Sage Barista Express exploded
Under warranty but feeling quite reluctant to carry on.
Had an issue recently where both steam and water are being forced out of the group head. With Sage support yesterday, we fixed this on a call. Today I made a coffee and began to steam milk. Water again was being forced out of the group head. As I touched the group head it shot out and exploded with a bang that has hurt my ears (they are ringing) and frankly my soul due to the mess.
What are my next steps?
by olbusbooch
18 Comments
surely they will send you a new one after this
grind finer?
check the O ring, and how much pressure was it displaying on the guage?
You finally ground too fine…
The gasket is broken. Same thing has happened to me. You can pick up replacements really cheap
Hope you are alright OP
Sage customer service is great. Call again, they will either repair (and repair good) or send you a new one.
We went through… I think it was 4? in the end… Breville/Sage machines. All faulty in some way. Never again. Straight up return if you can.
This happens to me every other bean. I suggest holding that portafilter every time you dial in a grind.
I had this problem also with a machine that was out of warranty. I followed this guide and successfully fixed the problem. It was difficult to do though.
https://baristaparts.ca/blogs/news/are-you-still-experiencing-a-leak-from-the-group-head-on-your-breville-barista-express-bes870xl-here-is-why#:~:text=If%20your%20machine%20has%20been,the%20vibration%20and%20pressure%20generated
The coffee plush is smiling at your misery! He plotted this all 😂
Damn. I hope you aren’t hurt. Since there are a lot of experts here, what kind of safety feature could be added to prevent this from happening?
I am working on a prototype for a few machine so thinking of that.
Is that a Jellycat coffee cup? I named my one Latte!
I have the same problem if I use my porta filter for a second coffee without rinsing and dying it first.
Its a sign for an upgrade
If I’m reading this correctly, it sounds like all you were doing at the time was frothing milk, and the portafilter was not even attached to the group head.
If that is the case, then it has nothing to do with the group head itself, it’s not the gasket.
I would think an explosion loud enough to hurt your ears sounds very much like a steam vessel containment failure, upstream of whatever valving is used to distribute the steam/water.
There must be some sort of valve in the system, since there’s only one water boiler, to direct the hot water/steam to the wand/group head.
I would expect the steam *upstream* if this valve, and upstream of whatever pressure regulator exists, to be the highest pressure within the system- and it must be capable of generating like 12+ bar of pressure, to consistently provide ±10 bar for extraction.
I think this is a warranty swap before your warranty expires…
Good luck!
So water comes out of the group when you’re using the steam function? If so, how was customer support able to help? Was the portafilter still locked in when you were steaming?
OP you’re not supposed to do lines like this is 1985 Miami Vice
Sage Barista Express is a scam