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EM6910 Steam pump audibly trying, but nothing happens until minutes have passed...

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  • #16
    Hey,

    The group seal seems ok, I took it out, had a look, it doesn't leak, so I'll leave it until it does.

    If, by filter, you mean the bit in the group head that the water comes through, it was pretty dirty and clogged up, needed a good clean to get water to flow through it to begin with (unscrewed the shower screen and took the bits out and cleaned them, and wiped down the bit in there).

    I've also backflushed with cafetto cleaning stuff and it all looks good now.

    In all, I'm super happy with this machine now, for $50 (plus $5 for a microswitch), I have something that's making great coffees, quicker than the old breville Cafe Roma which we were using.

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    • #17
      I got same problem with this machine sometimes I switch it on and it works then sometimes it sounds like it trying to pump but nothing happens. Have had this problem for a while but it getting worse now. I have tried to run de scale through steam wand this morning but it wont pump through. I cant understand the directions without pictures sorry May get DH to take it apart on the weekend to have a look as I cant even get the steam knob off!

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      • #18
        To get at the steam pump you shouldn't have to take the top or knobs off at all, all you really need is the back and side off. So if you open the back door, at the bottom of the hinge is a large screw, that's easy to undo, then the door just comes off. Then there's four screws holding on the plastic back cover (Make sure the POWER IS OFF at the moment, and has been for a few minutes), take that off and you'll see the back of the circuit board in the photo above. Now there's the metal side on the right (the right if you're looking at the back, the side with the steam wand, so left from the front) that you have to remove. It's held on by two screws from underneath the unit at the bottom and one star screw that's up the top that you unscrew from the back. Unscrew these and you can pull the metal side off as otherwise it just hooks into the lid.

        Then, the pump is the blue thing at the bottom in my photo above. It's a pain in the arse to get out, everything is in the way... First pull the water tank out, this closes the valve and stops water just emptying out of it when you unplug pipes. Then unscrew the metal pipe that attaches to the top of the blue pump... this is really annoying as there's a thin pipe that connects to the pressure gauge on the front, and I'm forever thinking I'm going to break it. With that off, it's pretty easy to slide off the escape path plastic pipe that goes in the front top of it, and then you've got the joy of trying to slide it down under the top black rubber piece that holds it and get it out and the bottom pipe off. (getting that one back on is a huge pain in the butt).

        Once you've got it out, you can unscrew the top two screws on the pump and it all just comes apart.

        And all of this I will have to do again as my unit is taking a few seconds to start pumping... so I haven't really 'fixed' the problem. Seeing as I did little more than take the pump apart and put it back together, I'm not surprised. My thought as to the problem is this. The pump works by there's a metal ring holding part of it that is moved up and down by the large coil around the outside of it (via magnetic induction). This moves a portion up and down, with the downstroke pushing a small black thing into the waterpath to block it going backwards, so it only goes one way. And I think the metal ring is getting stuck and not moving. So the coil is being powered correctly (the quiet brr brr brr you hear), but the pump doesn't do anything because the metal ring isn't sliding back and forth.

        So when I take it out again I'm going to properly inspect the path it takes and see if I can maybe sand it a slight bit wider, or if there's a part I can grease (although if it's in the waterpath, can't do that).

        I'll see if I have any useful photos on my phone (I'm at work) to put up...

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        • #19
          Not super useful photos, these were ones I was using to make sure I knew where things went putting it back together.

          Hinge Screw
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          One of the four screws holding the plastic back (the bit there with the label on it
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          The hidden star screw, there's one on the other side too, but to get to the pump you won't need to remove that
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          The Steam pump in situ, with one of the power leads off, I was reminding myself which way they went on.
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          Again, there's 240Vs in there, that pump runs off 240V, so it's not stepped down... so make sure there's no power to any of it while you're trying to get at it.

          I'm hoping to work out a more permanent fix for this pump when I get some time (don't get much with 4 kids and a heap of other projects my wife wants me to be working on)... and I'll photograph it as I go for that too.

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          • #20
            My issue was similar symptoms but in my case it was a clogged boiler.

