Unclogging a Saeco Minuto Coffee machine

07 May 2017

After some two years my Saeco Minuto Coffee machine got hopelessly clogged. When rinsing, there was a 2-3 second delay between when the machine started pumping water and when it actually came out. Once it did, it was awfully dirty. It was still possible to somehow make a large coffee, but not an espresso. Whatever came out was strongly diluted from the very beginning.

My first impression was that machine is generally well engineered. All parts that require regular cleaning are easily accessible and detachable. Or so it would seem. The clog seemed to be between where the brewed coffee comes out of the brewing group (also referred to as the brew unit) and the end dispenser holes. I found a service manual (source). It seemed, which turned out to be right, that the clog was in the wine-glass-shaped basin part of the coffee dispenser:

In order to get access to the dispenser I followed the section 7.1 in the service manual, including removal of the top cover. I did not disconnect the electrical and water circuit connections.

Then I needed to raise the keyboard and display (first picture in 7.5.1). The cover of the wine-glass-shaped basin is held by a plastic snap lock 😡. I have the impression that the inside of the basin is the hardest place to access in the whole machine. Probably not without a reason, as it looked like this:

After I thoroughly cleaned the basin and reassembled the machine, it made an excellent espresso again ☕️