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6910, newish problem, leaky group handle

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  • 6910, newish problem, leaky group handle

    Hi Team,

    Well Ive been making reasonable flat whites. Texturing skim milk still leaves me cold, but therein probably lies the issue...........

    I have a new problem with my 6910. Ive been playing a little with the grind of my beans, trying for a finer grind, stronger brew kind of stuff. Anyway its fairly particular Ive found. If I go to fine it simply refuses to "flow". Hitting the single cup button it makes all the right noises but I finish up with a 10 ml shot..............

    Todays issue is REALLY annoying. I keep getting "coffee" pouring out from around the sides of the group handle. VERY messy, VERY annoying.................

    Yes, I leave a 3 mm gap from the top, maybe more. Yes, I "think" Im locking the group handle in properly, its centre or even slightly R of centre. Yes, I clean the grounds from the top of the group handle before insertion. The machine is only a few months old, so SURELY my rubber seal cant be shot yet..............

    Any thoughts? The one thing Ive never had checked is my tamping, and really have no idea if Im being too heavy handed. Is it possible to "over work" the group handle with a tight coffee grind mix?

    TIA.

    Cheers, darky......................

  • #2
    Re: 6910, newish problem, leaky group handle

    You need a courser grind.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: 6910, newish problem, leaky group handle

      One thing I realized when i had my 6910 was that the group head seal doesnt hold the portafilter very well. It takes awhile for the seal to actually soften up and hold the handle in better. When the machine was new(PF locks in the middle), when the pressure shoots up to about 2oclock on the gauge, water/coffee leaks out of the sides like you described. the problem was solved when I let the machine heat up a little longer till the group seal was slightly warm/soft which then allows you to lock your PF a little more to the right. That way, it seals better. Or grind a little coarser!

      Hope that helps

      Gav

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: 6910, newish problem, leaky group handle

        Yep, Gav is spot on there

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: 6910, newish problem, leaky group handle

          Plus on the 6910 the handle goes quite far right and not in the centre. Its almost a 5 oclock position if you look from the top.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: 6910, newish problem, leaky group handle

            When I first got my machine I had a few gushers out of the top of PF, and I mean gushers,.. I wore it several times,. and it was up the walls and all over my machine. I am pretty sure looking back now,.. that a couple of times this happened because I choked the machine by having the grind too fine. But there was also a couple of times when I think I didnt have the PF handle locked in far enough to achieve a proper seal needed.

            At first the PF handle was quite stiff and getting it locked in to the centre point (the position Sunbeam recommend, and say a new seal is needed if it locks further right)was hard to do with my girly wrist :,.. however now,.. if I leave it centre it will leak a little and I now lock it quite far to the right. On the GH, where it says "secure firmly",..then a little black arrow,.. well I lock my PF in so that the left edge of my PF handle is dead in line with the tip of that black arrow. I bought mine mid Jan,.. and who knows.. most likely it sat in a box for some time before it reached me, and the seal has deteriorated. It says in the book the seals need changing every 12months so its possible that even though our machines are only a few months old to us,.. the seal is probably due for a change.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: 6910, newish problem, leaky group handle

              unless you follow sunbeams cooffee tecnique, coarser grind, mid field extraction then the line doesnt mean a thing

              with all machines insert pf, pull till firm, if it leaks pull a bit tighter, with sunbeam when handle hits the stop and doesnt seal, replace seal.

              the life of your seal will be determined by
              how much you use it
              how clean you keep it
              how fine you grind
              how much you updose
              whether you leave pf locked in

              graham

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: 6910, newish problem, leaky group handle

                The machine at work I picked up at Christmas.
                Just over 4 months old now.
                It looks like the seal may need changing soon as it is getting heavy use from all the new users Ive introduced.

                The PF isnt left in but it the single basket doesnt seem to lock in as well and the PF tries to unlock.
                Occasional the double basket leaks a bit as I updose and really push the machine to its limits on occasion.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: 6910, newish problem, leaky group handle

                  sock it to it TG!