            I took the boiler in to the local service agent to get him to check it, he checked it, asked me a few details, said it wouldn't be that.
            I asked if he had tried to blow air through it, he said NO.

            He went back and came back with a used boiler for me, NZ$40.00 I was right, but best of all my used boiler was basically new.
            It had come out of a new machine with another fault.

            All is well over 6 months later, and a cup of great coffee every morning, on what has cost me 140 for the used machine with a new boiler.

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            • #21
              Nice work with the boiler (thermoblock), but I know that's not my problem as I've run water through it easily manually, plus it works fine once the pump kicks in... I'm in the middle of attempting to make it less prone to sticking right now, hopefully it'll work

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              • #22
                Ok, here's a quick guide to getting the pump out and 'fixing' it. I say it like that as while mine is working ok again, it takes a second or two for the pump to start, which suggests it's going to get worse and die again eventually. I _think_ I know what the problem is, but am unsure how to fix it properly.

                Here's how you get to it:
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                Undo this large screw that holds the door on, then pull the door out at the bottom and away from the top.

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                Take out these four screws holding on the plastic back.

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                You should now see this. You should NOT be plugged into the power at this point as the back of that circuit board is live.

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                Location of secret star screw. After doing this, I'm actually pretty sure you don't need to take this out just to get the side off... so only do so if you can't get it off.

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                View from under the side, showing the two screws that hold it on...

                Next post will show more.

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                • #23
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                  Just a reminder which screws go where

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                  The view from the side, showing the pump at the bottom. You'll need to unscrew the metal pipe that leads into the top, take off the plastic pipe leading into the top also. Then you can get the pipe off the bottom (I find a flat head screwdriver works well to slide them off) and pop the pump out of the bottom bracket, then lever it down and out of the top bit.

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                  You'll be left with this thing, undo those two screws holding the black plastic portion inside the blue part.

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                  The 'pump' bit. You can see in the middle a little notch. If you hold it at both ends and twist it you can separate the two halves

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                  Then all this stuff falls out.

                  I'm pretty sure the problem lays in a little black grommet behind that white disc (sorry, didn't get a photo). It seems to hold the brass coloured bit to the aluminium coloured bit too tightly, and they're supposed to move back and forth in relation to each other. If I take out that grommet the pump seems to move no problems when put back and powered, but no water pumps (I guess as the seal is lost), so you need the grommet, but just need to to still allow the inner metal piece to slide in and out ok.

                  I put all the pieces in some cafetto to clean them, I tried giving the inner rod a good sand to try to make it ever so slightly thinner... and the pump does work, but still will 'stick' for a second or so before kicking into life when you first turn it on.

                  Maybe someone trying this can work out the real root cause and work out a better fix, because I'd hate to have to spend over $60 on a new pump when this one really seems fine except for that bit of 'sticking'.

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                  • #24
                    Dont take this as a troll, but if you look within the 500-1500 section of the forum, half of the posts seem to be issues with this model machine. I too wasted time and expense on this unit before selling it off for parts on this very website. If you enjoy your coffee enough to warrant the hours you have spent on repairing the 6910, get yourself a decent machine, because you WILL have more problems with the Sunbeam - and I do speak from experience. I now have a siliva which touch wood, is doing well....similar price range....light years better machine.
                    Last edited by tony8028; 2 December 2012, 09:58 PM. Reason: spelling

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                    • #25
                      Originally posted by tony8028 View Post
                      Dont take this as a troll, but if you look within the 500-1500 section of the forum, half of the posts seem to be issues with this model machine. I too wasted time and expense on this unit before selling it off for parts on this very website. If you enjoy your coffee enough to warrant the hours you have spent on repairing the 6910, get yourself a decent machine, because you WILL have more problems with the Sunbeam - and I do speak from experience. I now have a siliva which touch wood, is doing well....similar price range....light years better machine.
                      The Silvia may be better in terms of reliability, but it's a single boiler design, that from what I've seen in these forums, takes forever to heat up, and then takes a long time to switch between coffee and steam temps. Being that the primary reason we wanted a new machine was to have a faster coffee making process when we had friends over, it doesn't fit the bill at all. In the price range we had, the 6910 was the only contender in terms of good coffee at a good speed.

