Delonghi Perfecta Grinder Cleaning & Repair
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- Опубликовано: 22 авг 2024
- The grinder of my Delonghi Perfecta suddenly started making strange noises and wasn't grinding any beans; the machine was giving the "Fill with beans" message. In this video, I show how I removed the grinder, cleaned it, and reassembled it.
Хобби
So, the 3 ball bearings + the springs form a slip clutch that prevents the grinder from grenading if a foreign object happens to fall into the hopper. I tore my grinder down completely as per the video, only to find that the 3 ball bearings were exactly where they ought to be, and the spring tension was excellent. However, I noticed a circular score mark on the back of the inner grinder (the part the moves), exactly as if it was slipping over the ball bearings. I carefully examined the waste coffee that I'd dumped out of the grinder while disassembling it... and much to my surprise, I found a small black plastic disc, maybe 1/3" diameter & 1/8" inch thick. I suspect it was from the 5lbs commercial bag of coffee I was using, because it was not familiar to me from anything in my apartment. It was the little plastic disc that was preventing the grinder from operating.
Delonghi actually has a troubleshooting tip for this exact "No grind, sounds funny" problem, which is to put a vacuum hose over the top of the grinder to clean it out. However many models have that annoying metal grill over the grinder that completely prevents you from doing this. I reassembled mine and deleted the metal grill, so if this happens in the future, I can just pull out the shop vac & suck out the grinder. Does this make the device more dangerous? No, not at all, you still have that black plastic cap over the actual finger remover bit, and really, if you are stupid enough to try jamming your finger in that little hole, then you certainly deserve whatever bad thing happens next. However, if you have children, and they mess with your adult toys, you might not want to proceed with this delete mod.
Thanks for the great video Ravraid.
Wow, thanks for the details. I hadn't heard about the vacuum but that could save a ton of work.
@@ravraid BTW, I want to be very clear that when I say "you" above, I'm not referring to the singular you, the creator of this video... Since this is the internet, and delete mods always attract comments from idiots, I'm directing my attention to any & all future commenters who will say things like "that mod will decapitate babies and release all the demons from hell. Satan himself will now choose to live inside the coffee maker". 🤣🤣🤣 Just wanted to make sure you didn't think I was insulting your intelligence...!!!
@@radioflyer2030 Ah, no, I get it. Best to be clear with stuff like that!
Great video and thank you, I had exactly the same problem with the grinder and solved it by following your instructions. 👍👍
Great video!
I've just bought a brand new machine, but always like to know how to fix it when it eventually packs up.
Thank you very much. This video helped me a lot.
Hey. This helped so much. Did the exact same
When placed back on it sais “general alarm” please wait “
Any thoughts ! ?
Infuser is also stuck
I've only seen the 'General Alarm' message when the horseshoe boiler's thermal fuse was burned out. I'm pretty sure I have a video on replacing that. Since it is a general alarm, it could be something else, though.
If you unplug and then plug back in, does the infuser go back to its 'home' position?
@@ravraid
Hey. Thank you for the quick response. Very nice of you.
Unfortunately it does nothing
I’m pretty sure I fixed and cleaned it as you did
States “self diagnosing” then “General Alarm, Please Wait “
No matter how many times I shut it off - press the switch in the back or unplug or even do a disconnect of the connections to attempt to reboot
Everything was working fine besides the grinder prior to the repair. Maybe I started the repair without the infuser back in the right position. I believe it may have froze due to the grinder prior to the repair.
Any further suggestions
Basically I unplug
It’s
@@matteosalvatore8910 Ah, so you didn't have these problems prior to taking out the grinder. My guess is one or more things (i.e. wires) have come disconnected so I'd check all the connectors. Perhaps it's something you accidentally bumped and the connector came off. Almost all the wires go back to the main board so look around for any loose wires/connectors near the main board.
As I mentioned, I got the 'General Alarm' when the thermal fuse blew and this fuse is simply inline with one of the boilers. Thus, the main board detected that there was a broken connection (i.e. open circuit) to the boiler so it gave the 'General Alarm'. I would have gotten the same error if I'd simply knocked a wire loose going to that boiler.
@@ravraid
Thank you !
So I checked everything. All connectors look good
It’s a little different the. Yours
The red goes to the high left but the black connects to another connecter
I can potentially show you pics
Tried to disconnect some and reconnect but nothing. Same outcome
Unsure what the problem can be. Potentially the diffuser is just stuck now which maybe causing the alarm
@@matteosalvatore8910 It seems possible that if the infuser is in the wrong location - e.g. disconnected from the drive mechanism - that it might throw that alarm. I have worked on the drive mechanism but it doesn't look like I created a video of it. However, I suspect there are YT videos showing how to do that. At least then you could free the infuser to see if that is causing the alarm. Obviously, be careful as you might need to apply power when the unit is disassembled. Some of those connections on the board are at "mains' power so you need to be sure to keep the unit unplugged while working on it.
