# Sage Barrista Watery Pour



## superd (1 mo ago)

Hi all,

My 6 year old Sage Barrista Express has started to pour really watery coffee's. I cant for the life of me get the crema effect, which I always could up until recently.

The pressure gage barely moves up 5% i.e. no pressure through machine.

Ive cleaned the machince, adjusted the burr and grinder to various grind settings - to no avail.

Would anyone have any advise here?

Im wondering could it be the bur / grinder is just warn out? Or maybe something with the machine itself and water pressure etc?

Note, my beans are fresh, and pretty good quality.

Thanks.


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## Rincewind (Aug 25, 2020)

superd said:


> ...Would anyone have any advise here?...


Hi and welcome...the first bit of advise i could offer is :- please read the Stickies at the top of this section/area/category...they "may" just have the answer to your prayers...once you've read them, then read them again...others may be along to offer any other advise...good luck


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## superd (1 mo ago)

Thanks, I dont see much in the stickies. I may just get it serviced anyway.


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## ajohn (Sep 23, 2017)

I assume water isn't leaking inside the machine and that you have looked? What does steam do? Might give an indication of if the pump is ok. Posting a video on youtube including sound can give clues about machine problems Not always but can help even with your brew problem.

Grinder outer burr adjustment is a bit of a rats next due to info on the web. Setting it finer doesn't mean the machine will grind finer. It just changes the number used for the same grind, It can be used when the grinder wont grind fine enough on min setting but care is needed. If the burrs touch and the grinder is used it can result in a burnt out motor and wrecked burrs. They are best left alone really,

However I have checked 2 Sage grinders one of which had been adjusted finer by a previous owner. Fortunately I realized what was going on and pulled the plug out and then set the outer burr to it's normal setting. Both grinders then did the same thing. Run the grinder no beans on a coarse setting. While it's running slowly reduce the setting one step at a time. On both the motor speed dropped a little on the min setting and remained stable for a short period. On the maladjusted grinder the speed rapidly started slowing even more, You'll never need to grind this fine anyway and don't blame me if you mess up. One setting coarse from this should restore the grinder speed which will be faster than when it's grinding beans.

These things are best left alone really. Only of any use if some one really can't grind fine enough and their prep is ok. If the puck breaks up during a brew all sorts can happen. Some may have heard of light tamping. Beans can be garbage. The machines are really aimed at fresh roasted. An empty dual wall basket will generate more brewing pressure than you mention. Also the blanking disk used for back flushing. Another way of checking it's not an internal machine problem,

The way the grinder adjusts is pretty easy to appreciate if opened up. One gear drives another much larger one and the part with the outer burr moves up and down due to a screw thread. If the thread becomes disengaged at some setting it wont adjust correctly,

Lastly within the sector marked on the dial no water goes out of the over pressure valve and ends up in the drip tray. It will only go there if the gauge needle goes past the sector and into the area marked with a couple of dashes at the high end. The OPV is a white thingy mounted on the pump that has an adjusting screw. Maybe it's acting up.


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