Sunbeam EM6910 Repair pointers...

[TampIt]

Hi guys. New to the forum. First time poster.
Just got a 2nd hand 6910. It fires up ok.
Couple of questions.

There is a constant blinking red light near the water window. What does that mean?

How do I know it's up to temp to use? Apart from the one red and 3 greens up top?

Thanks very much.

D.

G'day delishdinesh

"constant blinking red light near the water window": There is a very basic "float and magnet" setup that flashes that light when the water is too low. I have seen several 6910's where the magnet has rusted out and the light is on even when the water tank is full.

Let me know your situation via PM IF the light stays on. I probably have a stray one here somewhere that still works. It is also pretty easy to make your own.

How do I know it's up to temp to use?

A 6910 warms up in about 90 seconds. If you need to pull a shot in less than (say) 10 minutes, just do a preflush "single shot of plain water" through the group (with p/f & basket in place) before proceeding as the rest of the mechanism will not be fully up to temperature. Beats hell out of waiting for 1/2 an hour for a boiler to heat up all the water and still have to preflush it anyway.

Hi Tampit. Newish to forum, 6910 is my first machine. Can I ask for a DVD if you still have them? Happy to pay for post.
Thanks. Will PM you should it be affirmed.

PM sent about DVDs.

Enjoy your cuppa - all else is irrelevant.

TampIt

[stv3]

Hi All,
Just wanted to say a big thank you!
I've had a 6910 for a few months now and had a problem with it recently. I found my way here looking for information on it, and you have helped me fix it
The problem I had was the steam pump was always pumping when the mains power was on, even before the power button was on. I had pulled the covers off to look inside and see what I could find out myself. I read a number of posts on this and other threads here and have learned a lot about my machine. I finally diagnosed it to be the steam pump TRIAC (electronic switch). I took a photo of it and went to Jaycar for a replacement. They didn't have the exact same component but did have a compatible unit for $3.75. I removed the broken one from the 6910 control board (fiddly but not terribly difficult) and soldered in the new one. It worked!! Very happy
I didn't even have any screws left after re-assembly.
$3.75 and several hours (mostly researching) well spent. I've learned so much I recon I could almost be a 6910 fix-it dude. Maybe I'll make it a sideline
Thanks again to everyone contributing here, and I'm glad I've found this forum. Making better coffee is now on the cards.

[steve2222]

EM6910
Steam Wand stopped working suddenly.
Liitle bit of brown water underneath unit roughly where steam pump is located.
Took side panel off unit and the surrounds of the steam pump are rusted.


Wanted to check that it was the pump and not the micro switch that is at fault.
Can get the outer steam knob off, but not the inner plastic that is screwed to the brass spindle - just cannot get the screw to turn.
So I can't get to the micro switch to test it.


With the unit disconnected from the power socket, I took the back off (side is already off) and removed the red and black wire from the steam pump.
I then attached these wires to a multimeter to see if 240v ws registered when the unit had heated up and the steam knob was turned.
But to my surprise the multimeter registered 240v across the pump wires as soon as the unit was plugged in and turned on at the wall ie before pressing
the black power button on the unit and before the unit heats up and the steam knob turned.
Is this expected behaviour? If power is always to the pump how does it only work when the knob is turned? Is it that some sort of pulse is sent over the same wires?


Is there any other way of eliminating the pump or micro switch as being at fault given I can't access the micro switch (I will drill the offending screw out if
I know for sure the switch is at fault).


Thanks

[Xanthine]

Hi Steve
I will make a few suggestions here but it's been some time since I last worked on a 6910 and I could be a bit hazy on the details.
From memory, the active supply goes direct to one of the pump solenoid terminals and is switched to neutral on the other terminal via the control board electronics.
With no load (solenoid) connected there is probably enough leakage through the control board to register 240v across the two ends of the supply wires so this is not a good indication.
With the leads to the steam pump disconnected you could measure across it's terminals with your multi-meter but note that the internal diode in series with it's coil makes this a bit tricky. The meter would need to be set to diode test and 2 readings taken with the probes swapped between each. If the coil is OK one reading would be 0v and the other would be around 1v.

To test the microswitch without removing it you could unscrew the control board and lift it to one side to get to the two leads from the microswitch and measure across them with the meter on resistance range - you should see a change from high to low resistance as the steam knob is opened and closed. There are two pairs of white microswitch leads to the board - one from the hot water knob and one from the steam. I think they are labelled on the board.

If you do any of these tests please make doubly sure the wall mains switch is off and unplugged for safety!!!

By your description it sounds like the pipe connection at the top of the steam pump has worked loose and leaked water down over the pump. This tends to be a common fault with these machines.

Hope this helps.

[swiebenga]

Hey all
First up thanks to all the awesome info on this forum. It's been such a help to do little repairs to my machine and grinder!

