# Sage Barista Express Leaking Solenoid



## cordova (Oct 27, 2020)

Hi all,

Hopefully this is the correct (sub) forum ...

My Barista Express has worked nearly flawlessly for the last 6 years, but has just developed a leak, with water coming out near either of the rear feet (obviously, because it's 2020...  )

With the aid of YouTube, I've taken the back off, and run both the steam wand and the standard espresso programme to see if I can see any leaks:



When producing water for espresso, water appears around the underside of the right-most solenoid block (the one nearest the grinder), and drips down inside the machine


When producing steam, there's water bubbling around the underside of the same solenoid, but also steam appears escaping around the elbow join, roughly where the removable clip is (obviously, steam is a bit nebulous, so it's kind of hard to pinpoint the exact origin)


Does it sound like I am correct in surmising that either the solenoid or one of the o-ring seals has failed, and is in need of replacement?

If so, should I be looking to replace just the failed solenoid, or the whole solenoid assembly? Is there a part number I should be plugging into e-Bay/Google? I know Sage switched from Olab to Ceme for these parts around 2018 - do we know if there is any real difference, or if it's too early to tell?

Finally, is there anything else which I should be replacing at the same time?

I don't know if it makes a difference, but I live in a very hard water area (descale the kettle every 2 weeks), and the machine has only been fed water that's been through a Brita filter, and descaled on a monthly basis.

For those not familiar with the internals of this machine, I found a picture on Google which shows the layout (I did try to take some pictures, but they didn't really come out).

Thanks in advance for any help 

P.S. I know Sage & Coffee Classics don't supply parts unless they're doing the labour


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## TomHughes (Dec 16, 2019)

So, firstly your Sage has done pretty well to last 6 years!

Water, how hard are we talking? Do you know the water details? 
It's likely if your water is that hard and you have to descale your kettle every 2 weeks that your machine is pretty scaled up. 
Brita filters are relatively pointless, when brand new they can maybe take out 50-100tds, but within a week or so they aren't doing a lot.

You could give it a go and descale it, but by the sound of it the damage has been done.

You could try doing some dismantling and have a look if you feel confident, especially in the knowledge you may not be able to salvage the machine. 
The BE is notorious for having different solenoids, the best thing would be to look at the current on and try plugging the numbers on it into google.


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## cordova (Oct 27, 2020)

TomHughes said:


> So, firstly your Sage has done pretty well to last 6 years!


 Well, I've tried to look after it.  Whilst it does get used daily, it also doesn't get that much use (1-2 cups per day), which might help ...



TomHughes said:


> Water, how hard are we talking? Do you know the water details?
> It's likely if your water is that hard and you have to descale your kettle every 2 weeks that your machine is pretty scaled up.


 Beyond AquaCure's tool saying 276ppm+, I'm afraid I don't know. The kettle gets _far_ more use than the coffee machine, and after 2 weeks, the base of the kettle is covered in a thin deposit of limescale (<1mm), although if I put 30g of citric acid dissolved in 1l of water in it, that's completely gone before the boil cycle has finished.

I had been descaling the coffee machine more often than Breville say to in the hopes of preventing scale build-up (2l of descaler per month vs 1l twice every other month according to the manual). Looking at the internals of the coffee machine, there's no scale visible on any of the clear parts (tubing & diffuser), although I'm guessing that's probably not where it's going to form ...



TomHughes said:


> Brita filters are relatively pointless, when brand new they can maybe take out 50-100tds, but within a week or so they aren't doing a lot.


 Given that they're sold as reducing water hardness, that would be disappointing.  I don't know if it makes any difference, but I go through 3x 1l jugs per week, and replace after 2 months?



TomHughes said:


> You could try doing some dismantling and have a look if you feel confident, especially in the knowledge you may not be able to salvage the machine.


 I honestly don't mind disassembling it.  I'm guessing it's either the solenoid or seals (both of which are fairly cheap, it seems) - was just wondering if anyone else had any experience/advice 



TomHughes said:


> The BE is notorious for having different solenoids, the best thing would be to look at the current on and try plugging the numbers on it into google.


 Fair enough.  I was hoping there was a consensus on what the best part to fit was, as it seems to be a relatively common failure-mode.


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## cordova (Oct 27, 2020)

Sorry for the double-post - I can't find a way to edit my previous one.



TomHughes said:


> Water, how hard are we talking? Do you know the water details?


 According to Southern Water's site, it's calcium level is 117mg/l ("hard"). (I only just found out how to find this out, based on another post here... :classic_blush: )


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