                      So, it's now been running fine for a week after my repair, now doesn't take any time at all to start the steam up, so seems to have settled after my repair. If this things continues on fine now then I have an awesome machine for $55, can't say fairer than that.

                      Also, while you'll see a lot of issues with the machine, I'd love to see the relative number of machines actually out there. If there are but a few Silvias vs many more Sunbeams then you'll always see more with issues just through virtue of how many there are.

                      If it keeps working as it is now, then I'm a happy camper.

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                      • #26
                        Hello I am new to this site .... Looking for a way to net a new post.... I have a sunbeam EM6910 with steam pressure issues, it is maybe 2 years old and over a period of time it has lost steam pressure , just doesn't seem to froth the milk smooth like it used to... With the wand in the bottom of the mug it used to make a high pitch sort of noise... Not now.... Has been in for a repair twice... 2 steam pumps have been replaced and no difference what's so ever ... Can any one help... Please

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                        • #27
                          Originally posted by Aaron4cat View Post
                          Hello I am new to this site .... Looking for a way to net a new post.... I have a sunbeam EM6910 with steam pressure issues, it is maybe 2 years old and over a period of time it has lost steam pressure , just doesn't seem to froth the milk smooth like it used to... With the wand in the bottom of the mug it used to make a high pitch sort of noise... Not now.... Has been in for a repair twice... 2 steam pumps have been replaced and no difference what's so ever ... Can any one help... Please
                          If it's had the steam pump replaced and still has weak steam, sounds like the thermoblock is blocked up with gunk.

                          If so, this can be fixed _relatively_ easily. In some of the photos above, the steam thermoblock is the silver block sitting up high in the machine with a brass connector at top and bottom. If you unscrew the pipes going into both of these and then get a syringe (I used just plastic medicine ones we have for giving the kids medicine) and push through descaling solution of one form or another into the top inlet, with a cup under the bottom one... then you may get it to flush out some crud. Do it a bunch of times, then maybe cover the bottom one and squirt in enough so that it fills the thermoblock up, leave it for 15 mins or so to let the descaling solution do it's work, then unplug the bottom and do a bunch more flushing with the descale, then with just water for a while to clean it.

                          I think this would make your steam path work better.

                          You can also push through descale solution through the pipes to and from the thermoblock as well to see if they're clogged up.

                          It's a complicated machine when you open it up and look at it, but focus on the bits you're interested in, and it's not too bad.

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                          • #28
                            Originally posted by spoco2 View Post
                            If it's had the steam pump replaced and still has weak steam, sounds like the thermoblock is blocked up with gunk.

                            If so, this can be fixed _relatively_ easily. In some of the photos above, the steam thermoblock is the silver block sitting up high in the machine with a brass connector at top and bottom. If you unscrew the pipes going into both of these and then get a syringe (I used just plastic medicine ones we have for giving the kids medicine) and push through descaling solution of one form or another into the top inlet, with a cup under the bottom one... then you may get it to flush out some crud. Do it a bunch of times, then maybe cover the bottom one and squirt in enough so that it fills the thermoblock up, leave it for 15 mins or so to let the descaling solution do it's work, then unplug the bottom and do a bunch more flushing with the descale, then with just water for a while to clean it.

                            I think this would make your steam path work better.

                            You can also push through descale solution through the pipes to and from the thermoblock as well to see if they're clogged up.

                            It's a complicated machine when you open it up and look at it, but focus on the bits you're interested in, and it's not too bad.
                            Take care with this advice, the thermoblock is aluminium and I don't believe aluminium reacts well with some descaling solutions.
                            I'm sure others will correct me if I'm wrong.

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                            • #29
                              Originally posted by Yelta View Post
                              Take care with this advice, the thermoblock is aluminium and I don't believe aluminium reacts well with some descaling solutions.
                              I'm sure others will correct me if I'm wrong.
                              The manual says both thermoblocks are stainless steel lined, so I think it should be fine.

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                              • #30
                                Originally posted by spoco2 View Post
                                The manual says both thermoblocks are stainless steel lined, so I think it should be fine.
                                Fair enough.

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