# Oracle Touch not tamping correctly every time



## SNOBOL

Hello, we've had our Oracle Touch now for about two months at first everything was fine, But shortly after the first week it's developed a Fault & doesn't seem to Tamp correctly or finish the job you could say. Being such a new machine we've checked, cleaned & reset everything we could but this has not resolved the intermittent fault. Sage themselves have been little use to us infant we seem to be going round in circles, they're conclusions now are we're using the wrong beans or should I say the beans don't agree with the Oracle. Don't get me wrong I can see their understanding but Sage sent us a bag of Pact coffee beans & the conclusion was the Oracle has or had the same fault as with our beans. Now almost four weeks down the line with reporting the fault & getting nowhere Sage are sending us another package yes some more Pact beans ( we are grateful for the beans mind ) but this has got us nowhere. We are very frustrated in what was a considered purchase for us & are feeling like we're getting nowhere. Any help please would put our minds at rest or the next step for us Many Thanks


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## GingerBen

Same happened to mine. Coffee classics who have the sage service contract tried to tell me it was the beans too. It wasn't it was just faulty. Send it back to the retailer and either get a refund or a new machine. Personally I went for a manual set up after thinking the oracle would be amazing but I'm very happy I went manual now.


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## ashcroc

GingerBen said:


> Same happened to mine. Coffee classics who have the sage service contract tried to tell me it was the beans too. It wasn't it was just faulty. Send it back to the retailer and either get a refund or a new machine. Personally I went for a manual set up after thinking the oracle would be amazing but I'm very happy I went manual now.


Think I should've scrolled down before searching out your thread!


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## M_H_S

From the pic I'd say try to eliminate two possibilities.

1. The grind is too fine. So go coarser.

2. Its overdosing. So reduce the dose.

But really it should distribute and tamp regardless of the above. Best to return or get replacement.


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## GingerBen

M_H_S said:


> From the pic I'd say try to eliminate two possibilities.
> 
> 1. The grind is too fine. So go coarser.
> 
> 2. Its overdosing. So reduce the dose.
> 
> But really it should distribute and tamp regardless of the above. Best to return or get replacement.


you can't reduce the dose on an oracle, that's the problem with it. Also going coarser will put more coffee in the basket as it doses on time not weight so that will make this issue worse


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## Jony

I would say send it back, and maybe just check whats around in the for sales, cough

I know GingerBen was going round the bend with it at the time.


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## Goodfella

Did the OP get this sorted in the end?

My 1 month old Oracle is displaying the exact same issue. It was working perfectly with the occasional tamp as shown above but now it is every time. I haven't changed the the beans i am using.

Coffee Classics did my white glove service so I could ring them I suppose.

Cheers

Ross


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## TobyAnscombe

I'm having the same issue - machine is 2 years and 2 months old and it appears that the extended warranty from JL was actually accidental damage. I've contacted Sage but not had a response yet....

In the interim I've bought a 58m motto leveller to tidy up the puck as and when it happens and I cleaned and stripped the grinder last weekend that seems to have reduced the number of incidents. I've also dragged my spare grinder out just in case...


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## Goodfella

Spoke with Sage today, they were helpful, asked me to check some settings and check how many threads were showing on the coupler the tamp fan fixes too, it should be 4 which it was. Cleaned it all again and still the same result.

They said a 6 week old machine shouldn't do this but awaiting a call back ok Monday. Looks like a replacement machine from the way they were talking.

Ross


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## TobyAnscombe

Their advice to me was to make it a coarser grind... I have dropped my dose from 22g to 19g but I just cant see how having a smaller dose would impact in that manner...


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## jm-darcy

I went through a short stage of this. A different bean seemed to stop it, despite having used the same one for a while with no ill effect.

As I was troubleshooting, and after using my delonghi grinder for an Aeropress coffee after a bad tamp, I noticed the amount of static that the delonghi grinder built up causing the grinds to stick to the perspex 'container'. I wondered whether static was also causing the Oracle to occasionally suffer. Indeed, if I took out the 'fan' after a bad tamp, it would inevitably be coated in coffee grounds whereas on a good tamp, it would be almost clear.

