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

[Xanthine]

It's common for these machines to leak from the pipe fitting at the top of the pump. This seems to be caused by vibration from the pump working the fitting loose and also damaging its o-ring seal. Before replacing the pump you could try cleaning it up, drying it out and replacing the o-ring. Also keep in mind that a faulty steam switch (behind the steam control knob) can cause intermittent steam production. No sound at all when you turn on the steam can be an indication of a faulty switch (or burnt out steam pump solenoid coil) but a very quiet "brrp-brrp" sound usually indicates a sticking piston or valves in the pump.
Good luck with your repair.
Trev

[Aphyosis]

Just chipping in, have managed to pull apart my 6910 thanks to this thread. Have had intermittent steam issues for months (not starting for a few seconds, weak steam, water leaking from under machine). Haven't had time to get into it and it was still working, so I've left it. Anyway, pulled it apart and found the leaking water has caused heavy corrosion on the bottom of the blue part (I assume houses the coils?) Was hoping to clean it out, but I think a whole new pump is in order. Still cheaper than a new machine!

Descale the thermo while I'm in here and hopefully I'll be on my way with the new pump!

[hoarie]

Thanks for sharing guys. My sunbeam was in storage for about a year and a half. Was working when I put it in there put had the no steam coming out issue. The pump was trying though. I was able to fix it up using the comments here, mine was pretty much just past the steam wand and I was able to get a bit of wire up there.

Thanks Guys. Now it is out of our house, so we are happy, and making coffee for some other lovely people.

[rawill]

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.

Well funny thing on sites like this is you usually only get the "bad new stories".
"Good news stories' don't get told so here is one.
My early 6910 did between 6-7000 shots before I got it with a blocked steam thermobloc, a near one for $40.00, a magnetic low water float switch, a new thermocouple, and 1000 shots later it is still going fine, its only issue is a small drip from the hotwater spout when I am stretching milk.

A naked P/F and VST basket later and I am a happy chappy.
If it fails and I can't fix it I will get another one or go for a 7000.

Just sayin

Robin

[Gerry1]

Hi

Ladies & Gents, can I start by saying thank you very much and that this and other posts have allowed me to successfully repair my EM6910. But unfortunately not until having first paid over $400 at the local Townsville Sunbeam authorised repairer. Unfortunately out of extended warranty and even though I took it back numerous times he could not fix it. He would go past the pump and suggested I had put something other than water through the machine.
Anyway, moving on.
My problem ended up being a blocked Thermoblock. On another post, can’t seem to find it again to thank him, the author said to let the machine heat up for 5 min, turn off & un plug. As quickly as possible remove one of the wires from the Thermoblock heating element, heating element is at the bottom of the Thermoblock and I found the top wire the easiest to access, then turn the machine back on. This allowed the preheating to be bypassed and descaling solution to be pumped through the steam side without converting to steam. Note that steam will first come out until it cools down.
Although this didn’t fix my problem altogether it helped for a short period. I ended up going down the same path as Stewart4 buy disconnecting the top and bottom pipes to the Thermoblock, filling it with descaler and flushing it out numerous times.
In all it took me two days on and off but I’m now enjoying a great coffee as I write and the machine is working as good as it did day 1. Without this post to get me started on the right path I was looking at $850 for a new machine.
Thanks again.
PS. Had issues typing this on the site so had to revert to a word doc. The site can’t keep up with typing, and I’m no speed typist.
Cheers

[radsdau]

... The final key was to include cleaning the somewhat 'hidden' pressure relief mechanism in the steam pump's horizontal outlet. Unscrewed the white plastic retaining grub screw that sits in the outlet pipe (it has a slot and a small hole in it), removed the spring and valve it retained, cleaned it all out, re-assembled, gave it one extra turn to tension the spring slightly more (I turned the screw ~ ten revolutions), and voila!

Pressure relief plunger
[ATTACH=CONFIG]8943[/ATTACH]

Pressure relief outlet
[ATTACH=CONFIG]8944[/ATTACH]

Thank you- same for me. After a full teardown of the pump (and replacing the top / main seal because it leaked) the steam was back, but crappy and surging like crazy. Cleaned up pressure relief (the rubber seat was built up and not sealing well), and increasing the tension a touch, it works like a bought one.

One tiny trick which I'm not certain was necessary but I'm pretty sure it helps, is to apply the **slightest** smear of food-grade silicone grease to the seals before they went back in, and the sealing surfaces (pressure relief valve seat, & spring valve inside). Very slight- almost wipe it right off with a tissue afterwards. Molykote or Stella or similar.

Totally stoked. Thanks for your help all.

[noidle22]

A service tech I spoke to confirmed that cleaning solution should NOT be run through the steam system. The reason is the boiler is very hot (150-190degC) and the solution vaporises on contact, not removing scale, and also leaving a residue that can do more damage than you are trying to solve.
If you can, either have the machine off and manually apply power to the pump to run cleaner through while cold (the flush with clean water before turning back on), but this can be a bit dangerous.
Otherwise somehow disconnect power to the thermoblock and run it through normally with no heat- probably equally as dangerous.
Don't do either of these unless you are a licensed electrician of course.