Great video! Mine sounded identical. Found a piece of plastic in the grinder. Spun motor and grinder by hand and were smooth so I didn’t take the grinder any further apart. Put all back together and now it ground a little coffee but stopped and got the fill beans message. Not clunking anymore but still not 100%.
How’d you correctly align the fine/coarse knob when re-installing?
I think the answer is the sharpie mark I placed at time 4:12. I figured the alignment might be important so I marked the relative location. Or, if you are just referring to the knob, I believe I placed the gears in their middle setting and then put the knob in the center as well.
Mine does not spin at all. I bet it's the ballbearings that popped out because the grinder height gear on the motor is misaligned. that said, what kind of power are you applying? dc, ac, voltage,? thanks.
It sounds like you'll need to take it apart. The grinder (as well as the pump and solenoids) use 115VAC here in the US. I'm sure it is 230VAC in Europe. BTW, I just found out that older units like the Magnifica used a compatible grinder that can be swapped in - if that helps!
Hi Thanks - great video. I am getting the 'fill beans container' message too. Not making that noise but wondering if the cause is the grinder needing a clean? What do you think?
I'm not sure what causes the 'fill beans' message. I've always assumed that it was the grinder motor not being loaded down grinding beans. If I have no beans, the grinder sound is very high pitched and I can tell just by that sound that the beans are missing. Can you tell from the sound of your grinder if beans are being ground? Does the machine produce a solid puck of ground coffee? If not, the grinder might be blocked or might have failed.
Thanks for video.good job.
Great video, thank you! I followed your instructions and nicely cleand the grinder, but still asks for filling the bean container. The grinder makes a healthy noise, and as far as I can tell it grinds. However, I see no grinded (or any) coffee pushed into that vertical tunnel from the grinder. Do you have any idea that what might be the problem? Thank you in advance!
Hmm. There's an chute in the side of the grinder assembly where the grounds come out to go into the "vertical tunnel" you mention - i.e. the same path where pre-ground beans go. Do you know if the chute is clear? If the beans are getting ground up, they need to go somewhere so the question is "where are they going?"
@@ravraid Thanks for the quick reply! I cleaned the chute, with every other part of the grinder, using a toothbrush. I agree, that the grounded coffee should go somewhere, so as a next step I will try to find out where. If I will find no grinded coffee, than my pre-assumption that the grinder is ok can be rejected... Anyways, thank you again for your help!
How do you get the ring back onto the grinder, to hold the gears in place? It came off but wont pop back on. Its like it shrunk! Should i heat it?
No, I wouldn't heat it. From the video, it appears to snap on over some tabs. I think I have an old grinder lying around someplace so I'll try to locate it tomorrow to check...
I looked at a grinder that I believe is the same and that ring snaps on over some tabs. Perhaps try to put some lubricant on the tabs to allow it to slide on more easily?
Thanks for the video! And jokes. I was wondering what's that kill switch you use for tests? Sounds like a good buddy to have for repairs. Thanks
It's called QuickTest, made by Cliff: smile.amazon.com/CLIFF-ELECTRONIC-COMPONENTS-CL1850-ELECTRICAL/dp/B00DRDOBP2
Big Clive did a video on it: ruclips.net/video/_DTmL73th7Y/видео.html
Great video. I was wondering if you could help. When my coffee grinder is grinding I can see it getting stuck in hopper where you would put preground coffee and not making its way down into the brew group. This happens at least once a week. I clean brew unit at least once a week. Lube it once every 2weeks. I also deep clean the machine once every 3months. Any ideas why it is getting stuck in hopper and fresh grinds not making down in to brew group. Again it doesn't happen all the time
Sorry, I'm not clear on what's happening for you. What is getting stuck in the hopper? Are you getting any error messages or just weak coffee?
Fresh grinded coffee coming out of the the grinder. You can see it get stuck as it comes out of the grinder and into the funnel that feeds the brew group
@@giancarloscarcia2434 Hmm. As you can see in the video (e.g. around 3:45) there is a black chute that clips onto the side of the grinder. This is the place where the grounds come out of the grinder and if ground coffee is getting stuck on its way to the brew unit, I figure this is where it will happen. You could try to pull the grinder out to see if there is something stuck in this path. Maybe this is what you do when you deep clean but it's where I'd start.
