Unclog Mr Coffee Café Barista: Effect of white vinegar on coffee grounds/oil buildup?

[Amanda Ripanykhazova]

Has anyone had any luck cleaning out one of these when they clog up please?

Mine has been slowing down for a few weeks and today it stopped passing water through it completely.

There is a metal filter which unscrews but cleaning above doesn't unclog the machine at all. Even though I can smell white vinegar coming through the central hole.

Or is this unit otherwise sealed?

The unit is about six months old and every day I use it, I push a cop of water through an empty portafilter to clean before turning off.

[Terry Coombs]

  Try Clorox . It cuts the oils that are a byproduct of brewing . I use
it to clean my filter basket and pot , the parts that only see watewr
get a citric acid flush when things slow down . Do you have hard water
in your area ? If so , CLR is your friend .

--
Snag
Yes , I'm old
and crochety .
Get off my lawn !

[Amanda Ripanykhazova]

Thanks, I will try the Clorox. The problem with CLR is that if you start to put it on internal parts, it is impossible to get the taste of the CLR out again

[Terry Coombs]

On 6/27/2018 2:27 PM, Amanda Ripanykhazova wrote:
> Thanks, I will try the Clorox. The problem with CLR is that if you start to put it on internal parts, it is impossible to get the taste of the CLR out again

  Then you're not rising thoroughly enough .

[Ed Pawlowski]

The clean water is helping clog by leaving minerals behind. Go to the
appliance department and by the coffee maker accessories there will be
cleaners you can use. In the future, use them on a regular basis to
prevent clogging. Maybe every two weeks or so.

Depending how bad it is, you may need a few doses to get it going.

[trader_4]

IDK, from everything I've seen, vinegar is as powerful as any of
the specialty cleaning products. And those typically rely on citric
acid, which you can buy at Walmart where they have canning supplies.
The advantage to citric acid is that it has no odor or much taste.

He says he can smell vinegar coming through the hole, but how much
is actually coming out? If it's working it's way through, either
vinegar or citric acid will work. Heating it up helps too. Or it
could be he has another problem, eg failing pump.

[Frank]

Vinegar is good for calcium deposits but sounds like she tried it.

I wondered about the machine, googled the question and found video how
to clean:

https://www.mrcoffee.com/service-and-support/product-support/how-to-videos/how-to-video-page-how-to-clean-barista-espresso.html

Also a pop up came up there where you could chat on line with a tech.

[Amanda Ripanykhazova]

Yes, I am sure that is right, I have never heard of anyone figuring out how to rinse internal parts well enough

[Amanda Ripanykhazova]

> > The clean water is helping clog by leaving minerals behind.  Go to the
> > appliance department and by the coffee maker accessories there will be
> > cleaners you can use.  In the future, use them on a regular basis to
> > prevent clogging.  Maybe every two weeks or so.
> >
> > Depending how bad it is, you may need a few doses to get it going.
>
> Vinegar is good for calcium deposits but sounds like she tried it.
>
> I wondered about the machine, googled the question and found video how
> to clean:
>
> https://www.mrcoffee.com/service-and-support/product-support/how-to-videos/how-to-video-page-how-to-clean-barista-espresso.html

That video is CU. It is just a user guide.

>
> Also a pop up came up there where you could chat on line with a tech.

I think it is the sort of chat session which identifies key words and feeds you pre-arranged solutions you could find in the quick-start guide. But I doubt the chat sessions are equipped to know even what a metal filter above the portafilter is!

I think probably around 2 thimble fulls of vinegar came out but at least they fed through under intense heat. I kinda expected it to cause more to flush through over time but it didn't.

I probably have some DipIt somewhere left over from when I was trying to clean out my Gaggia Classic, when people told me not to use it 'cos it is too strong

[Ed Pawlowski]

On 6/27/2018 5:03 PM, Amanda Ripanykhazova wrote:

> I probably have some DipIt somewhere left over from when I was trying to clean out my Gaggia Classic, when people told me not to use it 'cos it is too strong
>

Sounds like you need STRONG.

[hub...@ccanoemail.ca]

On Wed, 27 Jun 2018 11:52:48 -0700 (PDT), Amanda Ripanykhazova
<license...@gmail.com> wrote:

>Has anyone had any luck cleaning out one of these when they clog up please?
>Mine has been slowing down for a few weeks and today it stopped
>passing water through it completely.
>There is a metal filter which unscrews but cleaning above doesn't
>unclog the machine at all.
>Even though I can smell white vinegar coming through the central hole.
>Or is this unit otherwise sealed?
>The unit is about six months old and every day I use it, I push a

>cup of water through an empty portafilter to clean before turning off.


