Sunbeam EM6910 Repair pointers...

[Moph]

Why on earth would you want to steam for two and a half minutes?

Because it takes around that long to steam milk for our two morning lattes - 450mL milk in a 900mL jug. It was still a little shy of target temp at 2m 35s mark.

No, it's not the perfect way of doing it. Yes, that's probably too big a jug and too much milk for the EM6910. But for our morning heart starters it's convenient and makes a pleasant tall latte without any fuss.

I make our evening lattes in smaller glasses using around 300mL milk in a 600mL jug. Much better texture and taste but also more time consuming and a smaller volume, so not what works for us in the morning rush =)

[LeroyC]

Why on earth would you want to steam for two and a half minutes?

[Moph]

Another interesting note - have had the machine running without covers for the last day just to check everything is working and that there aren't any leaks, and I found that the machine would turn off completely without warning after steaming for several minutes. I could switch it back on immediately and it would continue to work, but then switch off again several minutes later.

The timing seemed pretty regular so I timed it and it was around 2m 35s from start of steam operation to shutdown. After scratching my head for a while I realised that the only thing that was different to usual (other than me poking around in its insides) was that I didn't have the rear plastic cover on ... and in my case that cover has a rare earth magnet glued to it to overcome the usual defective low water level detector. So the low water warning was active while I was testing the machine.

Popped the cover back in place, ran the steamer and had no issues. Went for 4m without error before I turned it off.

TL : DR If you have low water warning active, the EM6910 will switch off after 2m 35s of steaming. Clear the low water warning and you'll be back in action.

[Moph]

Just noting something here as I haven't seen it mentioned yet - if your EM6910 develops a loud clicking sound when using the hot water wand or pulling a shot, being a click that is so fast that it's almost a hum, it's probably gunk in the solenoid valve. Mine developed a nasty sound over the last couple of weeks that didn't improve with cleaning or descaling, so I stripped it down and identified the solenoid as the cause.

Took the solenoid out, pulled it down and gave it a thorough clean. Put it all back together and it's back to normal. I assume the gunk was preventing the solenoid plunger from going completely 'home' when operated resulting in it hammering rapidly back and forth causing the racket.

[bluey]

That was me. It was really just an experiment to see if it worked which it did. Not really practical unless the noise really gets to you.

Nobody really commented wanting to know more but the like/dislike ratio is pretty bad so I assume people wanted more information, would have helped if they told me.

The tube isn't a Sunbeam spare part, it was a spare hose from my stock that I'd salvaged from some other machine a while ago.

Is your machine broken in some way and that's why you wanted to do the mod?

Sure looks practical. Had a huge problem trying to figure out which part was new from the video. I presume the damper screws on the pump. Then the piping needs to be rejigged to fit. I'd prefer to stick with the copper. Just want to try to make the noise quiet down. A much more expensive and bigger and heavier machine makes more noise and not much better coffee than our old still working krups!

(Is the noise discussion better off here? http://coffeesnobs.com.au/brewing-eq...of-em6910.html I prefer to keep old threads alive for continuity but some mods don't like that.)

[noidle22]

That was me. It was really just an experiment to see if it worked which it did. Not really practical unless the noise really gets to you.

Nobody really commented wanting to know more but the like/dislike ratio is pretty bad so I assume people wanted more information, would have helped if they told me.

The tube isn't a Sunbeam spare part, it was a spare hose from my stock that I'd salvaged from some other machine a while ago.

Is your machine broken in some way and that's why you wanted to do the mod?

[bluey]

Google found me the EM6910 Service Technician Training Manual (Feb 2007). It is watermarked from the site. Missing pages 31-48 (exploded diagram and circuit diagram), but they are in the "service manual". The Sunbeam manuals are the worst product service manuals i have ever seen, but they are better than nothing, slightly.

Found a you tube video - a guy put the EM7000 noise damper assembly on EM6910 and replaced the copper pipe with flexible nylon tube (white). Doesn't show exactly which parts are needed or how it goes together. The EM7000 service manual shows the noise damper assembly part.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RosUDdQ-6s

[Magic_Matt]

You can get the syringes from a clean needle program.

Now that's a good idea - I use syringes when bleeding the brakes on my bikes; I've been turned away from several chemists with looks of disdain in a single day before!

[Peej]

I thought I would offer a suggestion. When I was fixing and descaling my machine I used clean syringes and tubing (which were free). Depending on what part I was flushing and drawing out of, I used 5, 10, and 20ml syringes. These are called "luer lock" syringes and they have the exact size to use on copper tubing and the thermoblock. I also used what are called "winged infusion" needle tips, for the tubing not the needle (the needle can be cut from the tubing). You can get the syringes from a clean needle program. I also used a s**t load of vinegar, demineralised water and citric acid since from all the posts that warn against descaling products. When I had the steam section cleaned out and reassembled, I used a small amount of descaler followed by quite a few paranoid filtered water flushes.