Not sure what descaler he's using but running descaler through the thermoblock at the coldest setting and fastest pump rate has always been very effective for me. It cures light to moderate scale but can't deal with bigger blockages.
I've soaked a thermoblock in descaler once and regularly cycled it through the water passage but it never really got any better.

hi guys,
l'm new to this. I have a Sunbeam em6910 which l have had since new about 3 years ago. It started playing up the other day, when l turned the power on as soon as it heated up it would start trying to press coffee out. Nw when l turn the power on, it blows the safety switch.... Any thoughts ??
Thanks..
Andrew

Your 3 way solenoid valve has split which has leaked water down onto the control board, shorting the pump triac. The leak will have gotten worse and leaked out onto the 240V terminals of the solenoid. Once you have water pooling across live to earth then the RCD will trip.

You will need a new solenoid and triac, both of which should be fitted by a qualified technician.

[radsdau]

The manual says both thermoblocks are stainless steel lined, so I think it should be fine.

A service tech I spoke to confirmed that cleaning solution should NOT be run through the steam system. The reason is the boiler is very hot (150-190degC) and the solution vaporises on contact, not removing scale, and also leaving a residue that can do more damage than you are trying to solve.
If you can, either have the machine off and manually apply power to the pump to run cleaner through while cold (the flush with clean water before turning back on), but this can be a bit dangerous.
Otherwise somehow disconnect power to the thermoblock and run it through normally with no heat- probably equally as dangerous.
Don't do either of these unless you are a licensed electrician of course.

[alexm1]

Andrew, the symptom you describe is a shorted triac on the main board. Had you done any work prior to this occurring? If the PCB gets damp it can cause the triac to start, drying it out with a heat lamp or simply leaving in the sun will often fix it if dampness is the problem. If the problem just started with no potential for dampness on the PCB then the triac is likely faulty. There are old threads with the part number for the triac, if you are not comfortable working on the PCB then time for the repair shop.

[radsdau]

hi guys,
l'm new to this. I have a Sunbeam em6910 which l have had since new about 3 years ago. It started playing up the other day, when l turned the power on as soon as it heated up it would start trying to press coffee out. Nw when l turn the power on, it blows the safety switch.... Any thoughts ??

Hi Andrew- this sounds like an electrical fault; the safety switch could be saving you from experiencing nasty volts. Could be an element or coil or some other component shorting to ground somewhere. It probably won't be easy, but to find it you'd have to unplug each electrical item at a time, to find out the offending beasty. It may be easier to unplug it at the circuit board end; the outputs are marked on the PCB IIRC. It could even be the PCB assembly.
Good luck, let us know when you find the culprit.
Rhys

[radsdau]

Success! I took the steam pump out, unscrewed the top two screws and pulled out the center portion that moves, and then from that pulled all the bits out and gave them a bit of a clean, although nothing looked dirty. Put it back in the machine and we now have excellent steam with no delay. It'll take me a while to trust it, but it looks good :-)

Congratulations- that's a huge win! I'll be doing the same by the looks of things.

I know this sounds a bit poor, but do you have any hints for getting the top section off this thing? I spent about 30 minutes trying to pull it down but couldn't find the trick. (EM6910, to be sure, to be sure).

TIA
Rhys

[Peej]

You have some patience there! Hope everything is still working well for you. Thanks for the pics as this is the same model as my broken one and my new one, which thankfully was only $55 locally. My old and then broken pump was very weak and had incredible back pressure that ended in the tray. I'm sure more info like this can help others since this seems to be an unfortunate common problem in the EM5910.
Sigh, now I have to keep working on my grind and tamp instead. Wish there was an easy fix for this, haha.

[garryk]

EM6910 Steam Pump disassembly

Stainless pump piston, showing little plastic valve in closed position at the end of the pin


The valve is spring-loaded inside the pin.



Note the o-ring inside the pump end cap (sits behind the white teflon washer)



Separated pump body


All the dismantled pump components (except the pressure relief valve)

[AndrewW64]

hi guys,
l'm new to this. I have a Sunbeam em6910 which l have had since new about 3 years ago. It started playing up the other day, when l turned the power on as soon as it heated up it would start trying to press coffee out. Nw when l turn the power on, it blows the safety switch.... Any thoughts ??
Thanks..
Andrew

[garryk]

Ok, so I seem to have successfully resolved the problem, after following instructions provided by noidle22 (legend!). Thanks also to spoko2's great pics and guidance!

The problem was the steam pump, which I ended up fully dismantling, cleaning, and re-assembling, which gave me some steam back. But not enough. The final key was to include cleaning the somewhat 'hidden' pressure relief mechanism in the steam pump's horizontal outlet. Unscrewed the white plastic retaining grub screw that sits in the outlet pipe (it has a slot and a small hole in it), removed the spring and valve it retained, cleaned it all out, re-assembled, gave it one extra turn to tension the spring slightly more (I turned the screw ~ ten revolutions), and voila!

Stoked! Back to the coffee making!


Pressure relief plunger


Pressure relief outlet





Valve on spring inside stainless pump pin



Pump parts laid out