Sage Barista Express Low Pressure and Water Leaking From Group Head Replacing 54mm Group Head Seal☕️

[@JENXFIVE]

Before experiencing the water escaping around the group head and the poor levels of pressure which was too low on extraction, a good pressure had previously been achieved and a decent quality espresso had been extracted. Before the group head seal had failed we hadn’t seen issues when using any of the filter cups that came with the machine. We’d successfully extracted a good balance of espresso shot and achieved a decent level and quality of crema using both the single and dual wall, 1 cup and 2 cup baskets BEFORE the seal failed. When using the single wall filter baskets we would adjust the settings of the machine to achieve a finer grind and use additional force when tamping the coffee in the portafilter basket. It also helps to manually dispense the grinds into the basket in two or three layers, stopping between each layer to level and tamp the coffee to achieve a good ‘puck’ in the basket/portafilter.

[@rappide]

Well, it does work but... It started to leaking again after couple of days after seal replacement. I bought a silicone and no leaking since! :)

[@JENXFIVE]

@@rappide hi, thanks for commenting. I bought a seal off Amazon originally which wasn’t Sage branded and with it being wrong size (even though I’d ordered a seal that was advertised as suitable for our machine model number), if I’d bought another seal instead of replacing machine, I would have bought a Sage branded seal. If there were any problems then I’d hopefully have a level of recourse with Sage. There are times when material compatibility is important and I’d suggest this is one of those times. 👍🏻

[@timneal-x5j]

Thanks so much for posting this. Had the same problem on our 5 year old Sage machine last week when the seal blew, and steam/coffee was leaking out the side of the portafilter. I ordered the replacement 54mm shower gasket from Sage directly, and received today. Replaced the faulty gasket and machine is working like a dream now. Thanks again..

[@JENXFIVE]

Thanks for taking time to respond and good to hear you got your machine sorted. Good choice on buying the Sage shower gasket. As you saw in the video we bought from ‘another’ supplier on Amazon and it was too small. The gasket we bought didn’t look as good quality either. Normally I would always buy genuine spares if they are reasonably priced but thought I’d get the one from Amazon and compare quality. It was advertised as being correct for our machine…. Kind of glad it was wrong size as might have fitted it and not fully realised the issue with the corrosion on our group head. Although it might have looked more obvious on the video, I hadn’t initially realised when first stripping the shower head plate off. Thanks again. J5

[@ellas6101]

Great video, thank you so much. We are experiencing exactly the same problem with our coffee machine and we will follow your steps to see if the portagrinder leaks because of the seal :)

[@JENXFIVE]

@@ellas6101 Hi, thanks for the feedback, if you have any questions drop them in the comments here. There have been a few useful comments added here and in my other related video. Thanks again👍🏻

[@rieger.design]

Thank you. Just thought the used machine I bought was completely broken. Now I see that just the seal was broken

[@JENXFIVE]

Make sure to get the right size when you replace the seal👍🏻

[@rieger.design]

@@JENXFIVE got a new one and the machine works perfectly. Thank you

[@JENXFIVE]

@@rieger.designgreat to hear 👍🏻

[@matthewoshea_]

Very helpful video! Thank you :) Enjoy the new machine

[@JENXFIVE]

Thanks for taking time to comment @Mathew O’Shea👍🏻

[@tdtm82]

Trying this soon fella. Please use normal spring water (cheap from supermarket) for the water as then you don't need the filters and it saves money and soft water makes coffee taste better.

[@JENXFIVE]

@@tdtm82 thanks for taking time to comment and appreciate the advice of using spring water. We tend not to use water straight from the tap and fill from a fridge supply which utilises a filter that’s replaced approx. every 6 months. This fridge filter deals with main contaminates that could be found in tap water that we want to proactively remove. Regarding ‘scale’ build up, the main cause of scaling comes from when water containing calcium and magnesium* evaporates. Invariably evaporation will occur during each heating cycle. We’ve seen this evident as ‘white powder’ on the shower head on our previous machine and assume it will also be present within the coffee machine itself. However, we now run more intense periodic maintenance to clean and descale our newest machine and found over present lifetime of new machine it’s not really an issue in terms of inconvenience or expense to do the additional maintenance cycles. Ongoing periodic visual inspections of the shower plate also show no signs of premature scaling. Coffee tastes good as well so we are happy with current approach. In terms of the infrequency at which we change the claroswiss filters (definitely not at 90 days as suggested by Sage) combined with the mentioned increased maintenance frequencies, it’s all looking good for our current machine (Barista Express Impress). *regards magnesium and calcium, these are classed as essential metals and can help reduce the toxic effects of any ingested heavy metals. Although the main cause of scaling, these are also essential for the body so while removing them might make water softer and taste better it’s actually not as beneficial for health filtering these elements out… this is another reason why we do what we do currently in terms of maintenance schedule and delayed claroswiss filter replacement.