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: 6910, newish problem, leaky group handle

                    The PF isnt left in but it the single basket doesnt seem to lock in as well and the PF tries to unlock.
                    i find this is fairly common, even on the new machine that sunbeam has supplied me
                    i feel part of the problem is that the contact point on the lugs on the pf are quite short, instead of having a tapered lug theres are stepped.
                    if you have a look at the wear marks on the sunbeam pf lugs you will find them to be short whereby if you check out your commercial pf the lugs are tapered and generally worn the full distance. this gives a lot firmer grip

                    graham

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: 6910, newish problem, leaky group handle

                      Originally posted by fix link=1207018893/0#9 date=1207344137
                      i find this is fairly common, even on the new machine that sunbeam has supplied me
                      i feel part of the problem is that the contact point on the lugs on the  pf are quite short,  instead of having a tapered lug theres are stepped.
                      if you have a look at the wear marks on the sunbeam pf lugs you will find them to be short whereby if you check out your commercial pf the lugs are tapered and generally worn the full distance. this gives a lot firmer grip

                      graham
                      Hi Graham,.. I bought my machine mid Jan this year and already the pf locks all the way to the right. I too have had a few leaks using the double basket even when locked as far as it will go, but like TG it is usually because I have accidently updosed (and too lazy to scrape some grinds out and retamp). I was thinking that the seal probably already needs replacing,.. goodness knows how long the seal has actually been in the machine before I got it,.. maybe it was partly deteriorated before reaching me??who knows. I had this happen with a tumbler (used with ss shot to work-harden and shine gold and silver jewellery)I purchased brand new. The rubber drive belt had deteriorated so bad before it even got to me and would not turn the barrel as it had lost its grip/elasticity.

                      Very interesting about the lugs you mentioned though,..Im not quite sure where you mean to check the wear on these lugs. Do you mean the top surface?? I cannot determined what is actual wear on the bottom of the lugs where the step is,.. but on the top I can see like trangular shaped areas which might be the wear you are referring to??.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: 6910, newish problem, leaky group handle

                        Very interesting about the lugs you mentioned though,..Im not quite sure where you mean to check the wear on these lugs. Do you mean the top surface?? I cannot determined what is actual wear on the bottom of the lugs where the step is,.. but on the top I can see like trangular shaped areas which might be the wear you are referring to??.
                        sorry remy i was more refering to TG as he has commercial handle at home

                        but if you look at the  bottom of the handle lug, were the step is.
                        the wear usally occurs on the high point of the lug

                        [img][/img]





                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: 6910, newish problem, leaky group handle

                          pt 2 just making sure the pic came up

                          because the sunbeam has a short surface area on the lug it tends to feel like it wants to come out
                          when you overdose and the pf is hard to insert, the first part of the lug does the initial work followed by the stepup part, this causes undue wear to the lug and to the collar in the machine
                          i have just replaced a collar with aprox 2mm wear after 9 mths, and he reckons he doesnt updose. bllsht

                          the blue silicone group seal is quite soft and takes longer to seal when new, but should last longer
                          main prob is that the sunbeam was never designed to work at this end of the market ( as in 16- 21 grams - 30 sec shots)

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: 6910, newish problem, leaky group handle

                            Originally posted by fix link=1207018893/0#12 date=1207371868
                            pt 2 just making sure the pic came up

                            because the sunbeam has a short surface area on the lug it tends to feel like it wants to come out
                            when you overdose and the pf is hard to insert, the first part of the lug does the initial work followed by the stepup part, this causes undue wear to the lug and to the collar in the machine
                            i have just replaced a collar with aprox 2mm wear after 9 mths, and he reckons he doesnt updose. bllsht

                            the blue silicone group seal is quite soft and takes longer to seal when new, but should last longer
                            main prob is that the sunbeam was never designed to work at this end of the market ( as in 16- 21 grams - 30 sec shots)
                            Thanks heaps Graham,..and for the pic too,.. I understand now about why it sometimes felt like it wanted to slip out, I had that happen many times in the first months,. I was updosing all the time as it turns out,.. TG sorted me out there with the dosing and now I only updose when Im absent minded and too lazy to correct (sometimes I need a coffee fast :-[ ) My pf slides in almost too easy now tho I think, and I am trying to determine if maybe I need to look at getting a new seal,..but read in the manual that I need to consult Sunbeam before doing this........ and that horrified me...noooooh not Sunbeam support,....anything but Sunbeam support..

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: 6910, newish problem, leaky group handle

                              Thanks for the info graham (nice diagrams).
                              Ill check the wear patterns here and at work.

                              The poor thing at work though is doing a good job catering for the new hordes of coffee addicts.
                              It probably makes between 1 and 2 dozen a day now.
                              Theres the breakfast, mid-morning and afternoon sessions by about 8 users that I know of.
                              Ive caught some of the guys showing off and making coffee for some of the girls.
                              (Now all some of them need is fresh coffee.   ;D  )

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