Brew Group Maintenance

If you've got a superautomatic espresso machine made by Saeco or Gaggia, it's a good idea to regularly clean and maintain your machine's removable brew group. In this video, Gail walks us through her regular cleaning regime for the machines we've got on display in the store.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• superautomatic
• espresso machine
• saeco
• gaggia

[jlatnyc]

@ Kat. Wow that was fast. Thank you for your response.

[SeattleCoffeeGear]

@jlatnyc No worries! You caught me while I was at work and in here responding to comments, so you got a speedy reply that time ;) - Kat

[jlatnyc]

Hi, I really enjoy your videos. I was browsing your site and noticed you carry Grindz and Full Circle grinder cleaning beans. I own a Delonghi Magnification S super-auto, I called Urnez cust service line and they don't recommend their product on super-autos unless you're able to stop the brew cycle because the cleaning beans expand. Does the Full circle brand have the same problem. Looking forward to hearing from you guys. Thanks.

[SeattleCoffeeGear]

@jlatnyc Hi there -- Urnex produces Full Circle, as well, and you can't use these on superautomatics because they will expand as soon as water hits the 'shot' and break the brew group. There is not way to clean grinder superautos without taking the machine apart -- so often people have techs do that for them every few years. We do not recommend Grindz on any machine as you can't easily interrupt the brew cycle without risking damage. - Kat

[azt3c]

... now the pump sound a bit better, but i really want to remove the top metal filter, i believe that if it as dirty as the one from the bottom, that will make much better coffee

[SeattleCoffeeGear]

@azt3c Yeah -- but don't force it. We get a lot of brew group repairs in here because of that. Does your machine have a bi-pass doser for ground coffee? If it does, you can pick up Cafiza tablets, 'brew' shots using that and that should also clean that screen, too. That would be an alternative to risking damage to the group. - Kat

[azt3c]

a been trying to remove the screen that you point out in the video, but its on a very complicated angle to unscrew, i have a saeco vienna deluxe, and the brew group is very similar, there was another metal filter or screen in the bottom that was easy to remove, and it had looooots of ground coffee inside, with was easy to remove, that filter was really covered with old coffee....

[SeattleCoffeeGear]

@macmic6 Hmmmm...it could be. If it is working fine now then I guess that did solve it. ;) - Kat

[macmic6]

@SeattleCoffeeGear Thanks for the advice. I tried turning the grind to a coarser grind and it only made it worse, so I adjusted the grind to even finer than it was originally and it seems to have solved the problem. I have the amount of coffee ground cranked to max and I think that at a coarser grind there was just too much coffee and the compressor couldn't work correctly. Is that a possibility?

[SeattleCoffeeGear]

@macmic6 This can be a grind issue; if your coffee is dark/oily and you're trying to grind too finely, it will do this same thing. I'd kick the grind up to the coarsest, run a few shots through and then see if it's still happening. If it is, you'll need someone to look at the machine. - Kat