You don't say what the water source is ?
: city tap water
: bottled water
: good rural well water
: poor rural well water

or any of the above - through a water conditioner ?

If you are pushing hard water through it as a
" daily cleaning" - before turning it off -
- you are adding more clogging minerals to it ..

Hardness in well water < or some city water >
might be iron, calcium, ..
John T.

[Frank]

Mostly calcium and magnesium salts like carbonated and soluble as
acetates. They make soaps like Ivory ineffective by precipitating it
but a lot of bath soaps are sulfonates and more effective in hard water.
Hydrochloric acid cleaners may be used in porcelain bowls but can
attack metals.

My wife uses bottled water in her Keurig even though our well water
tastes fine because our water shows sediment on standing.

I use a regular old Mr. Coffee with well water and never clean it except
pot and coffee filter holder. Some people would regularly use vinegar.

[Amanda Ripanykhazova]

No, I DO get your point but the water here is pretty clean, and I know calcified deposits from time spent in London!

[trader_4]

On Wednesday, June 27, 2018 at 9:32:57 PM UTC-4, Amanda Ripanykhazova wrote:
> No, I DO get your point but the water here is pretty clean, and I know calcified deposits from time spent in London!

You could also have a pump problem. Has the sound changed from what it used to sound like? Does water flow from the steam wand, if you can do that on that model? These use a vibrating pump, often an Ulka and the pumps can fail, get something stuck in them, etc. If this came on suddenly, it's more likely a pump problem than a clogging problem, imo.

[Wade Garrett]

Doubt it was a "tech."

Most likely a script reader who enters your model number and problem in
the company's knowledge base software.

The guy or gal you'd be chatting with/talking to is most likely a part
time or contract person working at home, maybe in Bangalore- or worse,
in a call center in a prison ;-)

These days, many companies let you access a scaled down version of their
knowledge base directly on their website,

--
The fastest way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.

[Amanda Ripanykhazova]

> You could also have a pump problem. Has the sound changed from what it used to sound like? Does water flow from the steam wand, if you can do that on that model? These use a vibrating pump, often an Ulka and the pumps can fail, get something stuck in them, etc. If this came on suddenly, it's more likely a pump problem than a clogging problem, imo.

It hadnt occurred to me that the pump might be at fault. It still makes a pumping sound though it does sound a bit strangulated. Which I ascribed to some sort of blockage?

Anyway, pity the unit isnt serviceable in any way. It isnt particularly expensive but when it works, if it gets to high enough a temp, it does quite often make good coffee

Yeah, as to the chat "options", I have never come across one that knows much more than is already in an owner's manual.

[trader_4]

What makes you think it's not serviceable? There aren't any obvious screws
to take it apart so you can get inside? I'm sure how easy it is, whether
you can get parts varies, but I'd think it would come apart so you could
get to the pump and other components.

I'm in the process of rebuilding my 25 year old Saeco Classico. Very easy
to service. It had a pump problem that started with loss of crema maybe
a year ago. About a month ago, the flow went from normal to barely any
very suddenly. I too first suspected it might need cleaning. So, I
ran several cycles of citric acid through it. First couple came out
cloudy, a little yellow. That decreased and about the fifth time it was
close to clear. No improvement in flow. So I concluded it had some scale,
but that wasn't the problem.



So, I wound up focusing on the
pump and that's what it was. The pump has an o-ring on the piston and it
wears over time, so that it no longer seals. And these pumps have to
develop ~150 psi for espresso. I found a suitable o-ring. Then upon
more investigation, I found that the solenoid coil that drives the pump
was conducting in both directions. It has a diode in the coil, it's only
supposed to conduct for half the AC cycle which drives the piston forward,
then it comes back in the other half cycle when there is no current.
I put a diode in series externally and it made a huge difference, it
went from pumping 400ml with no restriction to 650ml, which is spec.
But it still wouldn't develop the high pressure. The new o-ring fixed
that, it's now producing both volume and pressure.

While googling about it, I found many people have similar problems, some
just a small debris gets in the pump and jambs a check valve, taking it apart
and cleaning it fixed it. It also depends on what pump it is. The only
one that I saw people easily taking apart, servicing, fixing, used a pump made
by Ulka, which is a common one used in a lot of machines. If it uses
one of those, it's very easy to dissassemble the pump, just two screws.
And if you need a new pump they are ~$32 to $40. But it depends on what
pump yours has. If it's some other pump, then IDK.

