# DELONGHI ICONA 310... watery coffee in basket after shot is despensed why?



## sharon86

Hi all im new to this forum but i really need some help, i have brought the Delonghi Icona 310 a week ago and for the first 20 uses it has worked brilliantly producing a perfect espresso shot for a latte then all of a sudden after the shot has been dispensed i have taken the coffee basket off and its filled with watery sludgy coffee there was no water in there prior to this happening, also the actual strength of the shot was reduced by half. I contacted delonghi themselves and they told me to clean everything which we had been doing anyway and to try a fresh bag of coffee, not to tamper it down to much and try less coffee in the basket,to try the double shot basket(which it comes out even more watery) so we tried these things and its pretty much the same results. The only difference is now we have cleaned the filter where the crema gets produced we have noticed the first shot had a lot of crema on it with hardly any coffee taste at all in there, whilst the second shot had less crema and a very strong coffee taste. This was not happening in the first uses so why is it now the coffee doesn't taste as good and we struggle to get a decent coffee i am on the verge of sending it back for a refund but i really do not want to as its a good machine apart from this problem and i cant seem to find an answer many thanks Also can i just add that we make two cups at a time and we steam the milk first then switch it over to coffee mode. whilst doing it this way we find that it takes longer for the first shot to pour then it does for the second. i dont no if this has anything to do with the problem or if its just a case of it has to re-route water from the steamer to the shot dispensing and this is why it takes longer for the first shot to pour and much quicker for the second. just a thought as im far from an expert. Sorry and thank you again

Sharon


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## funinacup

Hi Sharon, welcome to Coffee Forums UK.

My first thoughts are that you should try making your espresso before steaming the milk. The reason that the first espresso takes longer to start pouring is because the boiler is at a higher temperature than your want for espresso (because you have just steamed milk) and so needs to get rid of the steam in the boiler and lower the water temperature a little before it starts to come through the ground coffee.

So try espresso first, then steam and see how you get on and report back!









Michael

Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk 2


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## seeq

Hi Sharon. I used to own an icona and had similar issues. I found it was due to tamping too hard. Essentially in a pressurised basket you don't need to tamp at all, purely create a level surface. Try ensuring you are tamping lightly with minimal pressure.

Are you using pre ground coffee or are you grinding your own?

A 'crema device' produces a kind of replicated crema, therefore as ground coffee ages that reduces quickly, it also becomes more bitter due to oxidisation. If you are using pre ground, are you using the same bag as when you were achieving results that you were happy with?

If you are using pre ground, and it's the same bag, I would suggest the coffee has aged beyond its most desirable, as ground ages very quickly.


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## Tryfan

Are you grinding the coffee yourself?

I have a Delonghi EC220. I've found I get a watery coffee sludge in my basket if the grind is too fine (to be fair, I don't get much coffee out either as the machine can't cope with the finer grind). A courser grind leads to 'drier' coffee in the porta-filter, but it's not cohesive in any way and I either spoon or rinse it out.

I've never been happy with the taste I've gotten out of my machine to be honest - always seems too weak (underextracted?). Although I've not yet figured out if this is something I'm doing wrong.

Also, for what it's worth, I always pull the shots first then steam my milk second. Having read as much advice as I can lay my hands on, a lot of it from these forums, I'm convinced this is the better way of doing it.


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## townwithoutpity

And me. Recently, I noticed when I removed the coffee grounds from the previous batch, the cup was filled with water. Also, the water seems to be running though the machine and into the grounds more quickly, and continues dripping for a long time after I am done. I suspect the water running through more quickly is why my espresso is also now much more watery. This is not the first time I have had this problem with DeLonghis. Is there a fix, or do I have to buy a new machine now?


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