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Breville Cafe Roma water leaking over the edge and driving me crazy

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  • johnhorgan
    replied
    Thanks

    I replaced the seal and it still leaked until I dismantled the base and ground away the spacing lugs( 4 slightly raised circles on the back side of the black plastic in holder) question. As you rightly suggested thanks a lot.

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  • shultis
    replied
    Replacement Parts

    Originally posted by noidle22 View Post
    I recently repaired a cafe roma with similar symptoms. The guy i bought it from said he replaced the group seal with no luck. Being that there's only really two variables, or things that can perish/wear when the group handle is locked in it has to be one of them.
    One is the group seal, the other is the locking collar. Below is a photo of the damage that the machine i had sustained:




    I realize this thread is old, but I came across it, and I had the same issue, after 6 years of flawless coffee. I was mortified at having to spend a couple of hundred dollars on a new machine when this one was so good. I found that ereplacementparts.com has a lot of parts for these machines, and they are very reasonably priced. $5.60 for this piece, and the seals were under $2. They shipped within a business day, (actually they sent me the tracking number on a Saturday), and the seal fit perfectly. I'm waiting for the "Carafe Fixing Seat" to get here so I can start making good coffee again.

    Leave a comment:


  • juani1980
    replied
    Originally posted by avidonline View Post
    I have been looking for the group head seal (steam ring) for my Cafe Roma and note that Big Warehouse sell it for $17.35 (well over over 10% of the price for a new machine!) . It can be bought direct from Breville delivered for $15.00, and I can buy it locally for $12.00, but wait for it, the same part is available from USA for $1.67!! Of course the postage renders it uneconomical, but it just illustrates how blatantly we as Australians get ripped off. Shame on Big Warehouse!
    I have owned a Breville and Sunbeam, and I get my replacement seals from a guy on ebay: eBay link removed per site posting policy

    While still more expensive than the US parts, they do the trick. But recently I've been having the same spurting issues with my Breville ESP8XL. I usually use a single wall basket, but the one I have doesn't have a little ridge around the top (like the Breville double walled ones that come with the machine) which I think could add to the problem of poor contact pressure with the seal. Also I'm thinking that once these replacement seals heat up with the head, they may soften up a bit which could add to the chance of water forcing it's way through. My issue usually comes with the second coffee I do (5 mins after the first, which works fine) so that could have something to do with it. I tried turning the machine off between shots, putting a towel soaked in cold water on the seal, half filling the basket, and I managed to get the second shot out with only a drip of water down the side of the basket holder which is better than the 'POP...SPRAY' that I've been getting! Now to figure out what action helped.

    I'm thinking there could be some way to add some 'spacers' to the three arms on the filter holder, so to make them thicker and push up harder against the seal.
    Last edited by Javaphile; 10 July 2014, 11:48 AM. Reason: eBay link(s) removed

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  • avidonline
    replied
    Originally posted by dub View Post
    thanks for the advice. It makes sense that it's the collar because it's not the seal, and it was OK until quite recently. It doesn't look cracked so I assume the guides are worn, and I've ordered a new one from BigWarehouse. Will post update after I've replaced it.
    I have been looking for the group head seal (steam ring) for my Cafe Roma and note that Big Warehouse sell it for $17.35 (well over over 10% of the price for a new machine!) . It can be bought direct from Breville delivered for $15.00, and I can buy it locally for $12.00, but wait for it, the same part is available from USA for $1.67!! Of course the postage renders it uneconomical, but it just illustrates how blatantly we as Australians get ripped off. Shame on Big Warehouse!

    Leave a comment:


  • VonTimo
    replied
    Originally posted by dub View Post
    It never required a lot of force to lock the filter in place, which I guess means it wasn't a particularly tight seal, and with time things wore down or warped and shifted just enough so it failed under pressure. Anyway, since I now own two brew head locks, I decided to play around with one. Around each of the 4 screw holes there is a 1cm diameter circle that is raised by about 1mm. I guess its role is to keep the collar body slightly apart from the brew head, and maybe there's a reason for that, but since the machine wasn't working properly, and I was on the verge of disposing of it, I thought I'd grind those lugs down. It now takes slightly more force to lock the filter and, touch wood, it's working without spurting water past the seal.
    I had a similar issue in that it would "pop" the seal about half way though a pour, spraying grind and water all over the place. I was on the verge of throwing the machine away when I read this post and thought I had nothing to lose. I dismantled the base and ground away the spacing lugs in question. The portafilter lock now requires *significantly* more force than before. I've done quite a few shots with not a single pressure issue. So, I thank you. You have saved my Cafe Roma.

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  • dub
    replied
    It never required a lot of force to lock the filter in place, which I guess means it wasn't a particularly tight seal, and with time things wore down or warped and shifted just enough so it failed under pressure. Anyway, since I now own two brew head locks, I decided to play around with one. Around each of the 4 screw holes there is a 1cm diameter circle that is raised by about 1mm. I guess its role is to keep the collar body slightly apart from the brew head, and maybe there's a reason for that, but since the machine wasn't working properly, and I was on the verge of disposing of it, I thought I'd grind those lugs down. It now takes slightly more force to lock the filter and, touch wood, it's working without spurting water past the seal.

