Maintenance schedule
Most machines that reach our workshop didn’t fail — they were never maintained. This is what we’d tell you to do, and how often, whatever brand you own.
Maintenance schedule
Purge and wipe the steam wand
Two seconds of steam before and after every milk drink, then wipe with a damp cloth.
Dried milk is what blocks wand tips and eventually seizes the steam valve.
Espresso · Commercial
Empty the drip tray and grounds container
Rinse both and dry before replacing.
Standing water and wet pucks grow mould that finds its way into the brew path.
All machines
Flush the group head
Run a short blank shot with no portafilter at the start and end of the day.
Clears loose grounds before they bake onto the shower screen.
Espresso · Commercial
Knock out and dry the portafilter
Empty it, rinse, wipe the rim, and leave it dry rather than sitting full.
Coffee left in the basket turns rancid overnight and taints the next morning’s shots.
Espresso
Refill with fresh water
Empty what’s left, rinse the tank, and refill. Don’t top up water that’s been standing.
Water sitting in a warm tank for days grows biofilm you’ll taste before you see.
All machines
Backflush with cleaning detergent
Use a blind basket and a proper espresso machine detergent, following the cycle in your manual.
Removes the oil film that plain water leaves behind. This is the single most valuable weekly job.
Espresso · Commercial
Remove and rinse the brew unit
Take it out, rinse under warm water, dry fully, and refit. No detergent, no dishwasher.
A clean brew unit is why some machines last fifteen years and others jam at three.
Bean-to-cup
Deep clean the milk system
Run the machine’s milk-clean cycle, or strip and soak the frother parts in a milk-line cleaner.
Milk protein builds up inside lines you can’t see and is a genuine hygiene issue.
Bean-to-cup · Commercial
Wipe out the bean hopper
Empty it, wipe the walls with a dry cloth, and refill.
Oil residue is what makes beans bridge and stop feeding into the burrs.
Bean-to-cup · Grinders
Clean the capsule holder and needle area
Rinse the holder and clear the piercing needle with the machine switched off.
Dried coffee on the needle is the most common cause of a capsule machine not pouring.
Capsule & pod
Descale — or set a reminder to
Follow your machine’s descale cycle with a proper descaler, not vinegar.
Gauteng water is hard. Monthly is realistic here even where the manual says quarterly.
All machines
Remove and soak the shower screen
Unscrew it with the dispersion plate and soak both in hot detergent solution.
A blocked screen causes uneven extraction long before it causes a fault code.
Espresso · Commercial
Check the water filter’s remaining life
Note litres passed or months elapsed against the cartridge’s rating.
An exhausted filter does nothing at all, and nothing on the machine tells you.
Commercial · Plumbed-in
Brush out the burr chamber
Unplug, remove the hopper, and brush the burrs and chute with a stiff dry brush. Never wash them.
Old grounds in the chamber cause the dose drift most people blame on the beans.
Grinders · Bean-to-cup
Clean under and behind the machine
Slide it forward, wipe the counter and the rear vents.
Blocked vents make electronics run hot, and hot electronics fail early.
All machines
Check the group head gasket
Note where the portafilter handle sits when locked. Creeping past centre means the gasket is compressing.
Replacing it early is cheap. Replacing it after it leaks into the machine is not.
Espresso · Commercial
Recalibrate dose and shot time
Weigh three doses and time three shots. A double should run 25 to 30 seconds.
Grinders drift slowly. You won’t notice until the coffee has been mediocre for months.
Espresso · Grinders
Look for the beginnings of a leak
Dry the drip tray completely, run one drink, and check where any water appears.
Almost every leak we repair was visible for weeks before anyone acted on it.
All machines
Book a full service
Seals, gaskets, pressure calibration, internal descale and a safety check.
Cheaper than any single major repair, and it’s how machines reach fifteen years.
All machines
Review burr wear
Estimate the kilograms your grinder has done and compare to the burr set’s rated life.
Worn burrs make grind inconsistent no matter how carefully you dial in.
Grinders · Commercial
Why the intervals look short
- Johannesburg water is hard, so scale builds faster than most manuals assume
- Dark, oily roasts are popular here and clog burrs and chutes quicker
- Commercial intervals assume real service volume, not light use
- If your machine is used lightly, stretch the intervals rather than skip them
Codes to stop for immediately
- Anything requiring the casing to be opened
- Boiler descaling on commercial machines
- Pressure and OPV calibration
- Burr removal and alignment
- Seal and gasket replacement
Maintenance guidance is general. Always follow your machine’s own manual where it differs.
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