# Sage Barista Express Leaking From Base & Weak Steam Power from Wand



## KeepItFlat (Oct 25, 2020)

Hi all,

New to the forum, but hoping somebody can give some advice about my faulty Barista Express.

The steam wand barely produces any steam when turned on directly, but will come on if I turn on the hot water spout and then switch immediately to steaming. It will steam milk, but it's not as powerful as it used to be. It's also leaking a fair amount of water from the base.

I bought the machine in Jan 2017, Coffee Classics had to replace the solenoid in April of that year, but it's been fine since.

It gets descaled every 6-8 weeks with Puly Descaler, and I use a Brita filter jug to fill it.

As it's out of warranty I took the back off to see if there was anything obvious. Two of the pipes have a good deal of calcium build up around them, so they seem to be the leak points, but I don't want to go messing about with it any further for fear of putting it out of action. I'll be happy to give a go though if anyone has any advice about next steps.

I've attached some pictures for reference.

Fingers-crossed for some tips - bit worried that a professional repair will be expensive, and I might as well get a new machine - which I can't afford!


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## Pete4eyes (Oct 10, 2020)

I wouldn't recommend working on something you're not entirely comfortable with but to share my insights from my coffee machine repair (with a point, not just to share):

Purchased as not working it wasn't getting pressure in the pf and was leaking from the boiler itself. On disassembly I found the gasket to be overrun with scale build up, hence the leak. I also found a lot of 'flakes' of scale build up in the boiler. I suspect these flakes were from the descaler used by the previous owner? Not 100% sure. My machine can't be back flushed but I imagine these flakes would have caused a blockage if that were possible.

I don't have knowledge of your machine but suspect similar causes for failure with respect to a leak due to scale build up that's perhaps causing a loss of pressure at the leak point and therefore not making it to the steam wand. Or do you think there is no steam pressure build up? Could be a blocked or faulty solenoid if that's the case and you are bypassing this by filling the boiler with water from the hot water button and then opening the valve?

I don't recommend doing it yourself unless confident of your abilities but a strip and service will definitely not hurt your machine.

After reading another thread in this section though I must say I accept no liability for any work carried out and any damage or injury incurred! Though I hope that doesn't need to be said...

I added a picture of my boilers gasket for an idea of the harm it can do. And this degree of scale wasn't externally visible where as yours is, so I suspect it's not great in the seals either.


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## KeepItFlat (Oct 25, 2020)

Thanks very much for taking the time to reply Pete4eyes. No, it's not getting any pressure when going straight into steam mode, so may well be a solenoid issue as you suspect. Think I will have to dismantle and attempt a fix though, as not sure how much longer it can limp on its current state.


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