Sunbeam em7000 fault

[science-teacher]

I recently moved to the sunbeam em7000 after being unsatisfied with my breville bes840 which leaked everywhere and couldnt pull a decent single shot
Anyway, out of the box i had an issue

During extraction espresso leaked out of the part above the portafilter (not too savvy with nomenclature yet)
I didn't mind this until by day 3 it was spurting and making a mess
I emailed through a video to sunbeam who sent out a seal

I've since replaced the seal and had the same fault (not quite as bad at this point)
But i did notice underneath the seal was some grooves dug out of the plastic.

Not sure what to think but sent this pic through to sunbeam, i assume they're going to send me to one of their repair outlets to have it assessed but thought i'd get a 2nd opinion.
Could this be causing the fault?

I'm starting to think i should have gone with a rancilio silvia but i didn't because this is pretty much my first machine

Cheers guys

[Vinitasse]

Try grinding a wee bit coarser

[noidle22]

Not sure if that damage would compromise the sealing. However if the seal deforms up into the gouge when under pressure this could cause a leak at the portafilter.

To try first:

How much coffee do you load into the basket? If it is at all difficult to insert the portafilter into the group head or does not lock into place smoothly, there is too much coffee and it will leak.

Rule of thumb with the Sunbeam machines, where the silver section of the tamper meets the black section, it should sit level with the filter basket rim after tamping. If you can see the silver protruding above the rim, there's too much coffee in the basket. Dose less and retry.

[science-teacher]

Wow fast replies
Yes i've been tamping up to the silver part, and unfornately i've tried a few different grinds to no avail

It happens with the single and double filters and i've tried a few variations on both as i just had family over with 6ish coffees a day

[TampIt]

Not sure if that damage would compromise the sealing. However if the seal deforms up into the gouge when under pressure this could cause a leak at the portafilter.

To try first:

How much coffee do you load into the basket? If it is at all difficult to insert the portafilter into the group head or does not lock into place smoothly, there is too much coffee and it will leak.

Rule of thumb with the Sunbeam machines, where the silver section of the tamper meets the black section, it should sit level with the filter basket rim after tamping. If you can see the silver protruding above the rim, there's too much coffee in the basket. Dose less and retry.

G'day noidle22

As usual, we are 90% in agreement here. FWIW, I do not think that "blemish" should be able to affect the shot at first. Having said that, I would replace the machine anyway under warranty as the seal will flex and damage itself in the longer term.

Wow fast replies
Yes i've been tamping up to the silver part, and unfornately i've tried a few different grinds to no avail

It happens with the single and double filters and i've tried a few variations on both as i just had family over with 6ish coffees a day

G'day lilviss

I am a 2 6910s (one sold to a friend) and 1 7000 owner, all still going strong. FWIW, the 7000 is a delight at home - the easiest to maintain domestic machine IMO.

Your photos: I noticed that the p/f was not even up to the 12 o'clock position in the photo showing the leak. Any 6910 / 7000 I know would leak at that spot - certainly mine would. Overdosing then just makes the leak worse. FYI: the 6910 / 7000 will handle massive (i.e. far beyond sane) overdoses without leaking - not that I recommend it. The "secure firmly" in your photo is meant literally.

I suggest you show this post to SB and get another 7000 under warranty anyway - that blemish is a clear manufacturing fault - albeit one I haven't seen before.

However your leaking issue is probably the showerscreens. They were incorrectly fitted into the seal in the first place. My post http://coffeesnobs.com.au/brewing-eq...tml#post563647 refers to the seal in more detail (6910 / 7000 seal is the same). Look for a tear in the inner circle of the seal - it is the "first line of defence" and is easy to misalign, then tightening the screw cuts the seal. I have seen two friend's machines with that problem "out of the box". SB quality control may not be able to pick that up, as you have to pull the showerscreens off to detect it (or else they are slack, your call). To be fair, SB replaced both seals under warranty without a quibble (as they should).

Feel free to PM me with a photo of the seal from the p/f side, or add it to this thread.

Hope this helps

TampIt