do you have hard water in your area ? If so , CLR is your friend .
Thanks, I will try the Clorox. The problem with CLR is that if you start to put it on internal parts, it is impossible to get the taste of the CLR out again
The clean water is helping clog by leaving minerals behind. Go to the appliance department and by the coffee maker accessories there will be cleaners you can use. In the future, use them on a regular basis to prevent clogging. Maybe every two weeks or so.
Depending how bad it is, you may need a few doses to get it going.
IDK, from everything I've seen, vinegar is as powerful as any of the specialty cleaning products. And those typically rely on citric acid, which you can buy at Walmart where they have canning supplies. The advantage to citric acid is that it has no odor or much taste.
He says he can smell vinegar coming through the hole, but how much is actually coming out? If it's working it's way through, either vinegar or citric acid will work. Heating it up helps too. Or it could be he has another problem, eg failing pump.
I think it is the sort of chat session which identifies key words and feeds you pre-arranged solutions you could find in the quick-start guide. But I doubt the chat sessions are equipped to know even what a metal filter abov e the portafilter is!
I think probably around 2 thimble fulls of vinegar came out but at least th ey fed through under intense heat. I kinda expected it to cause more to flu sh through over time but it didn't.
I probably have some DipIt somewhere left over from when I was trying to cl ean out my Gaggia Classic, when people told me not to use it 'cos it is too strong
Mostly calcium and magnesium salts like carbonated and soluble as acetates. They make soaps like Ivory ineffective by precipitating it but a lot of bath soaps are sulfonates and more effective in hard water. Hydrochloric acid cleaners may be used in porcelain bowls but can attack metals.
My wife uses bottled water in her Keurig even though our well water tastes fine because our water shows sediment on standing.
I use a regular old Mr. Coffee with well water and never clean it except pot and coffee filter holder. Some people would regularly use vinegar.
On Wednesday, June 27, 2018 at 9:32:57 PM UTC-4, Amanda Ripanykhazova wrote :
alcified deposits from time spent in London!
You could also have a pump problem. Has the sound changed from what it used to sound like? Does water flow from the steam wand, if you can do that on that model? These use a vibrating pump, often an Ulka and the pumps can fai l, get something stuck in them, etc. If this came on suddenly, it's more li kely a pump problem than a clogging problem, imo.
Most likely a script reader who enters your model number and problem in the company's knowledge base software.
The guy or gal you'd be chatting with/talking to is most likely a part time or contract person working at home, maybe in Bangalore- or worse, in a call center in a prison ;-)
These days, many companies let you access a scaled down version of their knowledge base directly on their website,
ed to sound like? Does water flow from the steam wand, if you can do that o n that model? These use a vibrating pump, often an Ulka and the pumps can f ail, get something stuck in them, etc. If this came on suddenly, it's more likely a pump problem than a clogging problem, imo.
It hadnt occurred to me that the pump might be at fault. It still makes a p umping sound though it does sound a bit strangulated. Which I ascribed to s ome sort of blockage?
Anyway, pity the unit isnt serviceable in any way. It isnt particularly exp ensive but when it works, if it gets to high enough a temp, it does quite o ften make good coffee
Yeah, as to the chat "options", I have never come across one that knows muc h more than is already in an owner's manual.
used to sound like? Does water flow from the steam wand, if you can do that on that model? These use a vibrating pump, often an Ulka and the pumps can fail, get something stuck in them, etc. If this came on suddenly, it's mor e likely a pump problem than a clogging problem, imo.
pumping sound though it does sound a bit strangulated. Which I ascribed to some sort of blockage?
xpensive but when it works, if it gets to high enough a temp, it does quite often make good coffee
uch more than is already in an owner's manual.
What makes you think it's not serviceable? There aren't any obvious screw s to take it apart so you can get inside? I'm sure how easy it is, whether you can get parts varies, but I'd think it would come apart so you could get to the pump and other components.
I'm in the process of rebuilding my 25 year old Saeco Classico. Very easy to service. It had a pump problem that started with loss of crema maybe a year ago. About a month ago, the flow went from normal to barely any very suddenly. I too first suspected it might need cleaning. So, I ran several cycles of citric acid through it. First couple came out cloudy, a little yellow. That decreased and about the fifth time it was close to clear. No improvement in flow. So I concluded it had some scale, but that wasn't the problem.
So, I wound up focusing on the pump and that's what it was. The pump has an o-ring on the piston and it wears over time, so that it no longer seals. And these pumps have to develop ~150 psi for espresso. I found a suitable o-ring. Then upon more investigation, I found that the solenoid coil that drives the pump was conducting in both directions. It has a diode in the coil, it's only supposed to conduct for half the AC cycle which drives the piston forward, then it comes back in the other half cycle when there is no current. I put a diode in series externally and it made a huge difference, it went from pumping 400ml with no restriction to 650ml, which is spec. But it still wouldn't develop the high pressure. The new o-ring fixed that, it's now producing both volume and pressure.
While googling about it, I found many people have similar problems, some just a small debris gets in the pump and jambs a check valve, taking it apa rt and cleaning it fixed it. It also depends on what pump it is. The only one that I saw people easily taking apart, servicing, fixing, used a pump m ade by Ulka, which is a common one used in a lot of machines. If it uses one of those, it's very easy to dissassemble the pump, just two screws. And if you need a new pump they are ~$32 to $40. But it depends on what pump yours has. If it's some other pump, then IDK.
Those are relatively exactly my symptoms Loss of pressure/crema, slowed fl ow, stopped flow, no obvious blockages. absolutely no resuscitation when (l ots of) grounds cleaned off internal channels and metal filter. It's the p ump. But this dumb unit takes proprietary screws to dismantle!!
AND your experiences are mine as well!! I used Gaggia Classics and Babys fo r a few decades and was always dismantling that solenoid, that rubber ring, that pump, that always-corroded ally boiler which constantly fed black all y bits into the water! In the end I gave up after I realised that however many units one bought (I was up to three!) the coffee was always inconsiste nt unless one did major surgery costing as much as the whole unit on instal ling a PID unit.
So I moved onto these Mr Coffee units which are almost as inconsistent as t he Gaggias
SIDENOTE: This morning I tried to press into service a backup Gaggia Coffee . All it did was buzz and refuse to prime!
On Thursday, June 28, 2018 at 10:29:15 AM UTC-4, Amanda Ripanykhazova wrote :
flow, stopped flow, no obvious blockages. absolutely no resuscitation when (lots of) grounds cleaned off internal channels and metal filter. It's the pump. But this dumb unit takes proprietary screws to dismantle!!
Are you sure they are proprietary? If you post a pic somewhere we could take a look. Even if they are security type ones, you can probably find a driver that doesn't cost too much. I have a Harbor Freight set that has a lot of different bits for all kinds of weird screw heads.
for a few decades and was always dismantling that solenoid, that rubber rin g, that pump, that always-corroded ally boiler which constantly fed black a lly bits into the water! In the end I gave up after I realised that howeve r many units one bought (I was up to three!) the coffee was always inconsis tent unless one did major surgery costing as much as the whole unit on inst alling a PID unit.
ee. All it did was buzz and refuse to prime!
Maybe I've been lucky with the Saeco. 25 years with no big problems, until now and even this for ~$50 for o-rings, a new brew head gasket, new spring and valve for the head, rebuild kit for the pressurized portafilter, etc it will be like new again.
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