Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Breville Barista Express - Steam From Group Head

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Breville Barista Express - Steam From Group Head

    Hi,

    My ~2 year old Barista Express has never missed a beat until recently when I noticed a burnt coffee smell while I was steaming the milk. It turns out I'm getting low pressure from the wand and there is steam coming out the group head. The pressure from the wand is still enough to steam the milk, albeit slowly, but the issue with the steam out the group head is annoying and if I have the portafilla in the coffee gets burnt.

    It seems like it must be a leak in a seal or a hose somewhere, so wondering if anyone has any advice or guidance..?

    Breville support referred me to a local repairer but I'd rather have a go at it myself if it's something relatively straightforward.

    Thanks for any and all help.

    Jack

  • #2
    This is caused from flakes of scale being stuck in the solenoid valve that controls water flow through different parts of the machine.

    Try descaling the machine first by cycling 75-100ml of descaler through the group head, hot water tap then the steam wand. Only switch it to steam for a few seconds, enough so that a jet of water comes through but not so long that it starts becoming steam.
    Once this is done, switch the machine off and wait 10 minutes.
    Turn the machine back on and repeat the process. Do this 5-6 times or until the descaler is consumed.

    Try the machine again and hopefully the problem will be solved. If the problem persists, the blockage will need to be manually removed which requires machine disassembly.

    Also to note, it's possible that the symptom will reoccur within a few days. This is usually because some more scale has flaked off and made its way into the solenoid again.
    If this happens, run another descaling procedure. Generally the second time clears up the rest of the scale and you should be right to go.

    For the future use of the machine, you should change the resin filter in the tank and run the descaling procedure every 3 months.
    The other, better option is to use quality filtered water or rainwater, this will minimise or eliminate scale from building up again.

    Comment


    • #3
      Thanks very much - Yeah come to think of it a good clean and descale would be well overdue. I'll give that a go ASAP..!!

      Comment

      Working...
      X