[Amanda Ripanykhazova]

Those are relatively exactly my symptoms Loss of pressure/crema, slowed flow, stopped flow, no obvious blockages. absolutely no resuscitation when (lots of) grounds cleaned off internal channels and metal filter. It's the pump. But this dumb unit takes proprietary screws to dismantle!!

AND your experiences are mine as well!! I used Gaggia Classics and Babys for a few decades and was always dismantling that solenoid, that rubber ring, that pump, that always-corroded ally boiler which constantly fed black ally bits into the water! In the end I gave up after I realised that however many units one bought (I was up to three!) the coffee was always inconsistent unless one did major surgery costing as much as the whole unit on installing a PID unit.

So I moved onto these Mr Coffee units which are almost as inconsistent as the Gaggias

SIDENOTE: This morning I tried to press into service a backup Gaggia Coffee. All it did was buzz and refuse to prime!

[trader_4]

Are you sure they are proprietary? If you post a pic somewhere we could
take a look. Even if they are security type ones, you can probably find
a driver that doesn't cost too much. I have a Harbor Freight set that has
a lot of different bits for all kinds of weird screw heads.

>
> AND your experiences are mine as well!! I used Gaggia Classics and Babys for a few decades and was always dismantling that solenoid, that rubber ring, that pump, that always-corroded ally boiler which constantly fed black ally bits into the water! In the end I gave up after I realised that however many units one bought (I was up to three!) the coffee was always inconsistent unless one did major surgery costing as much as the whole unit on installing a PID unit.
>
> So I moved onto these Mr Coffee units which are almost as inconsistent as the Gaggias
>
> SIDENOTE: This morning I tried to press into service a backup Gaggia Coffee. All it did was buzz and refuse to prime!

Maybe I've been lucky with the Saeco. 25 years with no big problems,
until now and even this for ~$50 for o-rings, a new brew head gasket,
new spring and valve for the head, rebuild kit for the pressurized
portafilter, etc it will be like new again.

[hub...@ccanoemail.ca]

>>
>> But this dumb unit takes proprietary screws to dismantle!!
>
> Are you sure they are proprietary?
>

http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/Page.aspx?p=70158&cat=1,43411,43417

The "View" link near the price shows a blow-up of this set.

John T.

[trader_4]

Looks similar to the one I got at Harbor Freight for less than $10 I think.
I'm sure there are online resources she could use to identify the screwhead
that she has. Might even be torx, which are readily available.

[Amanda Ripanykhazova]

On Thursday, June 28, 2018 at 11:27:55 AM UTC-4, hub...@ccanoemail.ca wrote:
> >>

Thanks for that, it is probably one of the three at the lower right that isnt a torx. I have a full set and it is nowhere near the shape. (I think I recognise the circular one from the intercooler cover on nmy car's engine!)

[hub...@ccanoemail.ca]

>> >>
>> >> But this dumb unit takes proprietary screws to dismantle!!
>> >
>> > Are you sure they are proprietary?
>> >
>>
>> http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/Page.aspx?p=70158&cat=1,43411,43417
>> The "View" link near the price shows a blow-up of this set.
>> John T.

>
>Looks similar to the one I got at Harbor Freight for less than $10 I think.
>I'm sure there are online resources she could use to identify the screwhead
>that she has. Might even be torx, which are readily available.
>

I like the 3 inch length of these ones - for the deeply recessed
places ..

https://www.harborfreight.com/36-pc-3-in-screwdriver-bit-set-68817.html

John T.

[tedstacy...@gmail.com]

Read the on-line manual. Really simple. If you use tap water regularly, every 80 shots you need to de-lime. Pour the water out of the reservoir, fill 1/3 with WHITE vinegar. Put portafilter on with no coffee in it. Rinse the milk container. Place on unit. Turn knob to clean. Switch unit to ON. Put empty container where the cup goes. Hold Latte/Clean button for 3 seconds or until it begins cleaning. Repeat about 5 times. Run expresso about 5 times. You may need to switch unit on/off to recycle the buttons. After doing this, rinse water reservoir. Fill 1/2 way with clean water. Run through all the coffee cycles to get the vinegar out. When you no longer smell vinegar, you are done. Never put bleach into the machine. It is a poison.

[trader_4]

Yeah, bleach is so poisonous that in an emergency when you're not sure if water
is contaminated, health authorities recommend adding a small amount of bleach
to water before you drink it. Not recommending anyone put bleach in an espresso
machine, but that's because it's not effective, not that it's poison. As far
as descaling, citric acid is better than vinegar, no smell, it's what's in the
pro cleaning stuff.

[TimR]

Looks like "tamper proof" Torx to me. The hole is for the pin in your screws.

Microwaves have those fasteners too.