[@tdtm82]

@@JENXFIVE Yup. I have a sensitive profile and spring water is so cheap that it makes it worth it. You can get a chalky profile if water treatment has not been done well enough in beer for instance.

[@JENXFIVE]

⁠​⁠@@tdtm82 hi again, revisiting this comment as it mentions water profiles in ‘beer’. I’d previously considered brewing beer at home and watched a number of brewing related channels (namely @harrybrew69 and @newtohomebrewtom). There was an appreciation back then of how important the water profile was and the ‘science’ behind it. Water filtration generally appears to be a ‘big thing’ currently - do you see the ‘adverts’ on social media with Bear Grylls (water2.com)? 😁

[@kenrickfearn1448]

What …you never actually changed the seal …although it was interesting to see how the head had corroded…but a small disclaimer at start may have saved me 15 mins of my time lol…

[@JENXFIVE]

Hi, @kenrickfearn1448, did you watch with intention of learning how to replace the seal so you could do yourself? As you’ve mentioned, regards the corrosion, this was reason I didn’t swap the seal on our machine and had put video together up to that point and if I’d made decision to not post because I didn’t actually replace the seal, then I’d have wasted more than the 15 minutes you mentioned 😉. Fair comment on the suggestion of a disclaimer though which I’ve now added in the comments above. Thanks for watching and taking time to comment (and adding some constructive feedback). 👊🏻

[@sharkeltd]

Thanks a lot for posting this superb video. I’m about to replace the seal on mine.. although kinda hoping to find some corrosion too 😂 all the best 👍

[@JENXFIVE]

Thanks for taking time to comment Tony. In the video you can see the corrosion evident well before I’d realised. I get that coffee is acidic and we regularly clean the underside and always take the portafilter straight off after use. This was the first time I’d removed the shower plate though and definitely surprised to see that level of corrosion. No questions when we took it back…. Up to now everything’s running ok on the impress variant of the barista express. 👍🏻Let me know how you get on with yours.

[@sharkeltd]

@@JENXFIVE Yes all sorted thank you - and no corrosion either - it seems they might have changed the materials/design to stop that happening 👍

[@JENXFIVE]

@@sharkeltd thanks for the update, hope the seal swap went well. While I’d kicked myself originally getting the wrong seal, there’s a genuine chance if I’d got the correct size one I might have just swapped it and not realised the corrosion. 👍🏻

[@tonybrock5288]

I have replaced my Barista Express seal TWICE now due to it blowing out water during a cleaning cycle. The problem in fact has nothing at all to do with the seal but some loose screws in the mechanism itself. You need to tighten them up instead. If your group head tightens up too far to the right them this is definitely your problem. See this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jWLMeHSAfLuGnpY

[@thecyclingbarista]

Sat here to watch you change the group seal and you never did? Maybe change the title of the video?

[@JENXFIVE]

Heyup. Be honest, are you saying after watching this video you wouldn’t be able to replace the seal on one of these machines? Assuming you watched in order to be able to replace the seal on a machine? If you haven’t got the intention of changing a seal on one of these machines does the title matter to you that much to ask for it to be changed. The intention was to replace the seal, but the seal that had been delivered was the wrong size (even though it was ‘advertised’ to fit our machine based on model number). Then of course there’s the issue with the corrosion, which was another reason I didn’t complete the seal replacement…. Anyway, writing this message I’m feeling I’ve now spent more than an acceptable amount of time responding to what, on the face of it, is a bit of a pointless communication (in my opinion). Also, if you’d took time to read the comments you’d have seen my disclaimer which is in bold text and highlighted with asterisks that clearly informs viewers that the seal replacement isn’t actually completed BUT, there’s enough shown (in my view) to allow someone to replace a seal on their machine… 👊🏻

[@CRAD098]

@JENXFIVE how were you able to return it to Costco after so much time had passed? Ours has the same issue and we bought it in November 2020

[@JENXFIVE]

Hi, I’d have to check and confirm how old ours was when we returned it @CRAD098… If yours is 3 months short of four years old I’d advise maybe contacting SAGE first? Or, take it back to Costco and see what they say.

[@JENXFIVE]

So I made the original ‘maintenance clean’ video in November 2020 which is when you said you bought your machine? I then made the seal replacement video about a year ago. So if I’ve worked the timelines out correctly, the difference between us returning our machine and you returning yours would be the time it takes (with frequent use) for the maintenance clean to come due PLUS one year. Does that make sense?

