Inside the goo collector
Maybe it’s time to go to the repair shop (for my missing crema). We’ve spent a week with watery, flat tasting coffee. Not the espresso we’ve learned to need love. The answer to my question hasn’t come up on the net, and my quick visit to the dealer today only reaffirmed that things are serious here in Mudville.
We’ve got a Saeco Via Veneto home machine, and for the last six years it has served up pretty decent coffee on a daily basis. Good track record, when you think about it. I degrease and decalcify on regular schedule, and when the valve at the base of the reservoir started to leak the dealer provided the correct part after one simple consultation. However, there are more users than before and the techniques are not identical. Like a car with too many drivers…
But, the dealer isn’t within walking distance, and it’s getting cold enough that I’d need to plug the machine back in on arrival just to banish chillblains. Today, the nice lady said three things: pump, prefilter, estimate. This might turn out to be an expensive roadtrip, if and when I get bundled up and drive across the city.
This evening, I removed the “prefilter” and found out that even if you are downstream, a fair bit of tarlike goo goes up inside to hide. After an hour of swabbing and digging around, I reassembled things (one screw; not really major), but the crema is still missing in action. If we have to leave the machine for a repair session, we’re back to Bodum land, and that isn’t going to make getting up each morning any easier.
What to do? My wise side says seek professional help. My tinkerer says that behind the next cover lies the answer. If only they taught coffee machine repair in school.