    Leave a comment:


  • noidle22
    replied
    Originally posted by dub View Post
    installed a new collar this morning. Started pouring OK and suddenly, pop!, started spurting out past the seal again, just like before. I've replaced the seal (twice) and the collar, so there's obviously a third variable. With seals and collars I've thrown away about a third of the price of a new machine, so I'm going to cut my losses.
    That's weird, I would've thought it'd work. I would think the only other possibilities is your group handle has worn or been damaged or the thermoblock itself has warped and as a result has weak points around the seal.
    But yes, either way both those options would be too expensive. You might be able to sell it for parts I guess.

    Leave a comment:


  • dub
    replied
    installed a new collar this morning. Started pouring OK and suddenly, pop!, started spurting out past the seal again, just like before. I've replaced the seal (twice) and the collar, so there's obviously a third variable. With seals and collars I've thrown away about a third of the price of a new machine, so I'm going to cut my losses.

    Leave a comment:


  • dub
    replied
    thanks for the advice. It makes sense that it's the collar because it's not the seal, and it was OK until quite recently. It doesn't look cracked so I assume the guides are worn, and I've ordered a new one from BigWarehouse. Will post update after I've replaced it.

    Leave a comment:


  • noidle22
    replied
    Originally posted by dub View Post
    This is obviously an old thread where the problem seems to have remained unresolved, but I'm getting the exact same problem now...machine worked fine for about a year; you could choke it with too much/too fine coffee and it wouldn't leak, but suddenly it started to. I replaced the seal, but still, as darrend wrote in the last post " It normally runs ok for the first few seconds of the shot before it catastrophically fails with a pop! " So I replaced the seal again, made sure everything was clean etc, and the first couple of shots were OK - nice slow pour with no leakage - then, bam, same thing started happening again!! Very frustrating.
    I recently repaired a cafe roma with similar symptoms. The guy i bought it from said he replaced the group seal with no luck. Being that there's only really two variables, or things that can perish/wear when the group handle is locked in it has to be one of them.
    One is the group seal, the other is the locking collar. Below is a photo of the damage that the machine i had sustained:



    As you can see, the collar itself has developed a split. When pressure is built up behind it, the split widens and as a result the group handle loses firm contact with the group seal. A replacement collar was available from ebay however the listing isn't active anymore. You can get it from BigWarehouse Spares, part number 1649847. It's about $25.

    Check first and see if you can find some damage to the collar on your machine, i imagine there will be a weakness in it somewhere. If it doesn't look like its damaged then the plastic guides that push the group handle up onto the seal may be worn and not supplying enough pressure. If so, the collar will need to be replaced anyway.

    Leave a comment:


  • dub
    replied
    This is obviously an old thread where the problem seems to have remained unresolved, but I'm getting the exact same problem now...machine worked fine for about a year; you could choke it with too much/too fine coffee and it wouldn't leak, but suddenly it started to. I replaced the seal, but still, as darrend wrote in the last post " It normally runs ok for the first few seconds of the shot before it catastrophically fails with a pop! " So I replaced the seal again, made sure everything was clean etc, and the first couple of shots were OK - nice slow pour with no leakage - then, bam, same thing started happening again!! Very frustrating.

    Leave a comment:


  • darrend
    replied
    Re: Breville Cafe Roma water leaking over the edge and driving me crazy

    I also think its the seal. I had it apart again last night and played with it some more. If I place the empty basket against the seal, it sticks to it fairly well (almost like suction). Not sure exactly where you mean by your first question, but yes it is dribbling/shooting out from the top of the portafilter, so I guess the pressure is leaking from the basket seal. It normally runs ok for the first few seconds of the shot before it catastrophically fails with a pop! I ran it last night without a basket attached, and there was no water other than what flowed through the shower screen.

    To answer the second question, to the best of my skills it is flush and installed the same way as the old one it replaced. I dont think its easy to install it the wrong way around. It seems to be seated quite flush, and Ive screwed it in at the centre of the shower screen as tight as I can. There doesnt seem to be any photos or youtube videos that I could find detailing this procedure anywhere, but as far as I can tell, its installed the same way as the original.

    I can tell you this is giving me a serious case of upgrade-itis.

    Leave a comment:


  • Thirteen13
    replied
    Re: Breville Cafe Roma water leaking over the edge and driving me crazy

    yeah that makes sense, id put it at seal then.

    If you look where the portafilter locks in, is it leaking from besides there ?

    Logically thats the only place from that area it could leak.

    The seal is a gasket which takes up the last bit of space between the top of the porta and the machine, so if that seal is not creating a good pressure tight chamber between the porta and the top of the machine/shower screen then its incorrectly operating. Because its been replaced then its possible its not seated correctly.

    I assume you have fitted it the correct way up and its flush ?

    Leave a comment:


  • darrend
    replied
    Re: Breville Cafe Roma water leaking over the edge and driving me crazy

    Not yet, I am sick of wasting good coffee, so I tried several times with an empty basket after the re-assembly. As it now leaks with an empty basket, I havent bothered to try with coffee.





    Leave a comment:


  • Thirteen13
    replied
    Re: Breville Cafe Roma water leaking over the edge and driving me crazy

    did u try like i suggested above ? 1/2 filed basket, then 1/4 filled basket ? Then empty basket ?

    Leave a comment:

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