No solution, sorry, just an observation. I have not suffered for it in a while. I can only hypothesise that an older (dryer?) bean combined with a dry atmosphere (heating on?) might make it more prone? Maybe explains why a courser grind makes it less susceptible.


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## AndyJH

My Oracle does this occasionally, I just have a tamp next to the machine and polish. I can see why people get frustrated with it but I'm happy to have a tamp handy are I still use my old Sage grinder for decaf and my Niche for other coffees.


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## cycloholic

Does anyone else facing this problem: Grinding last longer and then "stopped" message instead of tamping?


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## gsuk

Just got my machine today and started with the single cup filter. Tamping was fine and great coffee produced. Switched to the 2 cup filter and had tamping issues (looked the same as the picture above). Back to the single cup filter and tamping was fine!


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## ajohn

Strange.


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## woodbar

gsuk said:


> Just got my machine today and started with the single cup filter. Tamping was fine and great coffee produced. Switched to the 2 cup filter and had tamping issues (looked the same as the picture above). Back to the single cup filter and tamping was fine!


 You're getting great results from the single basket??????

You must be a magician - I never got a decent brew from mine!

I occasionally get the same poor tamp result and there is always too much coffee ground so I have to take a little out, level it off with one of the winged style tampers then give a "snug" with a normal tamper and it is always good.

It can often be caused by a dirty tamping blade in the Oracle it seems (or the grinder needs cleaning) - usually, when I get this, I just pop out the tamping fan give it a wash with warm water then dry and replace which invariably does the trick. I also try and leave the filter basket a bit damp before I grind which helps to stop the puck spinning round when the blade is trying to distribute and tamp the ground coffee.


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## ajohn

Given how the tamping works I would wonder about grinds getting where they shouldn't internally or stiffness in parts of the mechanism. It appears to work by the fan being pushed up as the grinds are added and it reaches a limit, switch or something. It is probably intended to carry on spinning for a while and for some reason this isn't working.

More likely knowing Sage there will be a time limit on this as well so if things go on for too long it'll just stop. If this is what is happening a coarser grind will help as the grinds will come out more quickly. The version of the grinder I have had will handle just about any bean easily even stuff from packs that aren't fresh roasted but settings can need to be very fine so output rate is rather slow.

Another reason for this could be a need to clean the burrs. As they are stainless I used puly back flush cleaner powder and made sure they were dead dry before they went back in. Soap and water should be just as good. There is a need for a new fibre washer if the centre burr is taken out and the area under that is cleaned. An alternative is to brush all grinds that can be seen with it in out and then remove it and leave things as they are. The grinds stay there so aren't a problem really. The outlet spout may being getting choked and that really will slow things down. Never owned an Oracle so can't offer any way of cleaning that out. It's a case of getting at it from both ends with something - inside the grind chamber and where they eventually come out.


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## woodbar

ajohn said:


> It appears to work by the fan being pushed up as the grinds are added and it reaches a limit, switch or something.


 No, there is no limit switch - it detects the extra torque required by the motor (increasing current draw one assumes) as the coffee reaches the level of the fan - the cut off point is altered by the tamp value setting in the menu.

As I mentioned, IF the fan is mucky (give it a wash and dry) AND the basket is totally dry this CAN cause the coffee puk to spin in the basket as it reaches the required level which decreases the torque on the tamp motor SO it keeps the grinder running, as the electronics assume the level has not yet been reached, and gives you the extra little heaps of coffee.


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## ajohn

woodbar said:


> No, there is no limit switch - it detects the extra torque required by the motor (increasing current draw one assumes) as the coffee reaches the level of the fan - the cut off point is altered by the tamp value setting in the menu.


 Interesting. I don't know hence or something. The setting may be the other reason for the problem but it wouldn't surprise me if they also had a time limit and Sage grinders will not work at their best when choked with grinds. The core of them is the same in all versions. The way they are adjusted varies as does the way they flow from the grinds chamber. The built in ones may be better in that respect.


