# Melitta Barista TS issue



## Raffaz (Oct 18, 2018)

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone can help with an issue i'm having

Basically when brewing a coffee the machine grinds the beans and then the brewing unit attempts to compress the powder, but it seems that it cant complete the full press and the mechanism stops just short, it then ejects the coffee grinds and stops brewing

I bought a replacement brewing unit to eliminate this and its doing the same, the machine makes a creaking noise when attempting to compress the powder

Has anyone experienced this or have any ideas?

Regards

Michael


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

Sometimes they can creak a little, a bit of silicon spray in the moving parts, or use it on a cotton bud for the slider bits. I don't think it's a problem compressing the powder, probably something else, especially as a new brew unit has not solved it. They have a little bean hatch thing that closes so it can completely grind out a portion without leaving crushed bits in the grinder. If you use beans with lots of little bits in (e.g. cheap coffee), then sometimes these bits can jam the little hatch in the hopper and cause a similar problem to the one you describe.

Are you getting any error messages?


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## Raffaz (Oct 18, 2018)

Hi,

Thanks for the reply

The machine doesn't generate any errors. It just stops the machine and gives me an option to restart, if i restart, then it grinds new beans again and then tries to complete the cycle again and fails

Cheers

Mick


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## Claire (Sep 10, 2019)

Hi There,

I hope someone can help! I have a melitta cafe solo, just a few years old.

It has been cleaned, but water is running straight into the drip tray and a little coffee grounds appear in the tub also (in the drip tray) but no coffee runs through the actual coffee outlet.

When I clean it water will run through the coffee outlets so I don't think it it clogged.

I've seen online this may be the drainage valve, but I have no idea where to begin or what to replace- any ideas please?

Many Thanks,

Claire.


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## 9719 (Mar 29, 2015)

@DavecUK


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## Knoxan (Jan 18, 2021)

My Mellita Barista TS grinds beans but hot water bypasses straight to the tray. The plug of almost dry ground beans is ejected to the tray. However it works perfectly if ground beans are put in through the powder shute.

So the grinder works, and the brew unit works but when put together they don't.

The ground beans from the grinder enter the brew unit, are compressed, but the hot water goes to drain.

Anny ideas please. I have stripped and rebuilt the whole machine, all new seals, new drain valve etc.

Thanks

Andy


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

Knoxan said:


> My Mellita Barista TS grinds beans but hot water bypasses straight to the tray. The plug of almost dry ground beans is ejected to the tray. However it works perfectly if ground beans are put in through the powder shute.
> 
> So the grinder works, and the brew unit works but when put together they don't.
> 
> ...


 @Knoxan When you stripped the machine, is it possible you disturbed the machines grind fineness setting. Preground coffee is quite coarse and offers little resistance to the flow of coffee. If for some reason your machines internal grinder is set way too fine, then the machine will do exactly what you're describing.

Welcome to the forum...


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## Knoxan (Jan 18, 2021)

Thanks for those thoughts Davec.

I stripped the grinder again but there really is only one way to put it together which lines up the manufacturer's marks on the components. The Mellita is a very good machine for brewing coffee but is too sophisticated. I now think the issue is down to the portion control ie the shutters which let a predetermined amount of coffee into the grinder. I think it lets too much in such that when compressed the oversized portion prevents full compression and this confuses the compression limit switch and upsets the sequence.

When using the powder shute a much smaller portion is used and it works fine. I shall persist reviewing the ground quantity.

Thanks


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## Knoxan (Jan 18, 2021)

Gave up on the Mellita. On its way to the big coffee shop in the sky. Too complicated and too many things going wrong. Have just bought a Sage Barista Pro. Needs a bit of experiment to get the brew right but at least you have some control over it. The Mellita was good for a while but too complex, parts hard to get, and needs a lot of internal cleaning. Learned a lot on my first foray into this world.


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

The BTC machines are an appliance and need to be considered such. They fit some peoples lifestyle and needs they have...if you really want to get into coffee, something better is needed.

My mum who has dementia, which has got far, far worse now used a Cafeo Varianza in the Annex. It allowed her to make a coffee whenever she wanted, and she loved it, it was enough for her...even when she stopped being able to use it recently. I could still go in and make her, her delicious coffee, and she could feel part of the process. They have their place.


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## backyetts (Sep 4, 2021)

Wondering if anyone of this forum can help.

I have a Cafeo Barista TS Smart - a great coffee machine. But recently I have been getting a lot of water into the coffee grounds container, where the ejected pucks go.

The coffee is still being made fine. I have tried taking out the brewing unit and giving it a good clean and checking for correct finness of the grind etc. but still get water into the coffee grounds container.

Could I have a problem with seals? - Any ideas would be appreciated


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

@backyetts Welcome to the forum, sounds like it could be a seal, small pipe or o'ring leaking on the brew unit.


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## Charles46 (Nov 14, 2021)

When the coffee goes straight to the drip tray rather than into the cup, I found what works for me after many hours of trial and error, new brew unit, even replacing the drainage valve which worked for a few weeks, is simply to run the rinse function 5-6 time in a row. I find I need to do this now after every clean, descale etc. When you run the rinse function the first 2-3 times, initially no water comes out the front, but with each rinse, the flow improves.


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## Joe UK (9 mo ago)

Raffaz said:


> Hi,
> 
> Just wondering if anyone can help with an issue i'm having
> 
> ...


if you remove the brewing unit, you will see a small cover with 5 torx screws that covers the drain valve.
Remove this little cover and clean out all the gunk and lubricate the channel the slider pulley runs on.
This channel gets gunned up with wet coffee grind and stops the mechanism moving which causes all the creaking….well in my case anyway 

hope that helps


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## DrRSG (Jul 11, 2017)

Many thanks for your tip. I have the same model and want to clean it out. I want to be sure that that I remove the correct screws. Can you post an image showing the correct screws to remove.

Many thanks


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## Joe UK (9 mo ago)

hope this helps 👍


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## DrRSG (Jul 11, 2017)

Perfect. Many thanks indeed


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