# Particles coming from the Brew head of my Fracino



## CoffeeShackAT (Oct 19, 2020)

Hi all,

Im very new to this coffee business and this forum, so im hoping someone can help me.

Ive recently purchased a coffee van which i intend to go into business with very shortly after having been made redundant in my previous employment. It is 2nd hand and the Fracino hadnt been used in a good 2 or 3 years, so i had Fracino come out and give it a service and boiler service. The engineer said it was in very good condition, but i am still noticing a coffee like sediment come though the brew head (the spout i use for hot water for Americano - sorry if my terminology is wrong). Does anyone know what the likely cause of this might be, and the solution (assuming the boiler can no longer be the issue)?

Thanks in advance for your help

Alex


----------



## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

The |"brew head" would normally be the bit the portafilter attaches to, we might call it the group. The two long things think with knobs/levers on them, will be water and steam wands.

What model of Fracino is it...is the coloured water or sediment? coming out of the group, or the water wand?

What did the boiler service bit entail...what did they actually do?

A photo of the machine and the coloured water, or water with sediment, would be useful.


----------



## CoffeeShackAT (Oct 19, 2020)

Thanks for your quick reply... yes, it must be the water wand! I knew i was getting it wrong! 😄

I already attached a photo of the water with sediment (doesnt always look as bad as that, but bad enough), and it does look like the coffee dusting you get inside the machine (however, i dont KNOW if thats coffee, its just an assumption on my part), but the water isn't coloured and the water coming out of the group seems to be fine.

The machine is a Fracino duel fuel, 2 group, 2 wand.


----------



## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

Can't see any photo?

What exactly did they do in the service, especially the boiler service you mentioned?


----------



## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

I see no photo either.


----------



## CoffeeShackAT (Oct 19, 2020)

Sorry for the delay... i thought I had uploaded the photo from my phone, but it obviously didn't work..

I didn't actually oversee what the Fracino engineer actually did, as it is a very enclosed space in my coffee van, but I was given a 'Written scheme of examination' which states that he checked and services the Steam Safety valve, Water expansion valve, Water pump & Water level device - remaining items were visual checks - that was the standard service, on top of which I had a boiler service - which he said, that even that when he first checked it seemed spotless!


----------



## CoffeeShackAT (Oct 19, 2020)

I should also mention that, sometimes after a few pours, the water comes out almost completely clear (even without the nozzle filter)..... but never completely. The attached view is representative of the days first pour


----------



## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

That's crap in the bottom of the boiler....it might eventually stop coming out...the problem is even if you switch the machine off when up to temp and drain all the hot water out through the tap, the take off is above the bottom of the boiler, usually. So you still won't get it all out. Of course depending on what machine you have, the hot water feed may come from the bottom of the boiler...In which case block it up to tilt towards that feed pipe and drain it.

See if there is a drain plug on the bottom of the boiler....if there is, you may be able to drain it easily yourself (cold machine of course). Even if there is a drain plug it's still hard to get it all out and you may have to do it a few times. If there's no drain plug, look for fittings on the bottom of the boiler...especially ones connected to any sight glass (I don't know what machine it is, so perhaps it has a sight glass) as they are usually on the bottom of the boiler..

I still don't really understand what the "boiler service was"...doesn't look like it entailed cleaning and flushing out the boiler. Perhaps he just looked inside with a Boroscope?

P.S. If you intend using the machine for hot water production and not just steaming, it needs to have a spotlessly clean boiler.


----------



## CoffeeShackAT (Oct 19, 2020)

Thanks alot... does this image help at all?

The water with the sediment is feeding from the boiler at the top through the middle diagonal pipe. Weird that the water from the 2 group heads seems fine? Or are they probably gradually getting clogged up?


----------



## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

The water through the two group heads come from the HX units running through the boiler (totally separated from the main boiler water), they are always passing water so crap rarely builds up in them, just limescale.

You will need to search for a fitting on the bottom of the boiler and drain it.... do you remember if the tech drained it?


----------



## CoffeeShackAT (Oct 19, 2020)

no, i dont recall.... but thanks for the advice. I am going to go back to Fracino and get them to do the boiler service properly


----------



## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

CoffeeShackAT said:


> no, i dont recall.... but thanks for the advice. I am going to go back to Fracino and get them to do the boiler service properly


 Well they may have done.. it properly and to their stated schedule (whatever that is).. The fact is, you may need something beyond the basic "boiler service", like a clean and flush...which could work out a lot more expensive.


----------