My adjustment gear/ cog came off before I got a chance to mark the alignment. Any hints on how to get it tuned/ aligned again? I noticed there is a small v notch in the big gear, and 3 lines printed on top of the small cog. Assume they are meant to line up with something. Can't quite see in your video where these notches / lines line up.
You know, I'm not certain that it matters that much. I just make it a habit when removing meshed gears to mark the position. Have you tried just putting it in a roughly middle position to see if it works?
@@ravraid yeah, basically just moving the grind ring up/ down. I'll start with it in a high position and work my way down. Using test mode - enabling just the grinder to test the grind size. There is a small v notch in the gear, and a line on the side that I'm pretty sure must be the default middle position. Then they probably fine tune a tooth at a time either side in the factory
Thanks for the video...Did this fix the problem?
Yes, no issues with the grinder since I did this repair. My thinking is that one of those bearings popped out of place and just needed to be re-seated.
Hi,
Would you recommend grinding rice once per month to clean the residues?
I've never done that. It might work but I'd worry about the residual rice getting into my coffee!
I was exactly what u done on the video and I managed to get one of the springs jammed and now I can’t find anywhere to buy it , any ideas?
Thanks!
You'll have to measure the springs you have but these look like they are pretty close: www.amazon.com/Prime-Line-Products-SP-9700-Compression/dp/B008RFGNGA
@@ravraid thank you very much for your reply! Seems that it’s not available here in the uk is any alternative except buying the grinder?
@@adolfodominguez2631 I"d take one of the other springs to a good hardware store and ask. If they have a similar width spring it could be cut to length if it is too long. A new spring might not be the same "strength" as the others but I think it would be worth a try since it would be cheap whereas a new grinder will likely be expensive.
Thank you! I’ve managed to do it but now seems like the amount of coffee is wrong it’s grounded fine but it’s less amount then normal😡
@@adolfodominguez2631 It's possible that the way you reassembled it, you have changed the grind setting. You might pull it out again and check it. If you look at the video at around time 4:15, I'm pulling off the ring that adjusts the height and therefore the grind. Perhaps something is amiss there.
Hi all, I'm hoping someone can help figure this out. I'm lost with what the problem is.
Issue: water does not flow out when using the bean grinder
It merely drips out, but only a small small amount.
What does happen:
the water flows and machine makes coffee when using pre-ground
water flows when hitting the rinse button
the grinder works and creates pucks
the Pucks dispense
Hmm, that's a brain-teaser. Based on all you said, the only thing that seems likely is that the grind is set so fine that the pump can't push water through the puck. However, when that happens on my machine, I see the message "Grind Too Fine." If you are seeing normal water flow otherwise (e.g. with pre-ground coffee) then that would indicate that the pump, infuser, etc. are all working fine.
@@ravraid hey, thank you for following up! I descaled it 3 full times with white vinegar and it started working.
@@-Good4Y0u Hey, that's great. Yeah, nothing will kill these machines like scale. I'm surprised the pre-ground worked!
@@ravraid it's apparently a separate tube for it. I thought it was interesting as well. I took it apart to clean and figured that out.
I had mine for about 5 years and did 30,000 coffees and then one day the controller started smoking - purchased another one and in 11 months the grinder has malfunctioned
I've had mine for almost 6 years and as the videos show, it has had numerous issues - but the controller never smoked!
Hello! I have delonghi Perfect cappuccino and grinders does not stop, grind all the coffee. what can it be, sensor ...? thanks!!
Hmm, that’s interesting. I haven’t seen that. It has been my understanding that the grind times are fixed and just selected based on strength - e.g. Mild, Normal, Strong, etc. Does the grinder start (and run endlessly) when you start up the machine or only when you call for a specific coffee or for any coffee?
@@ravraid the grinder starts after you press the coffee button. it doesn't stop, it grinds all the coffee in the compartment!
@@niculucaciu1237 Does it keep on grinding endlessly (i.e. where you need to unplug the machine) or does it stop after some time, like a minute?
One thing you might try is to put the machine in the diagnostic mode and trigger the grinder. To do this, unplug the machine from the wall, press and hold the upper-right (1 cup) and lower-right (steam) buttons, then plug the machine back in the wall while holding those buttons in. After the initial start, the display will show something like "Load Test Mode". The grinder will run as long as you hold in the middle left ("P") button. If the grinder doesn't start or stop, that might be a clue. To leave the diagnostic mode, simply unplug the machine and plug it back in.
@@ravraid it does not stop after 5-10 seconds, it grinds all the coffee, after which it stops.
@@niculucaciu1237 Ah, after it stops does it display the error "Fill Beans Container" or something like that?