I recently noticed that after brewing some coffee with my SuperAutomatica that a small pool of water would form underneath the machine. Initially I was quite concerned that the holy grail that produced my required coffee elixir in the wee hours of morning was kicking the bucket. I've read plenty of posts online about this machine leaking, broken heating element, etc. so naturally I expected the worst.
So, I did what any handy-person does when their gadgets break - I took it apart! Mind you I didn't go crazy and remove screws, bolts, panels, etc. I simply read the owners manual, and it turns out this machine is designed to come apart quite easily. After some investigation, and cleaning up lots of spent coffee grinds that aparently did not make it into the grind bucket, I figured out how the water that spills off from inside the machine makes its way into the drip tray + grill...and viola! It turns out this is where my machine was leaking due to a clogged path to the drip tray - maybe yours is leaking there too?
If your machine is leaking, it's worth a look before you chuck it to the curbside. Simply follow the instructions for removing the brew group. It goes something like:
1) Remove drip tray + grill.
2) Open front door
3) Remove dump box
4) Remove brew group - that's the big complicated thing with the lever that says "press", or something like that.
Now, to clean the part of the machine that was clogged with grinds and causing mine to leak:
1) Replace the drip tray + grill because you'll need this to catch some water while cleaning.
2) Get a paper clip and a sports bottle with warm/hot water in it.
3) Now use a combination of squirting warm water and prodding with the paper clip to remove the clogged grinds from the hole in the photos below. You may have a lot of grinds packed into the pocket clogging up the hole, so you may need to remove those first.
Insert the paper clip into the whole to losen up the grinds.
Also come in from the top to loosen up the grinds.
After squirting some water in there and prodding around with the paper clip for a few minutes the clog let loose and water flowed into the drip tray...and, my leak was gone!
9 comments:
That was very helpful. I always wondered how to take the machine apart. The pictures were the best part! Thanks for taking the time to do that!
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This is one of the best set of instructions and one of the most rewarding repairs I've done in a long time! Thanks so much!
THANKS! I love my coffee machine and am so glad that I didn't have to send it in for service. Great pictures. I also used plenty of Q tips to clean all the other nooks and crannies inside. Working great now. Thx again...Lesley
guillaume:
thanks a lot , i see your post .
very helpful !
thanks
Thanks! I had this exact problem and was able to solve it. Always good to see people problem solving on the vienna plus.
In the bottom photo you can see a line around the periphery of the aperture. This is the edge of a press fit plastic panel. Pull that panel off for full access to the sludge blocking the drain hole. Much easier and more reliable than rummaging with a paper clip.
Wow! 10 years later and still a useful post. Thanks!
How do you pull the panel?
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