Gave it a good clean, then decided to pull a shot using a bottomless portafilter (cheap one, of course). I’ve been having streaming issues lately, and water sometimes leaks from the sides when the shot starts. I ground a bit finer, cleaned the gasket, and thought that would sort it out.
Well, the pressure had other plans. The handle slowly untwisted itself and then launched off like a missile, taking out my double-walled cup and the glass carafe of my poor Russell Hobbs on the way down.
Added 30 minutes of cleanup to my morning routine. Not exactly the calm start I had in mind.
by Altruistic_Garlic_51
19 Comments
I am just curious why you didn’t hold the portafilter handle when it’s moving?
It happened to me once with that machine. Immediately sold it and repainted the flat 🙂
Been there. I no longer wait to swap out gaskets. That’s a massive amount of gasket leakage at the start. You’re long over due. $3 every 4-6 months is worth it for avoiding the trauma and clean up.
Your other post you deleted was a successful shot with leakage but no mess. You had your chance to heed the warnings.
User error, skill issue
Looks like a Dedica to me!
You need a new gasket
More importantly…don’t shock the espresso by pulling it right on the ice. Mix it with any sweeteners/milks first to lower the temp
I forget how much pressure is happening in there
2 weeks ago it happened the same to me.
But my espresso cup fell down and broke, the last drops of shots went to my naked feet, I quickly moved my feet to avoid the hot coffee and ended up stepping the broken porcelain cup cutting my feet.
Now I always hold the filter…
Dedicas spitting out portafilters, a tale as old as time lol
I have the same machine… only happens when it’s overfilled
Happens with mine as well. Since then I always hold the basket ..
“Go on… grab the handle… I dare you!”
I once had a waffle iron team up with the electric kettle to take me out. I had started the waffle iron to warm up, then I started my kettle to boil water for tea. The waffle iron started malfunctioning, so I rushed to unplug the cord, not noticing the kettle’s spout was pointed across the path to the outlet burning my wrist. I glared at the waffle maker and abandoned any thought of repairing it. Instead I bought an expensive Belgian waffle maker.
Happened to me last week, I bought a gasket to replace the old one at the shower, bought an IMS shower screen and a new bottomless portafilter and problem solved.
In my case it happened due to one of the ears that the bottomless portafilter has was broken and It started to lose pressure.
If you dont want to spend 300€ or much more in a new machine try replacing that parts first
Awwnn how adorable. It’s so cute how it failed lol
Maybe change your portafilter
Happened to me as well with a cheap portafilter. The leak is probably due to the water distribution gasket not being well screwed back on. Make sure it is well aligned and really tightly screwed.
Recently bought the (overpriced) Delonghi bottomless portafilter. Actually worth it: it improved my coffee experience substantially as I’m not afraid anymore of transforming my Dedica into a latent exploding device. The only issue I have is that it is slightly larger than what is needed for the 51mm IMS basket, so it tends to “stay in the machine” when you remove the portafilter. Else, no complaints here since.
Try taking the gasket off and cleaning where the gasket sits.
I use the Dedica with zero problems. What portafilter and basket are those?
If you were having problems with water being pressed out of the sides of the filter wouldn’t you want to grind less fine? Seems like the puck is packing too tightly to let water through…