I hope this post makes sense over a crazy cat lady!

Penni 😊

Ps. Much kudos and appreciation for those contributing to the EM6910 threads be they questions, advise and / or tutorials not to mention the pictures 😇. I for one now can use mine pretty confidently knowing how they work under the hood. 👍👏

[steve2222]

A number of posts (not just in this thread) suggest using a heavy duty de-scaler on the Thermoblock.

I would not be using the steam pump to move the de-scaling solution through the Thermoblock, instead I will de-couple the pipework from both ends of the Thermoblock and use plastic tubing and a small external pump to get the de-scaling solution into the Thermoblock.

Would this product be okay: Hillmark - Products - Descalers & Degreasers Range - Scalex

Appreciate I will need to run plenty of clean water through after de-scaling.

[TampIt]

Hi guys just wondering if anyone could help with what is seemingly an easy problem. Been wanting to clean the internals of my steam wand as i'm convinced it's at least partially blocked with scale (despite running scale solution through it). I bought one of those skinny brushes but for the life of me cant figure out how to remove the steam wand end (as i've seen that people do it to get the brush into the wand). I've tried using a spanner etc to pull it off and it wont budge.
Will be eternally grateful for the help

Put some Penetrene (the real anti corrosion one, not the imitators) on it every day for two or three days (try it every day to see when it frees) - it will work its way in and remove the corrosion / gunk that fixes the wand in place. Comes as a spray or little squirt bottle. Indispensable for all such sticky parts.

Tampit

[Xanthine]

Hi cj13
Th nozzle should simply unscrew.



If yours has not been removed for a long time it may take a bit of force.
You will possibly also need to grip the steam wand with pliers to stop it from turning, but use something in the jaws to protect it.
The photo shows an earlier model nozzle - the later ones are bullet shaped and do not have spanner flats.
The thread is a standard RH.

[cj13]

Hi guys just wondering if anyone could help with what is seemingly an easy problem. Been wanting to clean the internals of my steam wand as i'm convinced it's at least partially blocked with scale (despite running scale solution through it). I bought one of those skinny brushes but for the life of me cant figure out how to remove the steam wand end (as i've seen that people do it to get the brush into the wand). I've tried using a spanner etc to pull it off and it wont budge.
Will be eternally grateful for the help

[steve7]

I don't see this problem listed so here goes. I bought a second hand 6910. I have 2 now. This one has a an issue with building pressure. The gage barely goes into the yellow arc and vibrates a bit during the pour. It doesn't develop any crema and the coffee is pretty average. I noticed it hisses a few times out the tray while warming up. My original machine does not do this. I've put a couple of tablets through the head and a reservoir of solution through as well. No effect.

Just reading back through these - and I have read Xanthine's reply. The calcifying of the plumbing can be a big issue in dropping performance

I had a problem with my machine surging and I was coming to the view that the pump was going. At first I thought the grind was too fine and that's why the pump was struggling, but backing off the grind just made dirty water.

After looking at the posts and videos on the new Decent Espresso machine, I suspected it was channelling. The graphs that show up on their machine demonstrate channelling (pressure drops, channel closes, pressure goes back up) - although it is micro because they have a better grinder than my Breville. They made the comment about the quality of the grind, tamping and pre-infusion. Their machines pre-infuse at low pressure for up to 12 seconds.

I tried doing that manually on my 6910 - let it pump for about three strokes (making sure I primed it before putting the portafilter on) - let it sit for 5-10 seconds and then run the shot.

Without a change in anything else (same grind, same tamp), I now have no - or very little surging. It is probably placebo, but it seems to taste better too.

The other thing I do is I do is make sure the grounds are distributed evenly across the basket by stirring with the thermometer probe as the grinder drops the grind into the basket and then try to even out the grounds.

[NicCusack]

I have a similar problem with my EM6910. Using the advice on this excellent site I have tracked it down to the copper pipe that connects the thermoblock to the steam tap. I see you advise using descaler and a wire. I can soak the pipe in descaler (the pipe is completely blocked) but I cannot force a piece of wire down the tube, it always stops at the right angle bends.
Using normal multistrand electrical wire I can navigate past the the bends and have determined the blockage is just past the rigt angle bend after the Thermo block connection and is blocked for about 50mm.

Other than waiting for the descaler to get in there and do the work is there anything else I can do?

I do not see the copper pipes available for sale anywhere either.