So I'm now I'm tossing up what to do. My em6900 was given to me over 3 years ago. So I don't even know how old it is. The collar is worn. I just replaced the seal and water keeps pouring out everywhere. So should I repair the machine myself? I have seen the guide on the forum here and it look straight forward. The pats about $70 or should I put that towards a new/2nd/refurbished machine? I do love this machine but I don't want to waste money if something else goes wrong soon again. I'm thinking about upgrading to the em7000 or the dual boiler BES920.
What do you guys think?

[Xanthine]

Hi swiebenga
If your machine is a 6900 I would not recommend trying to repair it as they are a real PITA to work on compared to the 6910. The casing is quite different to the 6910 and, whilst the internals are similar, there is not much info on the forum for the 6900.
As a suggestion you could try shimming the seal and removing any lipping on the collar if present to see if that helps but in my opinion the 6900 is not worth spending money on.
You may be able to get it working long enough to let you decide what you want to replace it with.
Personally, I am very happy with my 6910s because I have a spare on hand if one gives problems and I am familiar enough with them to do any repairs should they be needed. I am also quite fussy about regular cleaning and servicing, although that is important for any machine.

[swiebenga]

Hi swiebenga
If your machine is a 6900 I would not recommend trying to repair it as they are a real PITA to work on compared to the 6910. The casing is quite different to the 6910 and, whilst the internals are similar, there is not much info on the forum for the 6900.
As a suggestion you could try shimming the seal and removing any lipping on the collar if present to see if that helps but in my opinion the 6900 is not worth spending money on.
You may be able to get it working long enough to let you decide what you want to replace it with.
Personally, I am very happy with my 6910s because I have a spare on hand if one gives problems and I am familiar enough with them to do any repairs should they be needed. I am also quite fussy about regular cleaning and servicing, although that is important for any machine.

Thanks for the info! I feel the same way it's not worth repairing. I'm keeping an eye out for a new/ 2nd hand machine in the mean time.

[TampIt]

Hey all
First up thanks to all the awesome info on this forum. It's been such a help to do little repairs to my machine and grinder!

So I'm now I'm tossing up what to do. My em6900 was given to me over 3 years ago. So I don't even know how old it is. The collar is worn. I just replaced the seal and water keeps pouring out everywhere. So should I repair the machine myself? I have seen the guide on the forum here and it look straight forward. The pats about $70 or should I put that towards a new/2nd/refurbished machine? I do love this machine but I don't want to waste money if something else goes wrong soon again. I'm thinking about upgrading to the em7000 or the dual boiler BES920.
What do you guys think?

G'day swiebenga

Thanks to 5 senses "repairing" my 6910 collar by replacing it with a 6900 one (which does not fit properly and only spent a total of 2 frustrating weeks in my machine before the minor day one leak became major), I actually have a "very near new" 6900 collar. Yours for the cost of postage. feel free to PM me for details / check with Oz Post for postage from Rockingham WA.

I agree with the other posters - not worth spending a lot of money on the 6900 as the 6910 is a much better machine (i.e. can make much better coffee).

Hope this helps.


TampIt

[steve2222]

Update re post #93 and #94

So I bought a new steam pump and fitted that without any problems. Initially the steam wand worked but after a few uses the effectiveness of it weakened. So I decided the machine must have a blocked or clogged artery (pipes) and that caused the heart (steam pump) to stop.

So with reference to this thread: http://coffeesnobs.com.au/brewing-eq...any-ideas.html

.... I first of all tried the solution in post #5 and that worked to start with as I noticed lots of gunk and discolouration in the water. But after a few repeats of this process the wand stopped again. So I determined that there was a real blockage.

So next I tried the solution in post #4 and like that poster I found the top elbow and pipe blocked. But as I did not have a syringe handy I used a version of the solution in post #6. But intsead of using a bucket I just used various lengths of plastic tubing and then sucking on the end to create a natural gravity siphon, letting the vinegar de-scaling solution flow through and do it's job. I first did from the elbow at the top of the thermo-block to the tip of the steam wand (making sure the steam knob is turned to max). I then did from the top to bottom of the the thermo block. I then connected the top elbow and pipe work back up and did one final siphon from the bottom of the thermo block (top of steam pump) right through to the tip of the steam wand.

Problem solved, now got more steam power/effectiveness than we ever have since we bought the unit.

NOTE: do all of this with power disconnected from wall and make sure the unit has cooled down before touching pipies or sucking to start a siphon.

[swiebenga]

G'day swiebenga

Thanks to 5 senses "repairing" my 6910 collar by replacing it with a 6900 one (which does not fit properly and only spent a total of 2 frustrating weeks in my machine before the minor day one leak became major), I actually have a "very near new" 6900 collar. Yours for the cost of postage. feel free to PM me for details / check with Oz Post for postage from Rockingham WA.

I agree with the other posters - not worth spending a lot of money on the 6900 as the 6910 is a much better machine (i.e. can make much better coffee).

Hope this helps.


TampIt

Thanks for offer! Very kind of you. I'm currently on the lookout for a new machine and will buy as soon as the right one comes up. (Hopefully sooner than latter) I'll let you know if I decide to try replacing the collar myself.

[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.

[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.

[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

[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.

[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