[@CRAD098]

Hi, thanks for replying. I think when you returned yours it works out being about 6 months younger than what ours is. We have moved area from the wharehouse where we bought the machine and Costco’s website says that you have to return items to the wharehouse that you bought it from. Did you have an extended warranty? We’ve bought the seal from sage and will see if that fixes it first

[@JENXFIVE]

@@CRAD098 hi again, no we didn’t have an extended warranty, but I understand Costco are pretty good with length of their standard warranty and we’ve never had any issues returning products with genuine issues. When you say you have same fault do you mean the failed silicon 54mm seal AND the corrosion on the ‘shower’ plate? Appreciate you saying you’ve moved areas so maybe worth ringing the warehouses (the one you bought it from and any others that are now closer). I basically went in, explained we’d experienced the failed seal, accepted this was a maintenance item and that we’d bought a replacement seal with intention of replacing it. Then,when removing the shower plate, we saw the corrosion and said in our opinion, this was unacceptable even after the amount of time we’d had it. After all, if the seal hadn’t gone it meant this corrosion was potentially going in our coffee. I suggested this wasn’t good and that it was a poor design if it had failed after the time we’d had it. Correct me if I’m wrong but weren’t they over £600 at the time? To have it corrode even after three years can’t be good? Without taking it in or at least ringing them you’re never going to know. For me though, with things like this it’s best go into the warehouse and just be firm but reasonable and say you don’t believe it is acceptable to have failed in the way it has - and like us it’s only become apparent when the seal has gone. Who knows how long you’ve been drinking coffee from a corroded machine (you tell them)? We didn’t go in with intention of being challenging but more with view of asking them if they felt it was acceptable for a coffee machine to have corroded in the way it had and the fact we might have been ingesting it…. Hope that helps.

[@JENXFIVE]

****Disclaimer added that I don’t actually replace the seal (you’ll find out why if you watch the video) but feel there is enough information that should you get the correct seal 😉 you’ll be able to follow the faulty seal removal instructions in reverse to then fit the new seal****

[@dianonds]

So if there is corrosion then that is not a fixable problem?

[@JENXFIVE]

Hi, @dianonds, if you can replace the head under the shower plate? Our machine was replaced under warranty so I didn’t have to answer that question. I wouldn’t want to keep extracting coffee with hot water running across a corroded surface… would you?

[@dianonds]

I guess not. Thanks!

[@JENXFIVE]

No problem, I’ll look to see if there’s anything out there regarding swapping out the group head assembly. I’ve seen a few other videos showing different parts of the internal system corroding in a similar way… Let me know on here if you find any info yourself👍🏻

[@sidclegg]

I've noticed rust in this location too, under the showerhead (not sure what you would call this part?). I have less than yours but I'm wondering if it is a problem or not. Not clear how I would find out or even fix it

[@sidclegg]

I've noticed rust in this location too, under the showerhead (not sure what you would call this part?). I have less than yours but I'm wondering if it is a problem or not. Not clear how I would find out or even fix it

[@fatmah-1245]

My Breville machine, do I use the same type of calf size 54?

[@JENXFIVE]

Not sure, @fatmah-1245, it depends what model number your machine is. Do you know the model number of your machine?

[@fatmah-1245]

@@JENXFIVE BES870/B

[@JENXFIVE]

@@fatmah-1245, if it is the Breville Barista Express then I’d suggest it is the same size (54mm shower head seal/gasket). Best to check on the Breville website, are you in the UK?

[@JENXFIVE]

www.breville.com/us/en/parts-accessories/parts/sp0025526.html?sku=SP0025526

[@JENXFIVE]

Sage Barista group head genuine 54mm silicone gasket/seal: www.sageappliances.com/uk/en/parts-accessories/parts/sp0025526.html

[@timyoung2079]

Painful to watch you removing the seal haha

[@JENXFIVE]

Pop it off one side, pops back on the other… At 7:05 when I let go of the seal as it was clearly free at that point! Arghhh! None of it intentional by the way, just a bloody awkward position and a super sneaky seal that looks really easy to get off but in reality, pops back into position at every opportunity…. Once you’ve done it though and got a feel for how sneaky it can be and if I wasn’t trying to get footage, it’ll come off a lot easier next time. I work in a maintenance function for my job and taking guidance from my role, I’ll likely replace proactively next time on our new machine (before it fails) and tie it in with a cleaning cycle/general overhaul. 👍🏻

[@timyoung2079]

@@JENXFIVE oh yeah I noticed myself when I had to change mine too! Your video helped though thank you

[@kimperquinsaat4648]

Ok