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## woodbar

There may be a time limit - I have never had a situation to test that.

To be honest I find the tamp setting in the menu has only very small effect - you do get a slightly increased dose with higher values as I assume it needs more coffee tamped down before it reaches the preset torque value for grinder to shut off.

You can also set the the number of seconds the fan remains spinning after the grinder stops - "how polished do you want the top" I assume? Again, I find that has little to no effect.

I believe that both the tamp value and tamp time settings are no longer available on the Oracle Touch menu which may well show how ineffective it was to actually bother to adjust them!

Again, for anybody getting the tamp failures as per the top of this thread - wash and dry the tamp fan, clean the outlet of the grinder while you have the fan removed and then you should be good to go. If you still have a problem try leaving the filter basket damp before you grind - last resort clean the grinder itself - but you do this regularly anyway, don't you?


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## ajohn

woodbar said:


> clean the outlet of the grinder while you have the fan removed and then you should be good to go.


 That suggests the grinder is choking and that could be caused by the fan getting a bit sticky from coffee residues.

It would probably pay to clean the grind chamber out as well at the same time but I'd suggest leaving the centre burr in place and just brushing out grinds that can be seen.


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## PWT

Have had my machine for nearly 3 years and have had this issue on and off. Cleaning the grinder and burrs every month seemed to resolve the problem for the first 2 years but recently no amount of cleaning makes any difference. I have given up on the built in grinder and bought a Eureka Mignon Specialita grinder (£350) - getting great results, better taste and better consistency. Not a cheap solution but it works and I can keep using the Sage Oracle for making my morning coffee. However when the Sage finally packs up I will go to a manual machine.


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## MrBarnes

I found the solution - at least it works for me.

When the grinding just stops instead of sayiing "Tampering" in the display. Pres grind one more time and it will grind some more, and THEN it will start tampering.


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## MrBarnes

I found the solution - at least it works for me. When the grinding just stops instead of sayiing "Tampering" in the display. Pres grind one more time and it will grind some more, and THEN it will start tampering.


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## Katherine

Hello,

I don't know if this can help anyone else, but it has worked for me so far. Mine was doing the wavy tamp the first time I used it right out of the box. I've only tried one type of coffee so far, so I may have to adjust when I try a different brand. I saw a video regarding changing the burr grind size on the upper burr (I'll link below). First, I removed the beans from the hopper. Then I ground what was left in the grinder in the machine. Then I did what the video said by setting the grinder setting to the coarsest setting. Then, I removed the upper burr and the metal handle as done in the video. Mine was factory set to 6. I tried going to a 10 like he did in the video, but I got the same wavy tamp result and it was far too coarse. I took the beans out of the hopper again, ground what was left, and started over. I then changed it to 3 (again this may be different with the type of coffee used - I used a Volcanica Mexican Coffee, which is a medium roast). I put the handle back on and placed the upper burr back into the align position and turned to the right to lock it. I then set the grind to 25, which was a little too fine, however, it gave me a flat tamp. I changed the grind to a 27 and it gave me a double shot. Hope this can help someone else!

Video referenced above:


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## Sean T

Hi I know this is an old thread but seems relevant to add my experience to it. Have the Sage Oracle Touch, less than 1 year old and no issues to date. I settled on Crown & Canvass as our regular supplier and order their 2 main espresso blends House Blend and First Light. Typically grind 24 for a 30 second double shot draw gives a generous double for our milk based large coffees.
Today the tamper stopped tamping. It would grind and stop but not tamp. The basket wasn’t full either. A second grind did not help. I powered off and emptied the beans and cleaned the top burrs and the bottom. Restarted, no joy.
I had tried some different lighter roast beans from Crown & Canvas, Rwandan. Found this thread. Grinding on 45 the coarsest setting then the basket was not full but it would tamp. On 30 it would not tamp.
Changing my beans back to House Blend solved the problem. Grinding and tamping on setting 24 is fine.
Not sure why beans make such a difference. It is almost like these were too light in weight to feed into the grinder?? Even though the hopper was full.


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